How to Run a Staffing Agency Intake Screen: 9 Questions and What to Listen For Screening Interview Template

What type of work are you looking for? Do you have a preference for a specific industry, role type, or work environment?

What this assesses: Establishes what the candidate actually wants so you route them to openings they will accept and stay in, not just any req with an open seat. Strong answers name a specific role type or industry and a clear reason for it, and they are usually specific about environment too: outdoors or indoors, warehouse floor or front desk, solo route or a crew. That specificity predicts a stickier placement. Be cautious with "I will take anything." It sounds flexible and it is the single most common answer from candidates who quit in week three, because anything is not what they wanted, it is what they accepted. Ask a follow-up: what would you turn down. A candidate who cannot name one thing they would say no to has not thought about the work at all.

Are you authorized to work in the United States? Will you now or in the future require sponsorship for an employment visa?

What this assesses: This is the baseline that gates every placement, since no match matters if the candidate cannot legally take the job. Ask it in exactly these two forms and stop there. Questions about citizenship, birthplace, or national origin stray into territory the EEOC and the Justice Department's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section treat as discriminatory, and asking for documents at intake rather than at Form I-9 time is its own problem. Strong answers are direct and unambiguous on both parts. Be cautious with hedging or "I think so," and verify at the I-9 stage rather than taking the answer on faith, because an authorization surprise after submission burns the placement and some of the client's trust with it.

What is your availability? Are you looking for full-time, part-time, temporary, or temp-to-hire work? When is the earliest you could start?

What this assesses: Employment type and start date are two of the most common reasons a match falls apart after you have already invested the time. Strong answers give a clear employment-type preference and a concrete date, not "pretty much right away." Push for the actual date, because two weeks of notice at a current job is normal and a candidate who will not say usually has something they are not telling you. Be cautious with a candidate who is open to "anything" and then turns down the first temp assignment, and be cautious with anyone whose availability is contingent on something outside their control, like a pending offer elsewhere or childcare they have not arranged yet. Both look like availability at intake and neither survives a real schedule.

What are your salary or hourly rate expectations? Is there a minimum rate you would not go below?

What this assesses: The pay floor is the number that decides whether a submission is possible at all, so capture it before you spend a recruiter hour. Run the math against your bill rate, not against the pay rate, since your margin sits in the gap. Note that a growing number of states and cities bar asking about salary history, so ask what they want, never what they made. Strong answers give a realistic range and a clear floor that lines up with the market for the role. Be cautious with a candidate who refuses to name any number, which usually means they are waiting to hear yours, and be very cautious with a floor above what the work pays. That gap does not close later, and every hour you spend on it is an hour not spent on someone who fits the band.

What is your preferred work location or maximum commute distance? Are you open to remote, hybrid, or travel-based assignments?

What this assesses: Geography decides whether reliable attendance is even possible, which makes this a hard filter on on-site hourly work rather than a preference. Strong answers give a concrete radius in miles or minutes, say how they get there, and are clear on remote, on-site, or travel. Be cautious with a candidate who waves off a long commute at intake. A forty-five minute drive to a 6 a.m. shift is a different commitment in February than it sounds like in the intake screen, and it shows up as a no-show in week two, not as a resignation. Be especially careful when the candidate is relying on a ride from someone else or on transit that does not run at shift-start time, because that is a dependency they cannot control.

Walk me through your last two or three positions. What were your job titles, main responsibilities, and reasons for leaving?

What this assesses: A fast employment-history read that surfaces tenure patterns long before a reference check would. Strong answers move through recent roles clearly, with dates that line up and reasons for leaving that stay the same when you circle back. Be cautious with a string of very short stints, especially several agency assignments that ended early, since the pattern most likely to repeat in your placement is the one that already repeated. Be cautious with reasons that shift under a second pass, and with gaps the candidate talks around rather than explains. A gap with a plain reason is not a problem. A gap the candidate will not name usually is.

Do you have any certifications, licenses, or specialized skills that you want to make sure we know about?

What this assesses: This question makes you money. Candidates routinely fail to mention the credential that opens a higher-billing placement, either because the last agency never asked or because they do not know it is worth anything on your desk. Strong answers name specific active credentials with current status and expiration: a CDL with endorsements, an active CNA or LPN license and the state that issued it, a forklift or aerial-lift cert, a food handler card, a ServSafe, a security guard card. Treat every credential-gated claim as something to verify against the issuing board or registry rather than something to take on faith, because an expired or unverifiable cert disqualifies the candidate for exactly the roles it would have opened, and you would rather find that out now than after the client has scheduled their first shift.

Is there anything that would prevent you from passing a background check or drug screening? Are there any schedule restrictions or accommodation needs we should be aware of?

What this assesses: These are the blockers that kill placements at the finish line, and asking now gives the candidate a chance to explain before a report does it for them without context. Know your rules before you ask: ban-the-box laws in many states and cities bar criminal-history questions until after a conditional offer, and running a background check requires a standalone written disclosure and the candidate's authorization under the FCRA. Where you can ask, strong answers are upfront with context and name real schedule constraints early rather than after the schedule is built. Be cautious with evasiveness, and with a flat "no issues" that the screen later contradicts, since the concealment tends to matter more to a client than the underlying record. The goal is not to disqualify on any flag. It is to know now instead of after you have submitted.

Which companies have you already applied to directly, or been submitted to by another agency, in the last sixty days? Are you working with other recruiters right now, and how quickly can you respond if I text or call you about a real opening?

What this assesses: This is the question most intake screens leave out and the one that voids fees. If another agency submitted this candidate to your client first, your submission is a duplicate, the client will honor the earlier right to represent, and you find out after the interview is scheduled. Strong answers list specific company names and rough dates, mention the other agencies they are working with without being asked twice, and give a real responsiveness answer, usually a preferred channel and a window. Text beats voicemail for most hourly candidates by a wide margin. Be cautious with a candidate who cannot remember where their resume has been. It is rarely a lie and it is still a risk, so confirm in writing before you submit and get a signed right-to-represent for named accounts. Be cautious too with anyone who is unreachable during business hours with no alternative channel, because a candidate you cannot reach in twenty minutes is not a candidate when a req drops at 4 p.m. Score every intake against the same [interview scorecard](/glossary/interview-scorecard) rather than reading answers in isolation, and see [asynchronous screening](/glossary/asynchronous-screening) for running intake as a written first round instead of a week of phone tag.