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Hiring Managers Phone Screen

September 17th, 2008

I had a lovely email conversation with someone who wanted to hire a firm to perform phone screens. That just makes no sense to me. Here’s what happens when a hiring manager performs the phone screens:

  1. When a hiring manager creates a phone screen script, the manager refines the essentials of the job.
  2. Based on the conversation with candidates, the hiring manager refines the job analysis and job description, realizing what is essential as technical and non-technical skills.
  3. The hiring manager can take the conversation in a variety of places, learning more about the candidate. The hiring manager can learn a lot about the candidate, in a very collegial way.
  4. The hiring manager starts building rapport, which if you end up hiring the candidate, is important.

It’s ok if the hiring manager asks a technical lead to handle the phone screens. If the hiring manager works closely with HR and trains someone in HR, maybe that person can help with phone screens (I’ve never seen this work).

But if you really want a technical phone screen, you don’t outsource it. You do it yourself.

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Entry Filed under: manager, phone screen


2 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Monica  |  September 17th, 2008 at 9:09 pm

    Generally true, but when you’re hiring for an expertise you don’t have in-house, outsourcing a (not the) phone screen can make sense. (For instance, a start-up hiring its first QA person — we developers like to think we know what to look for in a QA person, but the good QA people know things we don’t, and tapping that seems smart.)

  • 2. HR World » Blog Arc&hellip  |  September 21st, 2008 at 10:53 am

    [...] Hiring Technical People makes a really good point about why phone screens are something you just don’t outsource. [...]

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