Screening Questions Examples

‍

The hiring process can sometimes be overwhelming for hiring teams, especially if the position is a popular one and the applicant pool is large. So how do you determine which of your candidates from that vast pool are actually qualified for the position? Asking pre-screening interview questions is a great tool for determining, at a glance, that the candidates applying for the position have the basic skills and knowledge to qualify them for the position. 

‍

These questions can be quick and do not have to be a complete pre-screening interview, meaning that you can simply provide a short list of questions that will help you determine if a candidate is truly qualified. Some screening questions examples: ask them about a tool they use for their job, an opinion they have about a trend in their field, or ask them to describe a process for handling an issue. Another tip: make sure the answer isn’t super easy to Google but something that requires the candidate to have existing knowledge in order to answer correctly. 

‍

Once these questions are answered satisfactorily, your team can move into the next stage: reviewing applications and resumes. Pre-screening allows you to know that at least at a basic level your candidates are knowledgeable and you are not wasting your team’s time.

‍

If you use interview intelligence software like Pillar as part of your hiring process, you can store the answers to these questions within each candidate’s profile and use their answers as the first portion of their interview process. Depending on what you ask in your pre-screening interview questions, you may even choose to reference them again during the interview and ask candidates to dig deeper into a scenario or process. The purpose of using pre-screening questions is clear and it is a great way to ensure that you’re protecting your valuable time. Need more tools for pre-screening your candidates? Here’s an article about screening candidates more efficiently.

‍

Sample Online Pre Screening Questions

‍

Online pre-screening questions can be a great way to quickly assess if an applicant is a right fit for the job before the interview. Here are some sample online pre-screening questions you can use in your process:

‍

- What experience do you have working in this type of role? This is a simple HR screening question that offers the candidate the opportunity to show off some of their knowledge about the position and provide you with more information about their skills.

- What makes you the best candidate for this role? Or What is your strongest skill and how can you apply it to this job? While these HR screening questions are simple, they require the candidate to think about their skillset and how it aligns with the skills listed in the job description. 

‍

- What do you think are the biggest challenges of this role? If the candidate can answer this question, this provides evidence that they are not only knowledgeable about the role but they also have practical knowledge about the kinds of challenges that they might encounter in the position. 

‍

By asking these sample pre-screening questions, you can get a better idea of whether or not an applicant is qualified for the job and if they are a good fit for your team. They will also give you an opportunity to learn more about the candidate before determining whether you want to take them to the next stage of the interview process. 

‍

Screening Questions For Recruiters

‍

Utilizing a pre-screening questionnaire can help you and your hiring team keep track of which candidates have been asked which questions as well as what their answers are. If your company works with outside talent acquisition teams, providing screening questions for recruiters to ask candidates can also give you the ability to screen candidates further. some recruiters will ask these questions of candidates and know quickly whether the candidate is a good fit. If they are unable to answer the questions accurately, the recruiter may pass on their resume, only putting it before you if the answers are satisfactory according to your standards. 

‍

Utilizing recruiters can be a great way to ensure that your team is presented with candidates that are highly qualified. Otherwise, you may be limited to the pool of candidates that happened to find your job ad on LinkedIn or some other job posting board online. 

‍

Looking for a phone screen questions template? Your team can create a list of questions, or generate a list using your interview intelligence software like Pillar to select a list of questions that are appropriate for the early stages of the interview. These questions could be asked by the person who reaches out to the candidate, conducting a short, 15-minute or less discussion during which questions are asked casually in conversation. Some candidates may feel pressured to answer questions correctly in a formal interview, but in a short casual conversation, it can be easier to gauge whether the candidate has the knowledge they need to have for the role. 

‍

Hr Screening Questions And Answers

‍

You may be wondering about the best way to select and utilize phone screening interview questions for your candidates. If you’re using interview intelligence software, you can design a phone screen questions template to ensure that all of your candidates are being screened with the same questions. Having this simple comparison of answers, along with your customized notes about their responses, can be a great tool for you to use to sort your candidates by knowledge, skill, and qualifications. 

‍

Here is this process in action:

‍

1. You create a job description and post it to various job boards. 
2. Create your HR screening questions and answers that you would consider acceptable, given the nature of the role. 
3. At this time, you will likely also let your recruiters know that you are looking to hire and provide them with the pre-screening questions you’ve identified. 
4. When a candidate applies or a recruiter identifies a candidate that they think is qualified, present them with the questions in your phone screen questions template, preferably in a conversational way so that the candidate feels comfortable and so that you get the most unprompted and honest answers from them. 

‍

Although we covered this earlier, it can help to have some phone interview questions and answers examples created for the members of your team or recruiters conducting the pre-screening, as well as your team members who will be reviewing the applications and resumes. One of the most valuable aspects of using interview intelligence, whether software or processes, is to take the subjectivity out of the hiring process so that your team hires people who are truly qualified for their positions and will provide the necessary value to your team. 

‍

Pre Screening Interview

‍

Now that you have conducted your pre-screening interviews and identified your most qualified candidates through your HR screening questions, it should be a lot simpler for your team to sort your job applications and determine who will be going to the next level in your interview process. Your early preparation of pre-screening interview sample questions and answers should have set the groundwork for your hiring team in determining your most qualified candidates for the position and prepared you for the next step: the interview.

‍

If you are using interview intelligence software to interview your candidates, many of the important things will already be laid out for you, including the questions you have prepared, those you have already asked along with the answers that the candidate provided, your team’s notes about the responses and the interview itself, and more. Interview intelligence software is designed to make your life and your hiring process easier, as well as improve the quality of your hires. 

‍

Want a demo? If you are not already using Pillar’s interview intelligence software, we could love to share more information with you to help you get started. 

‍