How to Run a Great Screening Interview
A good screen is a short, structured conversation that tells you whether a candidate deserves a full interview. This plan shows you how to conduct a screening interview by practicing each part out loud with a live AI voice coach that plays the candidate: opening, behavioral questions, probing a weak answer, selling the role and scoring fairly. The coach tells you where you led the candidate, rushed or missed a follow-up.
- Free
- 3 h 20 min in total
- 5 skills
- 5 guided lessons
- 8 spoken practices
Free to start. You practice by voice, so find a quiet spot and use your microphone.
Tell your coach your role and date, and it rebuilds this plan for you.
Make it yours
Run fair, structured interviews that find the right people.
Who this goal is for
- You are a recruiter who runs a lot of phone screens and wants them more consistent.
- You are a hiring manager who interviews only now and then and feels unprepared each time.
- You tend to accept vague answers and only realize later you never got real detail.
- You want your interview scores to rest on evidence rather than gut feel.
About this goal
For recruiters and hiring managers. Practice opening the interview, asking behavioral questions, probing a weak answer, selling the role and scoring fairly. Your coach plays the candidate and tells you where you led, rushed or missed a follow-up.
What you will learn and practice
5 skills, each taught in a guided lesson and then practiced out loud with the coach.
3 h 20 min total5 lessons8 practices
Opening the interview
Skill 1, 30 min, 2 sessionsYou will work with a guide to write a warm, welcoming script and timeline for your upcoming candidate conversations. You will outline how to explain the job, share the schedule, and help the person relax.
- Lesson
Create your welcoming introduction script
15 min - Practice
Welcome a nervous job applicant
15 minThe coach plays a candidate who is clearly nervous and gives clipped answers. You open with your welcome script, explain the role and schedule, and the coach tells you whether they relaxed by the end.
- Lesson
Asking behavioral questions
Skill 2, 45 min, 3 sessionsYou will meet with a guide to learn how to write questions that get candidates to share real work stories. You will practice rewriting questions so they do not accidentally nudge the candidate toward a specific answer.
- Lesson
Plan questions about past work
15 min - Practice
Ask a candidate for real stories
15 minYou ask the coach, playing a candidate, for specific examples from past work. The coach notes any question that invited a hypothetical answer or nudged toward what you wanted to hear.
- Practice
Dig deeper into vague answers
15 minThe coach gives general answers like "we usually" instead of describing what they did. You follow up until you get a concrete situation, their action and the result.
- Lesson
Probing a weak answer
Skill 3, 45 min, 3 sessionsYou will meet with a coach to learn how to spot vague candidate answers and resume exaggerations. You will practice phrasing gentle questions that stay neutral and get to the truth.
- Lesson
Master asking polite follow up questions
15 min - Practice
Get facts from vague responses
15 minThe coach plays a candidate who sounds impressive but stays fuzzy on details. You ask neutral, gentle questions to pin down numbers, timelines and their personal role.
- Practice
Check suspicious claims on resumes
15 minThe coach plays a candidate whose resume overstates a project. You probe the claim politely without accusing them, and the coach checks whether you got to the truth while keeping the tone respectful.
- Lesson
Selling the role
Skill 4, 45 min, 3 sessionsYou will work with a guide to outline the realistic pros and cons of a job you are currently hiring for. Together, you will draft clear answers to tough questions about daily tasks and pay ranges.
- Lesson
Prepare your pitch and answers
15 min - Practice
Pitch the job to a candidate
15 minThe coach plays a strong candidate weighing other offers who asks what the job is really like. You describe the role honestly, including the hard parts, and the coach tells you whether it sounded credible.
- Practice
Discuss pay expectations and details
15 minThe coach asks directly about the salary range, hours and daily tasks. You give clear, accurate answers without dodging, and the coach flags any reply that sounded evasive.
- Lesson
Scoring fairly
Skill 5, 35 min, 2 sessionsTalk with your coach to spot the mental shortcuts that often lead to biased hiring decisions. You will practice turning vague personal impressions into clear, evidence-based ratings.
- Lesson
Learn to score interviews objectively
15 min - Practice
Write clear and unbiased feedback
20 minAfter a mock screen, you talk through your rating for each criterion. The coach challenges any comment based on impressions like "good fit" until each score is backed by something the candidate said.
- Lesson
How practice works with the AI coach
Creatium Coach is a live AI voice coach. You do not watch videos or fill in quizzes: you talk, it listens, and it answers like the real person would.
Learn it with a guide
Each skill opens with a guided lesson. The coach explains the idea, asks you questions and checks you have it before you move on.
Practice it out loud
In each practice the coach plays the other side: the interviewer, the customer, the buyer or your team. You answer in your own words, by voice.
Get one thing to fix
After every answer you hear what worked and the one change that would make it stronger, then you try again until it sounds right.
Make it yours
Tell the coach your role, your company or your situation and it reshapes the plan around your goal. The ready-made goal is just the start.
Training a team? Book a demo to see team plans, shared courses and progress for managers.
Questions about how to conduct a screening interview
How do I conduct a screening interview?
Start with a short, warm welcome that explains the role and how the call will run. Ask a small set of the same core questions to every candidate, mostly about real past work, and follow up when answers are vague. Leave time to answer their questions about the job, then score against your criteria right after the call. In this plan you practice each of those steps with the coach playing the candidate.
How do I conduct a phone screening interview?
Keep it to a set length, often around twenty to thirty minutes, and say so at the start. Since you cannot see the person, listen closely and confirm details by repeating them back. Focus on must-have requirements, motivation and logistics such as pay range and availability, and take notes as you go. Because the plan is voice-based, it is close to the real phone screen, with the coach playing candidates from nervous to evasive.
What screening interview questions should I ask?
Ask behavioral questions about real past situations, such as "Tell me about a time you had to meet a tight deadline," rather than hypotheticals. Avoid leading questions that hint at the answer you want. Include questions on why they are interested, what they are looking for and practical details like salary expectations and start date. The plan has you write and then ask these questions, with the coach giving the kinds of answers that test your follow-ups.
Start Run Great Screening Interviews for free
Your coach builds the plan, teaches each skill and practices with you out loud until you are ready.