Most hiring time is lost before the interview. A shortlist full of candidates who cannot work the shift, do not have the licence, or expected a salary the role will never pay consumes days of scheduling and a full interview loop before anyone discovers the mismatch. Pre-screening questions exist to surface those mismatches in a ten-minute call or a short form, before the expensive stage of the process.
This guide covers what pre-screening is for, the categories of questions that do the work, examples you can use, and the questions that create legal and bias risk without improving your shortlist.
What pre-screening is for
Pre-screening is the top-of-funnel filter. It is not a competency interview and it is not the place to assess depth of skill — that is what structured interviews and assessments are for. Pre-screening answers three questions:
- Is this candidate eligible for the role? Work authorisation, required licence or certification, location, and any non-negotiable requirement.
- Can this candidate do this job, in this way, at this time? Shift pattern, travel, start date, and whether the practical terms work for them.
- Is it worth both sides spending more time? Motivation, salary range alignment, and whether the role matches what they are actually looking for.
Get those three answered, and the interview loop gets shorter and much better.
Eligibility questions
These are the hard filters. Ask them first, and confirm anything that carries legal or safety weight with documentation later in the process.
- Are you authorised to work in the location this role is based in?
- Do you hold the required licence, registration, or certification for this role — and is it current?
- Are you able to work the shift pattern for this role (including weekends, nights, or on-call if applicable)?
- Are you able to commute to, or relocate for, this location on the required schedule?
- What is your earliest available start date?
Availability and practical-fit questions
- What does your notice period look like, and is it negotiable?
- Are you looking for full-time, part-time, or contract work?
- Do you have any planned leave in the first six months?
- Is there anything about the role's schedule or location that would be a problem?
Role-fit and motivation questions
- What are you looking for in your next role that you do not have now?
- What made you apply to this specific role?
- Which parts of the job description do you feel strongest about, and which would be new to you?
- What is your salary expectation for this role?
A salary question asked early saves the most time of any single question. If the number is far outside the band, the rest of the process is moot.
A short pre-screen call structure
- Eligibility first (2 minutes). Work authorisation, licence, shift, location, start date. If any fails, end the call politely and quickly.
- Practical fit (3 minutes). Notice period, availability, and any planned leave.
- Role fit and motivation (3 minutes). Why this role, what they want next, salary expectation.
- Explain the next step (1 minute). What happens, when, and with whom. This is the part most recruiters rush, and it is the difference between a candidate who engages and one who ghosts.
For high-volume roles, the same structure works as a short application form with knockout questions — the eligibility section filters most of the mismatch before a human spends any time.
What not to ask at pre-screening
- Anything about age, family status, marital status, religion, disability, or national origin unless it is a genuine occupational requirement. These create legal risk and answer nothing you need.
- "Tell me about yourself" with no follow-up. It produces a rehearsed summary and no decision-relevant information.
- Open-ended questions you will not use. If the answer will not change your decision, do not ask it.
- Anything that requires the candidate to reveal protected information before they have the role. Keep the pre-screen to what the job genuinely requires.
Keep the questions identical across candidates for the same role. Consistency is what makes the answers comparable — and comparable answers are the whole point.
Bottom line
Pre-screening questions should confirm eligibility, test practical fit, and gauge whether both sides want to keep going. Ask the eligibility questions first, keep the set identical across candidates, and stop asking anything that will not change your decision. A ten-minute structured pre-screen is usually the highest-leverage step in the entire hiring process.