36 Questions Hiring Pros Want to Ask During Phone Interviews

Phone interviews are often the first line of offense and defense when hiring job candidates.

Hiring pros can assess candidates’ skills and backgrounds through resumes and LinkedIn profiles. But phone interviews open the window to their work souls.

It’ll be important that you nail phone interviews because 76% of employers plan to expand headcount in the coming year, according to research from ZipRecruiter. What’s more, nearly 25% of them expect significant increases in headcount, and 53% plan modest increases.

What Phone Interviews Are

First off, don’t plan on making any major life or work decisions based on a phone interview. Instead, consider it a screening. It’s meant to be:

• A casual conversation
• A brief exchange to make introductions between you, the company and the candidate
• Your opportunity to gauge their interest, passion and excitement for the job
• The candidate’s opportunity to ask pressing questions
• The candidate’s opportunity to opt-out of the process, and
• Your opportunity to explain next steps.

What Phone Interviews Aren’t

Equally important is understanding what phone interviews aren’t. They are NOT:

• A full-blown interview
• The time to fully explain the position and the company
• A tense time to cause stress for the candidate, or
• A time to invite the candidate to apply for other positions.

Many hiring pros don’t devote more than 15 minutes to any phone interview. If it goes well, they quickly move toward the next step — an in-person interview — where they can accomplish more. And many HR pros say just 20% of candidates make it to that round.

Knowing that your phone conversations aren’t meant to be full-blown interviews, you want a solid set of questions to ask so you can move forward in the hiring process with only the ideal candidates.

36 Questions to Ask

Here are 36 questions to ask in phone interviews. They’re broken down into categories so you can pick one, two or a few from each for your needs. Because it’s meant to be a brief interview, you don’t want too many questions.

Basic, Get-to-Know-You Questions

• Can you tell me how you fit into your current role? 
• Why are you interested in this position? 
• Why are you looking for a new position?
• What about this position compelled you to apply?
• How did you find out about this role?
• What are your salary expectations?
• If offered the job, how soon could you start?
• What’s one thing under $10 you can’t live without?
• What didn’t I ask you about but should have?

Culture Fit and Motivations

• What type of work environment do you thrive in? 
• What motivates you to excel in your work? 
• What kind of workplace culture have you found fits your style best?
• How do you handle setbacks or disagreements with others at work? 
• What are your career aspirations and how does this role fit into your long-term goals?
• What about this position interests you most?
• How will you be remembered in your last position?
• What are you hoping is different in a new job compared with your current job?
• What kind of challenges do you want in your work?
• What motivates you to come to work every day?
• Tell me about a time when you worked on a major project. What did you do to ensure everything ran smoothly?
• What are some of the most important things you’re looking for in your next career move?

Skills and Experience

• What’s an accomplishment you’re most proud of?
• What are the key skills you have that align with this role? 
• How would your current skills be a match for this job?
• What are the first three things you would do if hired for this role?
• What tasks related to this role would you NOT enjoy?
• Which tasks would you find the most enjoyable?
• What’s the most important skill you have learned in the past six months?
• Describe a time when you had multiple tasks with similar due dates. How did you manage those tasks to ensure you met all the deadlines?

Role Specific

• What’s your understanding of the key responsibilities related to the role? 
• Have you used [relevant software or tool] in previous roles? 
• Can you explain a situation where you had to use [a specific skill required for the job]?
• Can you tell me about your current job responsibilities?
• What style of coaching do you respond to?
• An important skill for this position is X. Can you describe your experience doing X at any previous positions to accomplish Y?
• How long were you responsible for using X to accomplish Y at your current job?

Moving Beyond the Phone Interview

The phone interview is a stepping stone to more interaction and more insight on job candidates. Some will stand out. Some will make it clear they aren’t a good fit.

Remember, phone interviews are meant to be brief. When you know you want to move on with a candidate, keep notes of anything you intend to explore later for in-person, in-depth and longer interviews.

You can even pass along what you’ve learned to other hiring managers who might talk with the candidates later in the process.