How screening by 'phone' can reduce discrimination

The Nationwide Building Society believes that screening applicants by telephone is helping to eliminate the risk of assumptions being made on the basis of appearance, age and qualifications. The company, a founder member of the Employers Forum on Age, has developed the system since 1993 and is now applying it to a wide range of appointments at all levels, that is from customer advisers to senior branch managers.

Denise Walker, Head of Personnel, explains that the society records basic details when candidates first call and asks 'knockout' questions covering areas such as security and availability. Arrangements are then made for the candidate to be called back. The interviewers are provided only with the applicant's name and number, and the candidates do not need to prepare anything before the interview. Subsequent research indicated that successful applicants say that they found telephone interviewing a positive experience and, although those who were unsuccessful were not quite so enthusiastic, they still tended to feel better about the process and the criteria on which the short-listing decisions had been made.

Nationwide also found that, while the method does not entirely eliminate the need for face-to-face final interviews, it can be a more cost- effective way of short-listing when there are a large number of vacancies to be filled. Recruitment Manager, Sarah Davies says: 'This method has enabled us to recruit people in their 50s who traditionally might have been rejected at the short-listing stage.' Line...