Guest Post by MightyRecruiter
With more employers looking to hire temporary workers, it’s likely that recruiting for this kind of role will soon become an important part of your hiring strategy.
But appointing entry-level employees for a single season comes with its own challenges. You have to work fast to get the right people on board. As you’re recruiting for an entry-level job, you’ll be inundated with enough applications to keep you busy for weeks. There’s also added pressure to find someone adaptable that hit the ground running.
So, where do you begin?
Pre-screening interview questions act as the ultimate filter to turn a large candidate pool into a more manageable “puddle,” allowing you to weed out unqualified applicants and focus your time on reviewing top talent. It also helps to standardize your interview process, so you can eliminate bias and compare job seekers who make the shortlist.
Follow the seven steps below to make sure you craft the right pre-screening interview questions:
Understand the role
There’s not much time to train seasonal workers, so you want to quickly identify candidates who are truly capable of doing the job at hand. Take time to understand the most important skills needed for the particular role, then craft pointed questions that assess the candidate’s ability to perform necessary tasks.
Example: If a large chunk of a role involves editing images in Photoshop, be sure to include a question assessing a candidate’s experience with the software.
Identify the deal-breakers
Make a list of all non-negotiable requirements and convert these into straightforward yes/no ‘knockout’ questions. A big one for seasonal workers will be availability, so ask if they’re free during the period you’ll need them on board.
You’ll also want to ask:
- Whether they’re legally allowed to work in the United States
- If they have a driver’s license
- If they would be willing to work overtime if required
Refine your definition of the ‘right fit’
Entry-level workers won’t have much prior work experience, so give thought to other ways you can evaluate and develop questions that suit your needs.
Example: Inquire about volunteer work or extracurricular activities, or ask them to rate their time management skills or problem-solving abilities.
Assess interest and enthusiasm
Chances are, there’ll be plenty of candidates who are casting wide nets and applying everywhere, so it’s important to eliminate applicants who don’t have a real interest in your company. Consider asking about willingness to complete certain tests. Applicants who aren’t truly committed won’t be as responsive at this point.
Example: What appeals to you about this particular opportunity?
Include ‘softer’ questions
While most questions should be job-specific, there’s also room to ask a few broader, more subjective questions that reveal something about personality and emotional intelligence. These questions can give you insights for top candidates that you can explore further in future interviews.
Example: What motivates you to perform well?
Stay away from complex, time-consuming questions
The point of pre-screening is to whittle down the applicant pool as efficiently as possible. Simple, direct questions are best. You don’t want to scare off strong candidates by asking for hours of their time.
Eliminate bias
Be wary of asking questions about age, race, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other personal attributes that are irrelevant to the candidate’s ability to perform the job. Doing so could suggest that your screening practices are bias, which could put you at risk for losing out on great candidates.
MightyRecruiter is an end-to-end recruiting solution that makes previously manual, time-consuming tasks easy, quick, and effective. MightyRecruiter is designed to help you quickly attract, source, recruit, and hire the most relevant candidates to your jobs.
