Valentina Behrouzi
I'm Val, one of the Marketing Managers here at Teamtailor, responsible for our Global marketing. I love talking about candidate experience and how we can strive to make hiring more inclusive.
There are so many ways to screen candidates, both new and old. Automated questions, video snippets, even AI. Despite this, the classic phone screen has managed to stand the test of time. In our latest episode of Happy Recruiting! Lisa sat down with Kelly Davis, Head of People at Sessions, to dive deeper into the classic phone screen and why it has remained such a pivotal step in the hiring process.
“A phone screen isn’t just about assessing a candidate. It’s about making sure they’re the right fit for your culture and values while also ensuring they leave the call more excited about the opportunity than when they started.”
For Kelly, this first conversation is more than just gathering additional information on the candidate. It’s a chance to excite them, engage them with the company and give them their first real impression of your company beyond just the job description.
Some of the reasons you might consider conducting a phone screen are
Kelly also highlighted some risks associated with skipping this step of the process. According to her internal research, candidates who had not undergone a phone screening were 40% more likely to drop out or ghost during the hiring process.
“Long, complicated processes and excessive in-person stages before candidates even know if a role is right for them lead to higher dropout rates,” Kelly explains. “Most people are happy to do a 30-minute phone call at a convenient time, which is why we use scheduling tools like TeamTailor.”
Kelly explains that using technology helps ensure fairness. Using structured templates means every candidate is assessed using the same criteria to improve consistency.
At Sessions, they make use of scheduling tools to allow their candidates to book their own phone screens at a time that best suits them, leading to a significant reduction in no-shows. Putting the candidates in control reduces ghosting and eliminates the need for back-and-forth emails, saving a big chunk of time.
As well as this, Sessions has pre-defined skills and traits attached to each job role, as well as structured questions to assess them. Based on this, each candidate receives a score of how well they fit with the role. This ensures that hiring managers are assessing candidates based on that criteria, helping to keep things consistent and eliminate bias.
Kelly shared with us some of the key topics she always includes when conducting a phone screening:
Ultimately, a well conducted phone screening can lead to many benefits. It can improve candidate experience, lead to less dropout rates, decrease turnover post-hire and lend to a better reputation for your organization.
“I’ve seen cases where candidates who hadn’t been properly screened were offered jobs, only to reveal they needed sponsorship, expected a salary £20k higher than our maximum, or misunderstood the role requirements—issues that could have been caught early on,” Kelly notes.
Kelly also makes it clear that it’s important to adapt your approach based on whether the candidate actively applied or whether they were sourced proactively (via LinkedIn, referrals etc). For fairness, ensure that the core questions remain the same, but other aspects might need to be tailored if the candidate isn’t actively seeking a new role.
There’s definitely some discourse around whether the phone screening should be replaced by automated solutions. However, Kelly firmly believes they remain an invaluable part of the hiring process.
“They save time in the long run by preventing mismatches and ensuring both the company and the candidate are aligned before moving forward. A well-executed phone screen can be the difference between losing a great candidate and making a successful hire.”
A successful phone screening can lead to a positive candidate experience, get the candidates engaged with your company, prepare them for later stages and most importantly, ensure honesty and transparency about the role, which can lead to higher retention rates.
If you’d like more tips and tricks from Kelly, check out her whole episode on your preferred platform below!
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