Questions to Ask in a Phone Interview

Prepare two or three questions that help you understand the work or the next decision. A short phone screen is not the time to recite a long list, and the recruiter may not know the team's detailed technical practices.

Towson University's phone-interview guide recommends keeping researched questions and your calendar available and asking about next steps. Build on what you already know rather than asking the interviewer to repeat the job posting.

Ask what the interviewer can answer

For a recruiter screen, prioritize scope, process, logistics, and what the hiring team values. For a hiring-manager call, ask about outcomes, constraints, collaboration, and current priorities. If you do not know who will call, prepare options for both.

Listen during the conversation. Cross out questions already answered and follow up on something specific the interviewer said.

Questions about the role

• “What are the most important outcomes for the person in the first three to six months?”
• “Which part of the role tends to require the most judgment?”
• “How does this position work with the teams mentioned in the posting?”
• “What prompted the team to hire for this role now?”
• “Is there a responsibility in the description that candidates commonly misunderstand?”

For a hiring manager, adapt questions from our hiring-manager question guide. Do not ask all of them.

Questions about the process

• “What are the remaining interview stages?”
• “Who will the next conversation be with, and what will it focus on?”
• “Is there anything in my background you would like me to clarify before the next step?”
• “What timeline are you working toward for the decision?”
• “Will any stage include a work sample, presentation, or technical exercise?”

Ask compensation, schedule, location, or work-authorization questions when the answer affects whether you can proceed. A phone screen is often an appropriate place to prevent a known mismatch.

Choose your final two or three

Rate each possible question by three tests:

1. The answer is not already available.
2. This interviewer is likely to know it.
3. The answer will affect your preparation or decision.

Keep the strongest two, plus one backup. Review the phone interview preparation guide, place the questions where you can glance at them without rustling paper, and leave space to note the next step.