Employers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of hiring the right people. To recruit a talented team, you have to have an effective recruitment process.
This is where pre-screening comes in. A pre-screening process allows employers to weed out inadequate candidates prior to the formal interview.
Read on to learn about a pre-screening interview, its benefits, and a list of potential questions to ask.
What Is A Pre-Screening Interview?
Pre-screening refers to the process of evaluating a candidate before you interview them.
This can take various forms (reviewing resumes, cover letters, motivations, and references).
To conduct a pre screening, you will normally do background checks, and check for any criminal history.
Some organizations also choose to conduct a pre-interview as part of their hiring process (this is ahead of the formal interview).
The interviewer will typically ask the candidate a few surface-level questions. These questions are aimed at providing additional insight into the candidate before the formal interviews commence.
The questions will generally involve asking the candidate about their skills, abilities, job preferences, and career goals.
These questions will help the interviewer flesh out the candidate’s resume and eliminate candidates who may be interesting but would not be a good fit at the company.
Pre-screening can also take the form of a basic skills test/personality test or aptitude test.
This can help weed out unqualified candidates and decipher whether the candidates’ personalities are a good match for the allocated team/company as a whole.
A pre-screening interview usually takes the form of a phone interview. Video interviews are also commonly used.
The pre-screening process allows the candidate to become familiar with the interviewer, which will help to make them to feel more comfortable during the formal interview process.
Benefits of Pre-Screening
Investing in the right employees is essential for a successful business. In order to achieve this, you will need to invest in your interview process.
This means that you will spend time and money thoroughly interviewing candidates to ensure that you are hiring the best possible ones for the job.
However, you do not want to waste time and money interviewing candidates who have no chance of getting the job or would not accept a job offer.
This is where a pre-screening interview comes in. Pre-screened applicants will enhance your recruiting strategy, helping you identify and focus your attention on the best possible candidates.
Here are some of the benefits of this approach:
- It helps you flesh out your candidates’ resumes and cover letters. Resumes and cover letters, while helpful, are often not enough to get a sufficient feel for the candidate.
A pre-screening interview often only takes a few minutes and can add invaluable insight into candidates, their skill set, and their compatibility with your business.
- A pre-screening interview can help separate the experts from the imposters. A quick phone call by the hiring manager can help reveal any lies or half-truths in a candidate’s resumes, cover letters or references.
- A pre-screening interview allows candidates to reveal any skills or experiences they may have omitted from their resume or cover letter.
- It can also help the candidate get a better feel for your business and understand the requirements of the position.
This allows a candidate to determine earlier on in the recruitment process whether they see themselves in the position. Which prevents you wasting your time on candidates who would not accept a job offer.
10 Pre Screening Interview Questions To Ask
In order to effectively conduct a pre screening, you should plan a set of interview questions.
The questions may be dependent on the position in question, or the team/department the hiring team is recruiting for.
The aim is to flesh out whether the candidate is the right fit, and whether their skills and experience match the job.
However, the pre-screening interview does not replace the final interview. You will have a large applicant pool and will want to be as efficient as possible.
Below is a list of common pre-screening questions interviewers or hiring managers can ask:
1) What tasks do you generally excel at?
2) Tell me something interesting about yourself that is not on your resume.
3) Describe your management style?
4) How would you describe your leadership skills?
5) What is your expected salary range?
6) Why did you leave your current job?
7) Describe some of your career accomplishments?
8) Describe a time when you demonstrated exceptional communication skills?
9) What are you searching for in this particular position?
10) Do you have any questions for me?
Conclusion
Pre-screening candidates prior to commencing with the formal interview process is beneficial for both the organization and employees alike.
It saves time, money and helps to sift out inadequate candidates, or candidates who are not the right fit for the team or organization.
Pre-screening can be done in a variety of ways; namely, pre-interviews, personality tests, and aptitude tests etc.
Using the pre-screening interview questions listed above will assist in helping you to run an effective recruitment system.