Candidate Pre-Interview Questionnaire

Many HR experts recommend the use of a pre-interview questionnaire to gather information from candidates that are soon to interview to be interviewed. A pre-interview questionnaire is a series of questions that allow you to learn more about the candidate prior to the interview. It asks them to provide information related to their job preferences, career goals, how to best manage them, what frustrates them, and what their key motivators are. Generally, this questionnaire is provided only to candidates who are selected for an interview. But in some cases, it may also become a quick "first cut" assessment tool to screen out a few candidates from the original interview pool. Pre-interview questionnaires can:

" Reduce the amount time that managers and recruiters must spend in interviews;
" Allow you do reduce the number of interviews;
" Give you insight into what types of activities they value the most;
" Allow the candidate to provide additional information and provide information specific for the job (since most resumes are not customized to a particular job); and
" Help you improve your offer acceptance rates.

There is no standard format for pre-interview questionnaires. Most firms focus on identifying information about the candidate that is generally not in their resume or that is seldom discussed during interviews because of time limitations. However, some firms also include some actual interview questions in the questionnaire in order to reduce the time required for formal interviews.