# Screening questions

Screening questions are the early, targeted questions employers use to check whether a candidate meets a job's basic requirements before moving them further into hiring. They usually come during an application form, a recruiter phone call, or the first short interview.

The goal is speed: narrowing a large applicant pool down to people worth a longer interview.

**Screening questions** — Screening questions are a short set of questions employers ask early in hiring, before a full interview, to check a candidate against a role's basic requirements. They typically cover things like required certifications, work authorization, minimum years of experience, willingness to work a specific shift or relocate, and salary range fit. A recruiter often asks them on a first phone call, or they're built directly into the online application, storing the answers before a person ever reviews the resume. Screening questions differ from an interview in scope. Where an interview explores how a candidate thinks and communicates, screening questions confirm a handful of yes-or-no or short-answer facts. Some are open-ended, like asking why a candidate is interested in the role, while others are closer to knockout questions, a stricter subtype that automatically disqualifies anyone who doesn't meet a true must-have requirement. For high-volume roles, screening questions are often the only reviewed step before an automated system narrows the pool, since a recruiter can't personally read thousands of applications for one opening.

Screening questions sit at the very start of the pipeline, written from the job requisition and job description into a checklist a recruiter or a system applies to every applicant the same way. A tightly worded question, like a required license number or years with a specific tool, gives a clear pass or fail before more time gets spent.

On Intervieux, employers set up automated screening rules that run the moment each AI interview finishes, checking a candidate's scores, experience level, and key skills against conditions the employer defines, then tagging, flagging, or moving them to the next pipeline stage without anyone doing it by hand.

## Frequently asked questions

### How are screening questions different from an interview?

Screening questions confirm a small set of facts, like required experience or work authorization, usually in a form or a short call. A full interview evaluates how a candidate communicates and thinks through problems, which takes more time per candidate.

### Are screening questions the same as knockout questions?

Not exactly. Knockout questions are a stricter subtype: an automatic disqualifier when a true must-have requirement isn't met. Screening questions is the broader category, and not every one ends a candidate's chances on its own.

### Who writes screening questions for a job opening?

Usually a recruiter, working from the job requisition and job description, turning the role's actual must-haves into a short list every applicant answers the same way.

## Related pages

- [Knockout questions](/glossary/knockout-questions)
- [Pre-employment assessment](/glossary/pre-employment-assessment)
- [Browse open roles](/jobs)

## Get past screening with a real answer

Intervieux's job board pairs open roles with a live AI screening interview, so applying moves straight into the actual conversation instead of another form.

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