Screening Interview Tips: Everything You Need to Know: Part 1

I have been in the recruitment industry for close to two decades screening all kinds of applicants after quickly skimming through the profiles. When I thought of writing this blog as a veteran recruitment professional, my main idea was to share some crucial tips so that candidates can come out with flying colours at the first attempt.

Let us understand why this round is relevant and important.

First and foremost, our aim is to reduce the distance between business and talent planning so that we optimize the hiring process for the right skills at the right time within the right budget by adopting digital initiatives, branding techniques and coming across as an organization that the candidates can trust and relate to!. Correct talent supply with minimal demand gap helps the organizations to achieve its goals and objectives faster.

Amidst the post-pandemic crisis, where the era of COVID-19 complexity is not totally over, the aftermath of the Great Resignation, talent crunch and shortage is still painting a gloomy picture we see a complete shift in the pattern of employee-employer expectations when candidates go about their job search and likewise employers are looking for the correct match to the open opportunities.

Many of you must be wondering that you have all the technical experience and expertise mentioned in the job post, why do you even need to go through a pre-screening round – of course, the trouble of qualifying yourself. Well, you must first understand that daily thousands of applications are thronging the inbox of a recruiter for any position advertised in the market. When they plan screening, they have essentially a few criteria they want to fulfil like cultural fitment, diversity, and technical fitment of the prospective candidates.

It is observed in the recent times that there is a high rate of layoffs in the market. We need dig deeper to understand the market hiring trend in the last two years and why such abrupt layoff situation is arising. Accordingly we make necessary corrections in the hiring process and definitely screening plays a crucial role in the very inception of the game.

If we look at the statistics, there was initially a slowdown in hiring during the first phase of COVID but business increased manifold for the IT industry creating more and more job roles leading to a global hiring spree. This resulted in thoughtless and impulsive hiring in terms of cost, experience, profile authenticity, background and reference check. But the starting point is definitely a foolproof screening mechanism to eradicate any unsuitable applications leading to such mass wrong hiring across the industry!Companies have become cautious and stricter while assessing and evaluating candidates and cracking the interviews starting from screening till the management round is no longer a cakewalk.

Some preparedness as a candidate is required to create a quick impression on the recruiter. This is the most crucial part of your job search. If all goes well, the recruiter moves you to the next stage. But if they come away with a poor or incomplete impression of you, things are unlikely to progress. This conversation usually lasts between 5 and 30 minutes, so the opportunity is short to sum up what’s most attractive to you about the job and the company as well as all that you bring to the table.

Let me jump into the tips without further ado!

Tip #1 – Demonstrate energy and confidence

Recruiters can’t see your facial expressions, there is no in-person connection with you so the way you need to come across over the phone is important. It comes down to the tone of your voice, the energy and confidence in that voice and how you are answering those questions.

• No need to be overtly happy or excited, just be pleasant and calm.
• Be enthusiastic to make the recruiter at the other end feel they really want to meet you.
• You may smile so that it can be heard, and it shows enthusiasm.
• Change your state from a passive to an active state as it changes the voice modulation and helps communicate your message better.
• Don’t take the call from a place you usually relax and enjoy your free time. Sit straight, this can resonate your voice stronger.
• Dress professionally as it makes you feel professional inwardly.
• Count 2-3 seconds before you answer, in one-on-one you don’t have to do this, but it is important to do this in phone interviews. Wait for verbal clues that the other person has finished their bit. Listen to the question, you may pause and think for your answer but don’t let the pause too long.
• If we talk too much, we tend to digress. Make sure responses are short. Phone interview demands the answers to be covered in maximum 2-3 mins. It should be a conversation rather than someone doing the talking all the time. Don’t get boring because then it will be difficult to gauge the recruiter’s train of thought and if they are losing interest in you. Try not to volunteer too much info as this is primarily an info gathering call. Speak once spoken to don’t be too eager to talk.
• Have a list of good questions that will reflect your interest. It can be about:

1. The work culture, how it is to work there.
2. What to expect in the first 3 months
3. Some problem the department is facing and some solutions you can offer

• You are not talking to a robot, so keep the conversation engaging. You need to make the recruiter walk away with a feeling that ‘I want this candidate to be moved to the next stage’ or ‘I want to meet him for the next steps’.

Tip #2 – Give clear, concise, and articulate answers

• You need to sell yourself in an effective and concise way and give answers that are concise, to the point and not blurry. Sometimes candidates give one-word answers which show their lack of interest in the opportunity and recruiters hence may not like to bring you forward and meet the hiring managers. So, prepare your answers ahead of time and be ready. If it is a phone interview, you need to get your point across quickly.
• Make a point in the first 10 seconds – fix your answer, reorganize, rewrite and practice so that you can get your point across quickly. Your answer is required to create an everlasting impression. One suggestion during preparation you may want to record your voice and see if you are coming across as an energetic and interested aspirant.
• Questions you may expect:

1. Can you tell me about your background?
2. Why are you looking for a new job?
3. Where are you in your job search?
4. When could you start working?
5. How much would you like to earn in this position?
6. Are there specific benefits that are important to you?
7. Would it be a deal breaker for you if we don’t offer XYZ (benefits like JB, NP buyout etc) or the salary figure you quoted?
8. Why do you want to leave your current job?
9. What attracted you to apply for this position?
10. Describe your current job responsibilities.
11. What motivates you in a job?
12. What attracted you to our organization and this position?
13. Tell me about your family background.
14. What skills have you recently gained or strengthened?
15. How are your skills a match for this job?
16. What did you do during the year-long gap in your employment (and why did you leave your last employer)?

Tip #3 – Make sure you are a technical fit

Another key factor for succeeding in the screening round is your technical fitment for the job. You must have the right knowledge, qualifications, and experience to do this job. Your profile must match to the position as much as possible. So, while preparing, identify key words in the job description and incorporate them into your response. You must give the recruiter the assurance that you are technically aligned to the job. If there is a slight shift but if you feel if you possess the skills and competence to do the job, you need to give them an idea how you may be able to get things done if given an opportunity.

Tip #4 – Prepare the right resume

Super in-depth analysis of the resume of the happens when recruiters start speaking to you during the screening round. The profile is truly being assessed, difference between your skills and others are scrutinized minutely and you are out of the shortlisting if the profile doesn’t stand out! It should be good enough to pass the HR recruiter’s, manager’s, or perhaps Director/ VP’s checklist. They have their standards so they will compare you with other applicants and decide your fate during the screening interview.

To rise to the occasion of the need of the hour you can prepare a nice, crisp video resume that will create not only an everlasting impression on the employer’s mind, but also shows how you are adapting to the digital world around you.

Tip #5 – Be ready on D-Day

Here are some pointers for the big day:

• Research the company and role well.
• Be in a quiet location with no distraction and no background noise.
• Your phone should be fully charged.
• Turn off all notifications to avoid disturbance during the call.

Hope you found this blog helpful.

My subsequent blogs will speak more on the hiring trends that the winning and growing organizations like us are adopting to in the post pandemic period where the economy is in the recovery stage yet balancing the impending likelihood of economic downturn, inflation and recession. Why is it so difficult hiring the right talent at the right budget and at the right time?

How we manage to attract more and more talent by being branded as an organization that pays well and upholds integrity, flexibility, safety, is focused on well-being and has an energized workforce and learning culture. It is very interesting to observe the ways in which organizations choose candidates and candidates’ expectations from organizations have evolved over the years.

Happy job hunting and visit our careers page to stay updated with our current openings!