[ravenstine]

I hate phone screenings. And that's not because I hate the interview itself, but having the interview over the telecom system. Most recruiters are using a cell phone, and cell-to-cell audio quality is pitiful in today's age. No wonder so many people in my generation don't bother calling anymore! If my ears are straining to make sure I'm hearing the fuzzy-sounding person on the other end of the line, that makes the screening a lot less pleasant.

As much as I agree that companies should be more willing to just have people come in for a quick chat, I'd like for recruiters to reach out through email or text and then setup a Hangouts chat or such. A video call would be sufficient in my book.

EDIT: One of the things that sucks about phone screenings, IMO, is when the interviewer is clearly asking a prewritten set of questions and taking notes as I speak. What I'd like instead is for the interviewer to record the conversation so they don't have to take notes, thus freeing their minds up to having a chill conversation and perhaps getting a better sense of who I am.

[hocuspocus]

I always insist on using VoIP or videochat. Nowadays most companies use Zoom, Google Meet or the like. But even then, and with a gigabit wired connection on my end, it's usually not perfect. :/

[walshemj]

That's because both ends are not using proper equipment - real sound cards real microphones.

[GhostVII]

Also I have a pay as you go phone, since I never call anyone, so a phone screening can quickly cost me $20 if it goes for more than half an hour.

[Sean1708]

They're making you ring them?! That's ridiculous! Personally I would just flat out refuse, there is absolutely no excuse for them to put the cost on you unless they can't afford to hire you anyway.

[fencepost]

In the US you're generally charged for every minute of a call on the phone regardless of whether it was incoming or outgoing. Most postpaid plans now include unlimited minutes, but prepaid are limited.

I believe European carriers were traditionally caller pays, not sure if that's still the case.

[GhostVII]

No, they call me, but I get charged for incoming calls apparently. I thought I didn't, but then I ran out of balance half way through a phone interview.

[reificator]

https://voice.google.com and a PC headset will get you free calls over the internet.

[plasticchris]

I get how annoying being asked a preselected set of questions is, but if it's being done right it's called structured interviewing and one of the more predictive methods. For example this is how Triplebyte does it.

[scarface74]

As an interviewer, I’m not interested in having a “chill conversation”. I’m interested in knowing whether you have the minimum set of qualifications to know whether it’s worth the time to go through the trouble of setting up the in person interview, reserving a room, setting up the computer with my code interview, scheduling a block of time with other developers, etc.

[ravenstine]

As an interviewee, I'm not interested in only answering questions that are easily answered by my resume so you can tick boxes. If I can't get a sense on the company spirit and you aren't going to treat me like a human being over the phone, why would I want to work for you when there are better companies looking for culture fits?

The sentiment is mutual.

[braythwayt]

You don know that anybody can put anything on a résumé, right?

We can talk about how much we hate doing anything over a voice call, but it’s ludicrous to think that interviewers should never ask a question that could be answered by reading the résumé.

For example, we have some Scala code in our analytics stack at my work. I have worked with it, but I avoid touching it and honestly, I am not a Scala programmer.

I have been at this company for 3 1/2 years, on this team for one year. Some people in such a situation will say that they have 3 1/2 years of Scala, an outright fabrication.

Others will say that they have 1 year of Scala, which is kinda-sorta true on some bad-faith, you-can’t-call-me-a-liar planet.

If I put Scala on a résumé, I would totally expect someone to drill down and find out if I was using it every day, whether I was writing big chunks of code or just fixing the odd bug and so on.

I wouldn’t highlight Scala, personally, but what if I put JavaScript down? Given how tenuous Scala might be, wouldn’t an interviewer want to know if my JavaScript experience is “real” or not? I know that I use JS almost every day and Scala almost never, but my interviewer doesn’t know that I have such scruples, so they are supposed to ask me questions about JavaScript that my résumé answers, then drill down and corroborate.

[ravenstine]

There seems to be a misunderstanding with what I'm talking about. I'm not saying that phone screenings shouldn't be about qualifications. My point is that if through that process I'm made to feel like a number, that gives me a bad impression of the rest of the business relationship. If the person doing the screening comes off as friendly, maybe enthusiastic, and we can have a pleasant 2 way chat, then I'm much more likely to move forward with the process.

To provide contrast, I had a phone screening yesterday where the screener was only asking yes/no questions that were easily answered by my resume, didn't want me to go into much detail, and didn't seem friendly at all. Why would I want to move forward with that company? There are others where I can tell off the bat that they'd be a better culture fit. First impressions do matter.

One of the things I like about a video screening is it usually changes the tone of the conversation towards being a bit less formal.

[scarface74]

My point is that if through that process I'm made to feel like a number

You are a number as an employee, we are all just disposable pieces of the cog. The business transaction is simple. I’ll stay there as long as they are putting money in my account twice a month that is commensurate with my market value and I know they will keep me employed as long as it is in their best interest.

You are just one of a pile of resumes that they are filtering at any one time.

[scarface74]

People lie on resumes either on purpose or they think they know a technology but they don’t really.

[webdood90]

Then you and your company are probably not a good fit for this particular interviewee. It goes both ways.

[walshemj]

If you give that vibe off good candidates will be like "Meh" and drop you.

[scarface74]

I don’t get it. Why is a job anything else but a place I go to get a paycheck, keep my skills marketable, and go home?

While I wouldn’t want to work in a toxic environment, I have no problem with working with a bunch of professionals that all feel the same way and just want to go home to their families, friends, and enjoy other alternatives.

I have no interest in playing foosball, socializing after work, etc.

[walshemj]

How your perceived by your peers does effect your promotion though

[scarface74]

True.

But I gave up getting meaningful raises within a company. My m.o. for the past 10 years has been to look at the market, gain the skills that are paying more, and change jobs.

As far as promotions, that’s not something I care about. 20 years ago, I was sitting at a desk writing code in Visual Studio 1997. Now I am sitting at a desk writing code in Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio Code - making a lot more money of course.

I was a Dev lead for a while, at one company just to put that on my resume, I self demoted, got a job at another company with the same pay, less responsibility, and the chance to fill in some technology gaps for next job as an overpriced consultant.

[xkcd-sucks]

Couldn't you just do that in email though?

[twblalock]

People would cheat by looking up the answers.

[gaius]

They do this on phone screens too. You can hear the keys then their intonation changes as if they are reading text out loud...

[idfoinbvc]

If someone can google exact answer in 15 seconds (to be sure they are saying things correctly), in some situations it's also great. This fact-checking instinct is good.

[gaius]

There is that, but in an interview fluent familiarity is a proxy for experience and regular usage, if someone can just rattle something off it’s a good indicator that they really have been doing it alot.

[walshemj]

Or there are 3 people huddled round some lap top with a pos mic.