Bilingual phone interviews, without a bilingual recruiter.
Applicants pick English or Spanish, or any of 34 languages, and do the whole screen in it. You read every answer in English, with their own words and the recording one click away.
One set of questions, every applicant's language
- 01
Turn on the language picker
One checkbox on the role adds a language choice to the apply form: English, Spanish and 32 more. Write your questions once, in English.
- 02
The applicant picks, then calls
The whole screen runs in the language they chose, from the greeting to the goodbye. If they ask to switch partway through, the interviewer switches and carries on.
- 03
You read it in English
A minute after the call, the scorecard and transcript are in English, with the original words and the recording one click away. Nobody on your team needs to speak the language.
Their words, in your language
The question you wrote in English is asked in Spanish. The answer is scored, translated, and kept next to the original, so you can read it in English and still hear exactly how they said it.
You wrote
Which shifts can you work, including weekends?
They heard
¿Qué turnos puede trabajar, incluidos los fines de semana?
They said
Puedo trabajar de lunes a viernes en la mañana y también los sábados. Los domingos no, porque estudio.
You read
I can work Monday to Friday mornings, and Saturdays too. Not Sundays, because I study.
Bilingual applicants, or a bilingual job
Your applicants are bilingual. Your recruiters aren't.
In warehouses, kitchens, hotels, construction and home care, a strong applicant often explains their experience best in Spanish. Let them. You get a fuller answer, fewer people drop out of the screen, and your English-only team still reads every word.
The job needs both languages.
For bilingual customer service, front desk and care roles, add one question that asks for an answer in the second language, tied to a real task. The answer lands in the recording and transcript. The score covers what they said; a speaker on your team judges how well they said it.
One second-language question for bilingual roles
Ask it about a real part of the job, the same way for every applicant.
| Role | Question to add |
|---|---|
| Bilingual customer service rep | In Spanish, how would you explain a late delivery to a customer who is upset? |
| Hotel front desk agent | In Spanish, how would you check in a guest whose room is not ready yet? |
| Caregiver for Spanish-speaking clients | Some of our clients speak only Spanish. In Spanish, how would you tell a client you are about to help them get dressed? |
| Warehouse shift lead | Part of your crew speaks only Spanish. In Spanish, how would you tell them the shift is moving up an hour tomorrow? |
| Medical office receptionist | In Spanish, how would you ask a new patient to fill in their intake form before the appointment? |
More questions for hourly roles: screening questions by role. Questions to keep out of any screen: knockout questions.
Spanish, and 33 more
Pages for the languages hourly employers ask about most:
About bilingual phone interviews
Can PhoneScreen interview candidates in English and Spanish? +
Yes. With the language picker on, applicants choose English or Spanish on the apply form (or any of 34 languages) and the whole phone screen runs in that language. You read the scorecard and transcript in English either way.
Do I need a bilingual recruiter to screen bilingual applicants? +
No. You write the questions once in English, the interviewer asks them in the applicant's language, and every answer comes back to you in English with the original alongside. A bilingual teammate is only needed if you want someone to judge how well a candidate speaks the second language.
Can it tell me whether a candidate is really bilingual? +
It can ask for it and record it: put a short question in the screen that asks the candidate to answer in the second language, and you get their answer in the recording and the transcript. The score reflects what they said. PhoneScreen does not grade fluency or accent, so for a role where the second language is the job, have a speaker listen to that answer before you decide.
Can a candidate switch languages during the call? +
Yes. A candidate who started in Spanish and asks for English, or the other way around, gets the switch on the spot, and the interview carries on with the next question.
Does a bilingual or Spanish phone screen cost more? +
No. Every supported language uses the same included phone-screen allowance. Plans start at $99/month, additional completed screens are $4 each, and your first 10 are free.
Is it fair to interview applicants in different languages? +
Every applicant gets the same questions, in the same order, scored against the same rubric, which is what keeps screening consistent. Ask about language ability only when the job needs it, and never about national origin. This is general guidance, not legal advice.