While the “normal” hiring season has long since closed, School Heads are not strangers to the last-minute change of faculty or staff. Despite the urgency of these eleventh hour hiring decisions, you can’t afford to skip comprehensive interviews.
Phone interviews in particular can play a vital role in the interviewing process, as they allow you to determine early on who might do well and who is not suited to the role before you and your search committee invest time and personnel into the in-person interview. With that in mind, we’ve assembled some quick tips on phone interviews to help them proceed as smoothly as possible during this “off season” recruitment.
- Schedule a time to call! You wouldn’t announce an impromptu staff meeting and expect everyone to clear their schedules to attend, would you? Likewise, you can’t call an applicant out of the blue and expect him or her to put everything down at the drop of a hat. By emailing ahead of time to schedule an interview, you’ll be assuring your applicant will be ready and prepared to speak with you.
- Clear your schedule and distractions. Don’t think that just because the applicant can’t see what you’re doing, that you can afford distractions like email or internet browsing. You may miss an interesting detail while your attention is elsewhere. Besides, applicants can sense your inattention over the phone—missed conversation cues, too long pauses, etc.—and will react badly. This applicant may be joining your team very shortly, and the last impression you want to give is one of indifference!
- Have a list of questions prepared. A consistent list of questions will enable you to make direct comparisons between applicants, as well as assist any temporary memory loss when you’re “under the gun,” so to speak. Plus, having an “official” list of questions can discourage discrimination lawsuits. And speaking of questions…
- Don’t ask “what if” questions. Everyone imagines that he or she would perform well under pressure, but it’s not the hypothetical that you want to bank your hopes on. You need to know what the applicant has accomplished, how he or she has done it, and how that track record of success will reflect at your school.
- Take notes and store all papers related to applicants in one central location. This tip might seem obvious, but you won’t remember everything later, so notes are vitally important. Print out your question list for each applicant and write his or her responses under each question, if that helps your organization and memory. It’ll prove very useful later, when you’ve finished the phone interviews and have to select only a handful for in-person interviews. All you’ll have to do is open the applicant’s folder, and all your information will be ready for review.
- Don’t waste anyone’s time. This final tip includes both your time and the applicant’s. If there are qualities that will immediately disqualify the applicant from working for your private school, ask these questions upfront. If you need someone with certain qualifications immediately available when he or she starts work and the resume was unclear, ask for clarification. If the answer is unfavorable, terminate the interview quickly and kindly. (“I’m sorry, but we really need someone with XYZ experience.”) There’s little point in becoming attached to certain applicants if they are ultimately unsuitable for the position.
- A quick note: Be careful of what questions you ask to determine eligibility, as some questions can infringe upon federally protected classes from discrimination and leave your school open to lawsuits. If you’re worried about your school’s interviewing tactics, ask your legal counsel to go over your proposed questions to assess liability. Establishing a paper trail for each applicant and (securely) storing for several months can help prove your school’s innocence in the event of a discrimination lawsuit.
The phone interview can be a quick and easy way to find incredible applicants, even in this hiring “off season,” especially if you follow the tips we’ve listed for you. In future articles, we’ll move on to your in-person evaluation of applicants to see what you should be doing—and what you should avoid at all costs.
Additional ISM resources:
Private School News Vol. 12 No. 2 Twenty-Five Off-Limit Interview Questions
ISM Monthly Update for Division Heads Vol. 7 No. 5 It's Hiring Season—Know What Not to Ask
ISM Monthly Update for Human Resources Vol. 10 No. 10 Avoiding Hiring Mistakes
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 37 No. 1 Systematically Attracting, Developing, Rewarding, and Retaining Faculty: A Mission-Based Model for 21st Century Schools
I&P Vol. 34 No. 12 Internal and External Administrative Candidates
I&P Vol. 38 No. 5 Financial Questions the Head Candidate Should Ask During the Interviews
