10+ Pre-screening interview questions to use in your surveys

Do you want to carry out a correct and programmed strategy in your interview process but need to know how? So, the solution is straightforward! Pre-screening surveys allow you to manage the hiring process more effectively by learning basic information about potential candidates. Conducting these surveys is a great way to determine which candidates to interview in more detail.

In this article, we talk about what a pre-screening interview is and why you should use it. We also include 10+ sample pre-screening interview questions and answers you can ask potential employees in your survey. Apart from this, you can see step-by-step instructions on how to create a pre-screening interview survey.

What is a pre-screening interview?

Pre-selection interviews are preliminary interviews with potential candidates conducted by hiring managers before official interviews.

Conducting a pre-screening interview allows the employer to assess employees' interest in the position, prioritize tasks, and obtain information about potential candidates' job requirements and open positions. It is usually conducted over the phone, via video chat, or online surveys.

Why to ask pre-screening interview questions

You learned what pre-screening interview surveys are. Now it's time to know why you should use these surveys. These surveys will benefit you in many ways, helping you effectively conduct your recruitment process. Below, you can see some of the most obvious benefits:

10+ Essential pre-screening interview survey questions to ask potential employees

To manage a more effective recruitment process, you can ask potential employees pre-interview screening questions about their salary expectations, career goals, previous employers, and previous work experiences in your survey. Asking the right pre-screening questions is crucial in selecting qualified candidates and ensuring time management. 

Below, you can see 10+ preliminary screening interview questions examples you can ask in your survey:

1. What do you know about our organization?

Using this question, you can find out what level of knowledge the candidate applying to your company has about your business. Obtaining this information shows whether the candidate has researched your company's work areas. In this way, you will discover how much your candidates care about their application and their willingness and motivation for the working environment.

2. Why do you want to work in our company?

Through this question, you can find out why your candidate wants to work with your company. Learning this also lets you know about your candidate's interest in the company and motivation to work. Thus, you can identify candidates compatible with your company culture based on your answers.

3. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Through this question, you can find out what your candidates' long-term future goals are. It allows you to evaluate the candidate's plans in terms of career goals in your company. Thus, you can determine the development desires of your candidates and accordingly select the suitable candidate for your company.

4. Do you have the necessary qualifications for the position?

This question can help you determine whether your candidates meet the criteria you are looking for. Thus, the data you collect can inform you about whether the candidates have the necessary equipment and skills for the position in question and their ability to implement them.

5. Why are you interested in this position?

This question can help you determine whether your candidates are interested in your company, the position they applied for, and the reason for their interest. It can also help you understand their interest in the responsibilities and duties of the position they are interested in. The information you obtain reveals how the position matches the candidate's career goals and enthusiasm for this job.

6. Can you describe yourself in three words?

Using this open-ended question, you can see how your candidates express themselves most clearly and concisely. At the same time, this question allows you to observe your candidates' self-expression skills. It is an effective method for you to understand their self-awareness and their adaptation to the characteristics of the job.

7. What are your salary expectations for the position you are interested in?

This question allows you to learn the salary expectations for the position your candidates are interested in. In this way, you can find out whether the candidate's financial expectations are within the range determined by your company. You can observe your candidate's command of the market and evaluate their suitability for your conditions.

8. How would you describe your ideal work environment?

Through this question, you can determine the ideal working environment for your candidates. You can see whether the work environment ideals you obtain from the feedback are compatible with your company environment. Based on the results, you can also make a general assessment of your work environment and make improvements in necessary areas.

9. What are your preferred working hours?

You can learn about your candidates' working hours by asking this question in your survey. Based on your results, you can interpret whether your candidates can adapt to your company regarding working hours. This question reveals the potential of your potential employees to adapt to the company in terms of work-life and life balance.

10. When will you be available to start the relevant position?

Using this question, you can find out when your candidates will be ready for the position they are applying for. Thus, you can see whether your company fits the period it is looking for and make evaluations about the appropriate start date. You can also ask questions to understand your candidates' current job position and how quickly they can prepare for their new job.

💡You can also read our article on persona interview questions, which we think will help you learn more about the personalities of your potential employees.

How to create a pre-screening interview survey for free

Conducting a pre-screening interview survey is a valuable tool that you can use to save time and then conduct formal interviews with qualified candidates. You can benefit from these surveys when hiring for any position. Now, it's time to learn how to create these surveys. You can easily create your pre-screening interview survey by following the 5 steps below:

Step 1: Log in or sign up for forms.app

Login to your account

You can start to create a pre-screening interview survey by signing up for an account using the forms app. You can go directly to the platform if you already have an account. You can also log in or sign up using your Google, Apple, or Facebook accounts.

Step 2: Start from scratch, choose a template, or generate with AI

Choose a beginning option

Once logged in, click the Create Form button to create a new form. You can create your pre-screening interview survey for free according to your goals. You can also use and optimize other ready-made interview form templates on the forms.app.  Also, you can get help from forms.app AI for creating your survey.

Step 3: Add your questions

You need to add your survey questions according to your goals. Based on your goals, you can use the 10+ pre-screening interview survey example questions above in your survey. forms.app offers a variety of question types, such as multiple-choice, short-answer, and long-answer. Adding your survey open-ended question types increases effectiveness and helps you pre-evaluate your potential candidates.

Add your interview questions

💡Also, you can benefit from our article about interview questions for choosing the best candidate when adding your questions.

Step 4: Customize your form design

Change the design of your form

forms.app offers rich content about your survey design. Once you have added all the questions, you can easily select a theme and change colors. You can enrich your form images, a logo, and a cover.  Finally, you can tailor colors, fonts, and other overall design tools to create a survey that mirrors your company's identity. Additionally, you can choose a new background image and a view type.

Step 5: Share your survey and analyze the results

You can distribute your survey using various sharing options from the forms app. You can share your survey on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp. You can also embed your survey on your website and use QR codes. 

Share your survey

Once you have gathered feedback, you can use the forms app's features, like statistics and filters, to analyze survey responses. This way, you can better interpret the data you collect and evaluate your results more efficiently. Now, you are ready to start to create your pre-screening interview survey!

Check the results

Wrapping it up

Regardless of the job you do, the qualifications of your employees positively affect the success of your business. Therefore, choosing qualified candidates is an important point. In addition, the critical point is to achieve this effectively and programmatically with as little effort as possible. It is where pre-screening interview surveys come into play.

In this article, we talk about what a pre-screening interview is and why you should use it. We also included 10+ sample pre-screening interview questions for employers and team members, with the answer options you can ask in your survey. You can also see why you should ask these questions. Finally, you can see how to create a pre-screening interview survey.