What is a prescreening interview?
A prescreening interview is a brief, initial conversation between a recruiter or hiring manager and a candidate to assess whether the candidate meets the basic qualifications for a role. It typically takes place over the phone or via video call and helps employers narrow down the applicant pool before moving candidates to more in-depth interviews.
At this stage, your goal is to find applicants who fit the role’s requirements and are interested in working for your company.
To refine your search for quality candidates, it can be helpful to ask preliminary questions related to their job experience, skills, reasons for applying and work availability.
A prescreening interview acts as an introductory meeting before the formal interview process. By building rapport before the first interview, you may help candidates feel more comfortable and create a more relaxed atmosphere for other interviews.
12 prescreening interview questions
Asking these interview questions early in the hiring process may help your HR team prescreen potential employees, ensuring they align with your company’s needs and the job’s requirements.
1. What is your current role and key responsibilities?
Asking about a candidate’s current or most recent job, including their main responsibilities, can help you assess if their skills and duties are relevant or transferrable to your company’s open position. You can also determine how their current responsibilities can benefit the team or department if hired.
2. What relevant experience makes you suited for this position?
Finding candidates with relevant work experience can streamline the hiring process and help new employees adjust to their roles. When evaluating whether a candidate has the right background for the position, consider their past jobs, internships, volunteer or freelance experience.
They may also have relevant experience through academic work, including portfolio projects or work-study experience.
3. What specific skills do you have that are most relevant to this job?
This question can provide insight into the candidate’s understanding of the role and whether they have the necessary hard and soft skills. This question is especially useful for skills-based hiring, where candidates are selected for their skills, not education or experience.
Hiring managers may look for soft skills, such as emotional intelligence or time management, when filling a leadership role or hard skills, such as cloud computing when hiring a data scientist.
4. Can you describe how you’ve resolved a previous challenge?
Asking how candidates handle workplace challenges can help you identify whether they possess the skills you seek. Workers who can navigate obstacles while fulfilling their job duties are an asset to your team. How an applicant answers this question can provide insight into their dedication and problem-solving skills.
5. Can you describe a time you had to learn a new skill for a job?
Asking this pre-interview question helps you determine the candidate’s ability to learn new skills and adapt to changes. It may also highlight their initiative and ability to complete job duties, overcome challenges and evolve with their industry.
6. Why are you interested in this position?
The answer to this question can demonstrate what aspects of the role appeal to the candidate and what attracted the candidate to your organization. It also helps you gauge their interest and how their career aspirations align with your company’s culture and mission.
7. Are you available to start by [specific date]?
A prospective candidate’s availability should align with your company’s timeline and operational needs. Asking this question can help you coordinate their potential start date.
8. Can you describe a project you worked on as part of a team?
If your goal is to cultivate a strong team culture, choose applicants who work well alongside others. Employees who are comfortable collaborating may better handle complex projects and maximize efficiency.
9. What’s your preferred work environment?
Asking candidates about their preferred work environment can show whether they’re willing to adapt to different work settings. This trait is particularly important if your company operates in various environments. You can also use this opportunity to describe your work environment and office setup to the candidate.
10. How do you handle tight deadlines or high-pressure situations?
The preinterview process helps you identify candidates who can maintain productivity, even with tight deadlines.
Candidates’ answers may demonstrate their work ethic and time management skills.
11. What are your salary expectations?
Determining a potential candidate’s salary expectations helps you address their needs and the company’s budget early in the hiring process.
12. What questions do you have about the role, the team or the company?
By asking this question, you can gauge the candidate’s interest in the position and the company. Their answers may also highlight their critical thinking skills and allow you to clear up any misunderstandings about the role.
How should hiring managers ask prescreening interview questions?
The prescreening process is generally quick and completed over the phone or video chat. This makes it easy to schedule multiple pre-interviews and evaluate a large pool of candidates.
FAQs about prescreening interview questions
What are the typical challenges hiring managers face during the prescreening process?
During the prescreening process, employers may encounter a high volume of applications, time constraints and limited information on applications. By using targeted prescreening questions, you can narrow your focus to candidates with relevant skills and experience.
How should I handle overqualified candidates?
If you interview an overqualified candidate, it may be helpful to understand their motivations for seeking the role. For example, they may want a better work-life balance or to transition to a different industry.
Communicate clearly about the job responsibilities and compensation to make a hiring decision that benefits the candidate and your company.
