A telephone interview is a great time saver during a recruitment process if done correctly. It allows you to narrow down your field of prospective candidates before engaging in face-to-face interviews. However if not done right, it could end up costing you more time then it saves. If you want to ensure that your telephone interview runs smoothly and efficiently, here are a few mistakes you need to watch out for.

1. Failing to Record Your Telephone Interview

A telephone interview can be even more useful if you record it. This simple step can be a big time saver down the road . Taking notes during a telephone interview is great, but you’ll probably be too busy asking questions and listening to the candidate’s answers to write down everything that you want to. Recording your phone call will let you go back and listen to your interview anytime you want. Additionally, if you record phone calls you can let your colleagues listen to it and take a collective decision about the candidate thereby reducing your personal biases that can affect the decision.
However make sure that the candidate you’re interviewing knows that you’re recording the conversation. It may help to know about the call recording laws applying to where you are based.

2. Talking too Much

Of course, you’re excited about your company and the position, but don’t get too carried away. A brief description of the company and the position is fine but you shouldn’t be doing all the talking. Remember, the candidate applied to work for you. So it’s their job to sell themselves to you; it’s not your job to sell your company to them. Don’t use much of the time doing the talking. Let the candidate wow you with what they have to say.

3. Getting too Personal

It’s perfectly fine to ask a candidate about their hobbies, but refrain from diving too deep. Let the candidate answer, but there is no merit in probing into their personal lives. It’s unlikely that a candidate’s hobbies will have an effect on their job performance. Moreover, if the candidate’s hobbies do happen to raise a red flag in your opinion, then you can always decide to skip him and move on to the next candidate.

4. Not Being Specific Enough

While getting too deep into a candidate’s personal life is a no-no, not getting enough detailed information about their professional expertise is an even bigger mistake. In order to make an informed hiring decision about who should move onto an in-person interview, you’ll need to dig deep into the candidate’s experience and knowledge. Ask all the follow-up questions you need to until you are satisfied. And remember, recording your conversation will be really helpful to achieve this.

5. Conducting the Telephone Interview in the Wrong Location

You might think you are supposed to find a board-room or a fancy office to conduct your interview, right? Probably not. What you need is just a quiet place without a lot of distractions or noise. Choose your interview setting wisely.

Have you conducted a phone interview? What were the key takeaways or best practices you learned from your experience? Do share it with us in the Comments section below and help others gain from your experiences.