Divya Bandodkar
Phone screens are usually the first interaction that you have with your candidates. Typically screening interviews that are carried out over a phone call. They are also referred to as Phone Interviews or Telephonic Interviews.
Phone screens usually last for 30 minutes to an hour depending on the number of questions you have for your candidates. The main goal of screens is to understand whether the candidate is a good fit for your roles.
With the advancements in technology, phone screens have slowly started to take a back seat. They are being replaced by video interviews for a variety of reasons. This blog is about some reasons why phone screens are becoming obsolete.
Table of Contents
1. Phone screens are difficult to schedule.
Scheduling a phone screen interview is a hassle not just for your hiring managers but also, for candidates. You need to go through multiple email or phone conversations to decide upon a convenient time. Just like on-site interviews, the candidates sometimes do not show up for phone screens as well. Situations like these lead to the rescheduling of interviews. You might also have to send out interview reminders or have some courtesy calls on a timely basis.
2. Phone screens are inefficient.
Phone screens are time-consuming. They generally consume at least 30 minutes to 1 hour of your time. Considering you receive hundreds of applications for your job roles, it would take a huge amount of time to finish screening all desired candidates. In addition to this, you should ensure that you are in the proper cellular network area. You should also ensure that you are in a proper environment (calm, peaceful, or less noisy) when conducting your interview.
3. Can never be consistent.
Phone screens are easily hampered by external factors. The questions you may ask your candidates may differ according to the situation. It is observed that screens usually are about multiple-choice questions or skill ratings. It could go on to asking your candidates to explain certain questions briefly. Open-ended questions are generally a no-no due to time constraints.
4. Phone screens do not offer a collaborative environment.
Phone screen interview usually happens between a hiring manager and the candidate. The other members of your hiring team do not get a chance to speak to the candidate and vice versa. It is the decision of the hiring manager who interviews the candidate who approves or disapproves of the candidate selection. In other words, one hiring manager takes the decision on behalf of the team. Hence, there is no collaborative hiring.
5. You cannot observe your candidates.
Body language and expressions play a major role in interviews. You cannot observe your candidates’ body language. You cannot deduce if the candidate is really interested in the role and in answering your questions. It is usually difficult to make a connection with candidates in such cases. There is no way to understand if you and your candidates share the same chemistry for building a healthy work relationship.
Video interviews offers you an incredible solution to these problems caused by phone screens. It also speeds up your recruitment process and helps you make faster hires.
Also read about: Why does your sales team need a virtual phone number?
Divya Bandodkar is Content Strategist at Jobsoid. In spite of hailing from an IT background, she chose to take up writing as her profession. Her passion for writing got her out from the lines of code and placed her in between the sheets of paper.