Do people ever fail at the phone screen hurdle?

donfers

recruitment process is generally an application, then if the employer is impressed by the CV they will set up a short phone interview, then onto first or second interview or tests or whatever

....but my question is on the phone screen/interview, what is the point of these?Has anyone ever failed at this stage? In my experience it's just a short chat and then arranging a face to face interview, are they really necessary? Do people get cut off at this stage?

1huge1

I worked as a recruiter in Germany for a year, I can assure you, a lot more people than you think don't get past the telephone stage.

Eoin

donfers wrote: »

....but my question is on the phone screen/interview, what is the point of these?Has anyone ever failed at this stage? In my experience it's just a short chat and then arranging a face to face interview, are they really necessary? Do people get cut off at this stage?

I definitely use it as a filter, not just a way to arrange the face to face interview.

seamus

Eoin wrote: »

I definitely use it as a filter, not just a way to arrange the face to face interview.

Yep, same here, I fail plenty of people at the phone screen.

Quite incredible how often the CV and the person don't seem to match up quite right.

The position I hire for is also a bit fuzzy so the phone screen is typically the best place to find out what good stuff isn't on the CV

kevohmsford

I did not get through a phone interview a few months ago.
It was with a Scottish company.

Jim2007

1huge1 wrote: »

I worked as a recruiter in Germany for a year, I can assure you, a lot more people than you think don't get past the telephone stage.

The same here in Switzerland, we've definitely filtered out many candidates at the phone stage.

Stheno

seamus wrote: »

Yep, same here, I fail plenty of people at the phone screen.

Quite incredible how often the CV and the person don't seem to match up quite right.

The position I hire for is also a bit fuzzy so the phone screen is typically the best place to find out what good stuff isn't on the CV

Same here I've used it as a filter, amazing how many people can't communicate over the phone.

Greenmachine

How common have phone interviews become. I know a few people who have had their first interview for a job this way. Any of the jobs I have ever interviewed for have been face to face.

April O Neill

donfers wrote: »

recruitment process is generally an application, then if the employer is impressed by the CV they will set up a short phone interview, then onto first or second interview or tests or whatever

....but my question is on the phone screen/interview, what is the point of these?Has anyone ever failed at this stage? In my experience it's just a short chat and then arranging a face to face interview, are they really necessary? Do people get cut off at this stage?

Yes, they certainly do. I've lost out at this stage a number of times because I am CRAP at phone interviews. Face to face ones, I'm much better.

I think they use this stage to cut down the numbers. They might have plenty of people who meet all or most of the criteria but they don't wish to interview that amount, so want to trim the number down. I'm guessing that's the reason anyway.

seamus

The purpose of the phone stage probably differs from place to place. We don't get a lot of applications, but we still use the phone stage so that we can get a basic gauge of the person's abilities before committing everyone's time to a full interview. I don't want to waste a candidate's time any more than I want to waste my own.

But then it's a very technical role, so it's much easier to have a useful phone interview than for, e.g. a salesperson position, which may be more about body language and impression than pure ability to answer technical questions.

Esoteric_

The phone interview is great for making sure applicants can speak and sell themselves (I work in sales, and do the recruitment for a sister store). The amount of people with a fantastic CV and cover letter, but with NO ability to come across as chatty and confident on the phone is crazy. It's great for determining who'd be able to handle an interview, because our interviews are very informal chats, just to be sure the person looks approachable, well put together and confident.

ImDave

Had a phone interview for Google a couple of years back. Three separate calls I think, failed on the last.

OnTheCouch

I can assure you I have had at least five interviews over the phone in the past eighteen months, which although I thought they went well enough, ended there and I never heard back from any of them after that.

So yes, people can very much get eliminated at the phone interview stage.

donfers

OnTheCouch wrote: »

I can assure you I have had at least five interviews over the phone in the past eighteen months, which although I thought they went well enough, ended there and I never heard back from any of them after that.

So yes, people can very much get eliminated at the phone interview stage.

hmmm, so how do they let you know that you won't be progressing to interview stage by phone then?

Is it a case of "thanks for talking to us, we'll get back to you once the recruitment process is complete/when we have news" and then they fail to follow up (a tad cowardly in my view but perhaps this strategy is implemented in order to negate the possibility of an awkward moment)

OR

Do they say straight out on the phone that you're not a good fit?

Eoin

I tell them that I'll give my feedback to HR, who will get back to them (who actually do so, in our place). I definitely wouldn't say anything on the phone.

Stheno

Greenmachine wrote: »

How common have phone interviews become. I know a few people who have had their first interview for a job this way. Any of the jobs I have ever interviewed for have been face to face.

I had six interviews (yes I know!) for a role, and four were phone/video interviews.

I've had some phone interviews where straight away they organise another and some where I don't.

cloudatlas

Stheno wrote: »

I had six interviews (yes I know!) for a role, and four were phone/video interviews.

I've had some phone interviews where straight away they organise another and some where I don't.

Jaysus! I hope you got it after all that.

OnTheCouch

donfers wrote: »

hmmm, so how do they let you know that you won't be progressing to interview stage by phone then?

Is it a case of "thanks for talking to us, we'll get back to you once the recruitment process is complete/when we have news" and then they fail to follow up (a tad cowardly in my view but perhaps this strategy is implemented in order to negate the possibility of an awkward moment)

OR

Do they say straight out on the phone that you're not a good fit?

I wish it were the latter rather than the former, no one likes being told that they are not suitable for a position that they applied for believing themselves to be a worthy candidate, but at least this wastes no one's time and both parties can move on.

Unfortunately on every single occasion, I have failed to hear back from them and it just gets to the stage after a week or so where you assume that you have been unsuccessful.

This is a shame, I can understand companies not having the time and/or willingness to reply to every single job applicant, but I believe any person who is singled out for further consideration, even if this is simply a phonecall for screening, should be informed of a decision one way or another ASAP. I would be fairly certain the employer knows fine well once putting the phone down if the person will be a fit or not and simply doesn't want to make a rash decision.

Of course it's a lot easier to give someone a written PFO than a verbal one, but I would at least appreciate the honesty.

donfers

Eoin wrote: »

I tell them that I'll give my feedback to HR, who will get back to them (who actually do so, in our place). I definitely wouldn't say anything on the phone.

Ok but if you are sufficiently impressed by the candidate, then will you feed them the same line and say "HR will get back to you", or will you tell them, there and then, that you want to interview them for the position, and HR will arrange it?

i.e.

"HR will get back to you" = phone screen fail

"that was great....HR will get back to you to arrange a time for interview" = Obviously a pass

OnTheCouch

donfers wrote: »

Ok but if you are sufficiently impressed by the candidate then will you feed them the same line and say "HR will get back to you" or will you tell them there and then that you want to interview them for the position and HR will arrange it

i.e.

"HR will get back to you" = phone screen fail

"that was great....HR will get back to you to arrange a time for interview" = Obviously a pass

Good question, I'd be very interested in hearing the answer here. If nothing else to recognise 'clues' in the future.

Eoin

donfers wrote: »

Ok but if you are sufficiently impressed by the candidate then will you feed them the same line and say "HR will get back to you" or will you tell them there and then that you want to interview them for the position and HR will arrange it

i.e.

"HR will get back to you" = phone screen fail

"that was great....HR will get back to you to arrange a time for interview" = Obviously a pass

I've said the latter on occasion, particularly if I think there's a risk that a really good candidate is likely to get an offer elsewhere.

Edit, but I've also said the first part as well to people who haven't failed the phone screen. It sounds inconsistent, but there may be other questions that HR need to get answered that I may not have gotten to the bottom of on the call (salary / eligibility to work in Ireland / notice period). Or I might have an offer pending with a strong candidate, but want to keep options open etc.

Chessala

Depending on how the chat is structured I think it also helps to verify and see if you are fit for the position itself.

I recently applied to a company and as the description of the role was very generic I applied for the senior role. During the phone screen me and the person i spoke to agreed that while their feedback regarding my person is positive, I would fail the 2nd or 3rd stage of the interview process due to lack of experience in certain areas. We decided to switch it to the more junior position and all went on from there.

I really liked getting the feedback of how I did right away though it seems to be rather rare?

Eoin

Chessala wrote: »

I think it also helps to verify and see if you are fit for the position itself.

Yep, that's a good point too.

Chessala wrote: »

I really liked getting the feedback of how I did right away though it seems to be rather rare?

Well, there's always the risk that the candidate might not agree with the lack of experience, and you don't really want to have an argument during the phone screen, so it's just easier to give the feedback to HR, who would then suggest a different role.

If I was hiring for 2 different roles, and the candidate would be more suitable for the junior one, then I'd want them to read the new job spec in their own time and decide if they want to proceed.