Phone Interview Etiquette:
Approaching The Phone Job Interview

The phone interview is typically used by hiring managers to screen possible job candidates rather than having to invite all of them in for longer face to face interviews.

The phone interview is used to then cull the list of potential candidates down to a smaller group of people who meet certain criteria and appear to be suitable for the job.

In my experience, employers who I've worked with who start with an interview over the phone often do so for two main reasons.

First, they might be the type of hiring manager who for whatever reason likes to start with a large group of potential candidates and then quickly go through the list to identify a smaller group that they want to interview face to face in more detail. I once worked with a hiring manager who would always start by interviewing 10-15 candidates over the phone in a rapid, 5-10 minute phone screen. He would then invite those candidates that he liked for a face to face interview.

Second, hiring managers often utilize the phone interview as a method of interviewing out of town candidates who don't live in the same city (or state/province/country) as the hiring company.

A third possible reason for a phone interview could be a screening interview (ie. a technical screen) where they can quickly ask each candidate the same questions and compare answers. As an IT recruiter, I recall setting up numerous phone interviews and many tended to be technical phone screens where the interviewer wanted to gauge both the candidate's technical and communication skills over the phone to start with.