[PragmaticPulp]

This is a pipeline problem. You shouldn’t be getting candidates on site for scheduled interviews if you can rule them out with a few minutes of conversation.

Start doing phone screens. Ask those questions during the phone screen. Offer to schedule phone screens whenever convenient for the candidate, including evenings and weekends. Be flexible to their schedule.

If someone does end up on site and is obviously not a good fit, you shouldn’t spend an entire day wasting both your time and theirs. However, it’s not a good look if you’re sending candidates out the door after only 10 minutes, because it shows that your hiring process is broken. Some of those candidates will report about it online, which can result in a bad reputation.

In the odd event that a candidate makes it onsite but is obviously unqualified (phone screen false positive) I continue for up to about 45 minutes with the interview. I owe it to them for asking them to come on site, and at minimum it gives them a chance to see what we’re looking for and work on those skills to apply again later. Some times people are just nervous and end up performing much better in the second half of the interview, so it’s not a waste of time. Don’t spend more than about 45-60 minutes at most on dead-end interviews, though, and always remain professional and cordial.