The Telephone Interview Method

Ever conducted a telephone interview and wonder if it’s an efficient method of interviewing? Usually, this method of interviewing is used at the primarily phase in the pre-selection of the selection process, normally known as the screening process. Nowadays, probably the most frequently used pre-screening tool is the telephone. Most organisations use this method to narrow the number of applicants who will be invited to attend a formal face to face interview by eliminating those who don’t have the essential technical knowledge and skills, formal education and years of experience to successfully do the job. Nowadays, new technology (in a way) have influence and replaced the telephone as the premier tool of interviewing, but the fundamentals and principles still remains, regardless if someone uses email, teleconference (internet audio line or video) or even fax.

Telephone interviews are used to obtain quick answers to any questions that may be posed by the applicant’s resume. This method is used to obtain additional information about a candidate’s skills and experience than can be obtain from the application or resume. I favour this method of interviewing because one advantage is that it can be accomplished quickly and economically. Well I guess these two words (quickly and economical) will please any organisation. Without telephone and those new high tech communication tools, organisations would be overwhelmed by the task of interviewing candidates face to face who could have been disqualified much earlier in the process.

In a typical telephone interview, the interviewer spends a few minuets explaining the position and how it fits into the organisation. The interviewer then asks some predetermined questions about the candidate background and education, and attempts to clarify any inconsistencies in the resume. Typically, the interviewer inquires whether the applicant has any questions about the position, and concludes the interview by explaining what the applicant can expect to occur next in the selection process. Telephone interviews are usually highly focused and last about 10 to 15 minutes. The interviewer must also remember that while you are evaluating applicants by phone, good candidates will also be evaluating you. But don’t be afraid to ask hard questions such as reasons for leaving a job, accounting for periods of unemployment, relations with supervisor and specific details about work or educational background. Be sure to represent your organisation well by remaining professional, intact and courteous.

The advantages of telephone interview are fast, easy to accomplish and cost efficient. This method of interviewing is an effective way to narrow the field of applicants to those who will be offered a personal interview. When there are any possible negative factors about the position or your organisation, telephone interview give the prospect a chance to discuss it before extending an invitation for an interview. The surprise element of telephone interview will benefit the interviewer because the applicant is normally not prepared; therefore, not ready to manipulate any answers because the applicant might not have their resume in sight. The disadvantages of telephone interview are that it eliminates the possibility of evaluating an applicant’s nonverbal behaviour, usually known as “body language”. In addition, it’s easy for an interviewer to judge a candidate on the basis of “telephone presence” instead of mandatory success factors. People who would otherwise make excellent candidates may not have good telephone communication skills. Interviewers must never call an applicant at work to conduct job interviews. This is not only unethical; it put the applicant in an awkward position as other people might be nearby who can hear the conversation. I strongly recommend the call to be made to the person’s home in the evening or after their working hours. Telephone interviews are not as good as face-to-face interviews when you are dealing with complex issues, moreover interviews are often conducted at times that are convenient to the applicant, but not for the interviewer (evenings, early mornings, weekends). Telephone interviews at an applicant home can involve many potential distractions like friends stopping by, calls on other lines and background noise. Bottom-line, telephone interview is economical, quick, and create an element of surprise. Always use telephone interviews as part of your tool for “narrowing or winnowing the field”.

The Common Traditional Interview

Usually this interview method is focused on the candidate and conducted by one person. The interviewer usually starts the interview with a question like “please tell me about yourself” and follow-up with other common questions like, “what are your strengths and weaknesses?”; “what do you hope to achieve in five years time?” and “why are you interested in working with us?” This interviewing method is commonly used by small-medium size organisations (with no recruiting department), and it’s not uncommon in large organisations and government offices. This traditional method of interviewing is totally outdated and not consistent with the rapid growth of new business methodologies and technologies. Most advance organisations no longer use such method of interviewing.

Here are some characteristics of the traditional interview: usually, the questions are often vague, unfocused and theoretical; candidates are allowed to theorise and generalise about their back-ground and experience; very few questions have follow-up probes to obtain more specific information; candidates who have become skilled at interviewing often gain control of the interview and tend to redirect attention to areas of their choice, which will totally change the purpose of the meeting; the interviewer may take some notes during the interview, but note taking is not tremendously important, furthermore, the interviewer will eventually miss out certain important answers when he/she is taking down notes, moreover if the interviewer uses an electronic recorder, he/she will look unprofessional, and it’s illegal to record the interview without prior permission from the candidate, because some questions or answers could be personal related; and interviews can easily drift into rapport-building sessions where the interviewer could end-up hiring the candidate based on same personal interests.

Have you noticed that there are some employment and placement agencies providing accessible interview guidelines on the internet & books to job hunting candidates, on how to answer common interview questions? That’s why the traditional interview questions are often predictable and most candidates have rehearsed and memorised the answers in advance. To them is just like taking an oral examination test, and personally this method of interviewing have always bothered me. Some managers might disagree with me, but I am convinced that only an expert interviewer is capable and able to detect well rehearsed answers. Frankly, averagely, how frequent does an operational manager conducts interviews. Probably none in a year, this makes him/her an unskilled interviewer. Yes, I agree that there are expert interviewers hired to conduct interviews, but are they rightfully qualified to judge the candidates, moreover ask the most specific questions relating to the job-tasks? Moreover, how can they constructively judge? Do they know whether the answer is acceptable when they have no direct relationship with the job-tasks? I believe the most appropriate person to conduct the interview is the operational manager based on his/her knowledge on the job-tasks, but the down fall is, the manager lacks interviewing skills.

Then, too, there’s the matter of honesty. Using the traditional interview format, there’s absolutely no way of knowing whether a candidate is telling the truth or engaging in pure fantasy. Furthermore, the traditional interview offers the candidate who’s well rehearsed or proficient in the art of interviewing a tailor-made opportunity to eclipse those who are better qualified for the job.

But the worst part of this method is the contribution it makes to poor hiring decisions. Because interview of this type often lack substance, “gut feeling” frequently replaces solid, objective judgements based on the candidate’s strengths and competencies. It’s more like taking a gamble. Personally, I know a person who hires based on the candidate’s looks and his own “gut feeling”. But after a few days, he would come complaining to me that he made the wrong decision and don’t know how to amend his mistake. In some countries, employees are protected by the industry and government agencies. It’s easy to hire, but it’s hard to sack an employee. To overcome this issue, he had to re-hire another more capable person, and now he has two person to do the same job, which will eventually create conflicts, confusions and wastage.

Never confuse the quality of an interview with the quality of a candidate. A good interviewer seeks to match the skills and competencies of an applicant with the mandatory success factors of the job; a good candidate is one who closely matches what is being sought. A candidate with great interviewing skills is not necessarily a great candidate for the job. So beware!

The advantage for this method of interviewing provides an opportunity to engage in a rapport-building exercise that may be enjoyable and the disadvantages are numerous. In my opinion, the traditional interview and the poor hiring decisions that it inspires, is a sure-fire way for an organisation to guarantee itself a high percentage of hiring mistakes. The fact is, the traditional interview no longer works and probably never did. The only tip I can provide is, if you need to conduct such an interview method, make sure you combine another method of interviewing.

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Models for Job Interviews

Frankly as managers, we face a difficult task of hiring people, moreover firing the same candidate we initially hired for the job. If our hiring decisions are wrong; it will look bad on us. Why did we make wrong decisions? Because we didn’t use the right interview models to discover more about the candidate and lack of information causes us to make bad decisions. The bottom-line is, how can we exploit that short-time spend with various candidates to widely gain information.

There are various types of commonly interviews used in the hiring process for the purpose of selecting the most qualified candidate for the job. I will discuss the major types commonly used by major organisations and the advantages and disadvantages of each. I will also provide some tips for success.

Mutual Exploration

We are all aware that the primary purpose of a job interview is mutual exploration. It works both ways for the benefit of the employer and candidate. The employer wants to discover more about an applicant’s qualification for the job and the applicant wants to discover more about the employer, as well as the opportunity that the employer has to offer. The exploration is a learning process for both parties, each of whom develops understandings and expectations.

As an interviewer you can use several interview formats to benefit your interview. Each format is designed to elicit specific information about a candidate’s qualifications for the job while affording the candidate an opportunity to ask pertinent questions of the employer. However, the formats differ significantly in the way we accomplish these goals. As a result, the type and quality of information obtained can vary from format to format. Therefore, as an interviewer it’s very critical to choose the best format because using the right format is crucial to hire the right person for the job. Remember, we don’t want to end up sacking people and most managers would prefer to avoid such situations. I know I would.

I will gradually discuss about the following six major types of job-interviews which are commonly used in my upcoming posts.

The common traditional interview;
Telephone interview method;
Stress interview;
Team interview – which are becoming increasingly popular;
Situational interview – a hypothetical approach; and
Structured behavioural interview – which will be discussed in 2 parts.

Basically, this discussion will benefit both the employer (managers) and in a way create awareness for candidates seeking jobs.

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