Questions to ask in a phone or video interview
A phone screen is short and the person on the line is often a recruiter rather than your future manager, so the useful questions are different from the ones you would save for a final round. These sets are written for that first call and for interviews held over video.
A few to start with
What happened with the last person in this seat?
Promotion, a move sideways, or a departure after a year each mean something different. Vagueness usually means it ended badly, which is worth knowing before you invest four rounds.
How big was the team, and who did you report to?
Team size and reporting line put every earlier claim in scale. Running three people at a ten-person company and running three at a large one are different jobs, and this is the cheapest way to learn which one they did.
Where in that range do you expect this hire to land, and what moves someone toward the top of it?
Bands are wide and the top is often reserved for internal equity or for a level above the one posted. The answer tells you whether the number you want is realistic here before you invest four rounds of interviews.
What is your notice period, and what date could you realistically start?
Notice periods, work authorization and childcare all surface here. A start date three months out may not survive the hiring manager's timeline, and that is cheap to learn now.
What do people say on the way out of this team?
Exit conversations are the one place employers hear the truth, and interviewers remember them. A claim that nobody leaves is itself an answer.
How many rounds are there after this, and who would I meet in each?
Tells you the time commitment you are agreeing to. A five stage process for a mid-level role is a signal about how this organization makes decisions generally.