Phone screening interviews: how to get through the first 15 minutes

What the screener is checking

The person on the phone is often a recruiter or someone from HR rather than the hiring manager. Their job is to narrow a long list to a short one, and they usually work from a short checklist agreed with the manager. They want to confirm that your CV is accurate, that you meet the essential requirements, that you can start when the role needs someone, that you have the right to work in New Zealand, and that your pay expectations are in range.

They are also listening for how you come across: whether you are clear, whether you have read the ad, and whether you sound interested in this role rather than any role. People can lose a job at the screen, usually through a vague answer, a mismatch on pay, or not knowing which job the call is about.

So keep the ad in front of you. If the call comes unexpectedly and you are not somewhere you can talk, it is fine to say so and offer a time later that day.

The three questions you will get and the salary one

Screens often come back to the same few questions:

• "Tell me about yourself." Two minutes, not ten: what you do now or did last, the one or two things you are best at, and why this role is the logical next step.
• "Why are you interested in this role?" Something specific to the employer or the work, which shows you read the ad and looked them up.
• "Why are you looking?" or "Why did you leave?" A short, neutral answer that looks forward. If you were made redundant, say so plainly.

Expect practical questions too: your notice period or start date, whether you have a driver's licence if the role needs one, and your right to work. Then, very often, the salary question, which deserves its own preparation.

Our guide to NZ job interview questions covers these and the harder ones that follow at the full interview.

Answering pay questions with a range

"What are your salary expectations?" is a normal question at this stage, and answering it well saves both sides wasted time. Give a range you have researched, anchored on what similar roles pay, and say it confidently: "For a role like this, I'm looking at $78,000 to $85,000, depending on the full package."

If you are asked what you earn now, you can answer, or you can say that you would rather focus on what this role is worth, and give your range. You do not have to share your current salary. If you do not yet know enough about the role, it is also fair to ask for their band first: "Could you share the range budgeted for the role? I'm happy to say where I sit in it."

Work out beforehand what the bottom of your range means after tax, so you know which offers you could actually accept. Our guide to salary negotiation in New Zealand explains how to build the range, and our article on answering the salary expectations question has more wording to borrow.

Asking about the process and timeline

Near the end you will usually be asked whether you have any questions. Use the chance to find out what happens next, because a screener usually knows the process well:

• "What are the next steps, and when are you hoping to make a decision?"
• "Who would I meet at the interview, and what format does it take?"
• "Is there anything in my background you would like me to clarify?"

The last question gives you a chance to deal with a concern while you are still on the call, rather than finding out later that a gap in your CV quietly counted against you.

Logging the call and the next step immediately

Within five minutes of hanging up, write down who called, their role, what they asked, what you said about pay, and exactly what happens next and by when. A week later, when a hiring manager calls, you will want to know what you told the screener, and you may be in several processes at once.

Set a date for your own follow-up too. If they said you would hear by Friday, note the following Tuesday as the day to check in.

When an interview does follow, the notes from the screen are the start of your preparation. The demo opens with no account and shows an interview prep pack built from a job's saved details: the contact on the job and your notes on them, your answers to the likely questions, your salary anchor and three questions to ask them. It uses no AI, and it is part of the free plan.

Log the call before the next one comes