Phone Screen Questions and Candidate Scorecard

Write a 15 to 20 minute phone screen for [BUSINESS_NAME]. One person, [SCREENER], runs it for one [ROLE] at a [BUSINESS_TYPE]. This is the call between the job ad and a hire. It is not the job posting, not the welcome email, and not payroll. The owner fills in the facts. You turn them into a script they can read on the phone, a 1 to 5 scorecard, a blank note page, and short text they can send after the call. Do not draft the job ad or the first-day email. Those are different pages. Facts, and only these facts: - Who runs the call: [SCREENER] - Role: [ROLE] - Business type: [BUSINESS_TYPE] - Must-haves they already wrote, or "none": [MUST_HAVES] - Pay range they already wrote, or "none": [PAY] - Schedule they already wrote, or "none": [SCHEDULE] - How the person has to get to the work, or "none": [TRANSPORT] - Nice-to-haves, which are not knockouts, or "none": [NICE_TO_HAVES] - The next step they already offer if the person passes, or "none": [NEXT_STEP] - Who they confirm hiring questions with: [ADVISOR] Format: 1. Title, [BUSINESS_NAME], version v1.0, the role from [ROLE], and a blank "done" line with [SCREENER]'s name. 2. Purpose in one sentence: [SCREENER] uses 15 to 20 minutes to hear whether this person can do the [ROLE] work [BUSINESS_NAME] wrote down, can work the schedule, can take the pay, and can get to the jobs. 3. A "stay on the work" line, in these words: Ask about the work, the schedule, the pay, and getting to the job. Do not ask age, date of birth, graduation year, family plans, pregnancy, marital status, children, childcare, religion, national origin, birthplace, citizenship, disability, medical history, or an arrest record. If they bring one of those up, write "they raised a personal topic" and do not ask a follow-up. Do not score them down for that. This is general good practice for keeping the call on the work. It is not legal advice. 4. An opener [SCREENER] can read. About 1 minute. Name [BUSINESS_NAME], the [ROLE], that the call is 15 to 20 minutes, and that questions at the end are welcome. Do not add a slogan. 5. Six to ten questions. Number them. Each one has a useful answer and a weak answer, as a pattern, not as a quote from a real person. Always include these when the facts support them: - One question about recent work in [ROLE]. Useful: they name a recent job, what was wrong, and what they did. Weak: they name no job. - One question for each item in [MUST_HAVES], unless that would push the list past 10. If there are too many, group the leftovers into one question and say which items are in it. If [MUST_HAVES] is blank or "none", do not invent a skill. Write "No must-haves in the facts." - Schedule, from [SCHEDULE] only. Ask which of those days and hours they can work, and when they can start. If [SCHEDULE] is blank or "none", ask what days and hours they can work, and write "No schedule in the facts. Do not reject them for hours you did not write." - Pay, from [PAY] only. Ask what pay they are looking for. If [PAY] is blank or "none", still ask what pay they want, and write "No pay range in the facts. Do not reject them for a rate you did not write. Do not invent a market rate." - Transport, from [TRANSPORT] only. Ask whether they can get to the work the way [TRANSPORT] describes. If [TRANSPORT] is blank or "none", write "No transport requirement in the facts. Do not reject them for a commute you did not write." Do not ask where they live. - If you still have room under 10 questions, one "what do you want to know about [BUSINESS_NAME]" question. That question is not a knockout. 6. For a lift, a license, a tool, or a shift that is in [MUST_HAVES], ask whether they can do that task. Do not ask how their back is, what year they were born, or who watches their kids. 7. Nice-to-haves, from [NICE_TO_HAVES] only, after the scored questions, marked "not a knockout." If [NICE_TO_HAVES] is blank or "none", write "No nice-to-haves. Do not add one." 8. A scorecard. Five lines, scores left blank. Score 1 to 5. 1 is cannot, or no example. 3 is one real example that matches the line. 5 is a clear example plus the next step they would take. Weights stay fixed: - Must-haves: blank times 3 - Schedule: blank times 2 - Pay: blank times 2 - Transport: blank times 2 - Recent work: blank times 1 - Weighted score: add those five results, then divide by 10 Print the rules in these words: A score of 1 on must-haves, schedule, pay, or transport is a reject. Do not average a knockout away. Pass: no score of 1 on those four lines, must-haves is 3 or higher, and the weighted score is 3.5 or higher. Hold: no score of 1 on those four lines, and either must-haves is 2 or the weighted score is 3.0 to 3.4. Reject: any of those four lines is 1, or the weighted score is under 3.0. If the schedule, pay, or transport line was "no fact," do not score that line as a knockout. Say which line is off the scorecard. Then print this practice math, labeled as practice math, not a person: 4 times 3 is 12, 5 times 2 is 10, 4 times 2 is 8, 3 times 2 is 6, 3 times 1 is 3. 12 + 10 + 8 + 6 + 3 = 39. 39 divided by 10 is 3.9, which is a pass. Do not copy these numbers onto an applicant. 9. A blank note page: role, applicant, phone, date, screener, their words question by question, the five scores, and a line for a personal topic they raised. No follow-up on that line. 10. Three short messages, each under 320 characters for the text versions: - Next step, only if the result is pass. Use [NEXT_STEP] only. If [NEXT_STEP] is blank or "none", write "Needs a day, a time, and a place before you send the next-step text." - Decline text and a short email, if the result is reject. Thank them for the call. Say you are not moving forward. No reason. No comparison to another person. - Hold text, if the result is hold. Thank them. Say you are not ready to set the next step. Do not invent the day you will reply. If the result line is still blank, write "Do not send a next step or a decline until the result line is filled." 11. A stop line, in these words: This is not a job offer, not a pay promise, and not legal advice. Confirm the questions and the pass, hold, and reject rules with [ADVISOR] or an employment advisor before you treat a score as a reason to hire or reject. Rules: - If a field is blank or "none", use the empty-line wording in the format. Do not invent a must-have, a pay number, a schedule, a start date, a vehicle, or a score. - Do not fill in scores. The blanks stay blank until [SCREENER] writes them on the call. - Do not add a "culture fit" score, a photo request, or a social-media check. - Do not quote a pay number that is not in [PAY]. - Do not name a statute, a fine, or a state rule. The stay-on-the-work line is the instruction. - Do not name Indeed, LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, or any other product unless that name is written in the facts. - Short lines. Start each question with the words [SCREENER] can say out loud. - No corporate language. No "optimize", "leverage", "stakeholders", "culture fit", "human capital", "circle back", or "ensure compliance". Related, for the owner, not on the script: Job Posting (/prompts/hr-hiring/job-posting-any-role) is the ad before this call. New Hire Welcome Email (/prompts/hr-hiring/new-hire-welcome-email-template) is the note when someone starts. Weekly Staff Schedule and Coverage Check (/prompts/hr-hiring/weekly-staff-schedule-and-coverage-check) is the week after they are on the schedule. Employee Performance Review (/prompts/hr-hiring/employee-performance-review-template) is a later conversation about the work. Employee Offboarding Checklist (/prompts/operations/employee-offboarding-checklist-sop) is the last-day list when someone leaves. This script does not write those. Payroll and new-hire automations are a different page: /automate/category/payroll-hr. The SOP hub is /sop.