How to Run a Ten-Minute Screening Call That Actually Works

A step-by-step guide for the person supervising an admin skills screen: setup, the two-tab arrangement, handing over the code, what to watch for, and what to do with the result.

This is the practical page. It assumes you have decided to screen admin candidates with a short supervised work sample and that you, or someone on your team, will be the one on the call. It covers what to prepare, how the call runs minute by minute, what to watch for, and what to do afterwards. Nothing here requires technical skill; the whole thing is a video call and a dashboard.

Before the day

Create the code. Log in to the dashboard, type the candidate's name, and create a code. If the candidate has asked for extra time because of a disability, choose Extended time (1.5x or 2x) when you create it; every reveal and answer window is lengthened and nothing else changes. The code appears next to their name with a Copy button. Do not send it to them.

Create the video call. Use Google Meet in Chrome, created at meet.google.com. Avoid the Zoom desktop app on the candidate's side: on some Windows machines it locks the webcam, and the screen then cannot record the camera. Two tabs in the same browser share the camera without trouble.

Send the candidate two links, ahead of time. The Meet link, and the test link (your dashboard shows it). Neither does anything on its own. Tell them: laptop or desktop, Chrome, a quiet room, about fifteen minutes in total, and that the exercise is recorded with their camera and screen. Candidates who know what is coming perform as they will perform on the job.

Tell them what it is. A short exercise made of everyday admin tasks: following instructions, remembering a few details, fixing a small error. Not a knowledge test, nothing to study. One attempt.

On the call: the first three minutes

Join the Meet. Ask the candidate to turn on their camera and microphone and to share their entire screen. Look at three things, briefly and without ceremony:

• They are alone. Camera shows the room; no second person, no second screen visible.
• The shared screen is the whole screen, not a single window, so you can see if anything else opens.
• They are on a laptop or desktop in Chrome. Phones are not supported and tablets are unreliable.

Confirm they have read what the exercise is. Answer any question about the format. Do not answer questions about content; there is nothing to know in advance.

Handing over the code

Only now, with the candidate visibly ready, click Copy code on the dashboard and read it aloud. Six characters, no letters that look like numbers. Have them read it back. This is the moment that makes the whole result trustworthy: the code did not exist for them until you said it, with them in front of you.

Ask them to open the test link in a second Chrome tab, keeping the Meet tab open. They enter their name, email address and the code, read the two statements, tick both, type their full name to sign, and press Start. Chrome asks for camera and microphone, then to share the screen; they choose Entire Screen. A small preview of their camera and a red RECORDING badge appear on the test page. The exercise has begun.

During the exercise: about ten minutes

Your job is to be present. Stay on the call, camera on, muted. Do not talk unless they ask something about the format, and do not help with any task; the point is to see what they do alone.

What you will see on their shared screen:

• Items appear one at a time with a countdown.
• Some show a list or an instruction for fifteen seconds and then hide it; the candidate answers from memory.
• Each answer has its own time limit; when it runs out, the exercise moves on.
• One item is a short memorise-only step with nothing to answer.
• The last item asks them to report what they produced from a four-step instruction.

If something goes wrong, their connection drops, a family member walks in, the screen share stops, note the time. The recording will show it too. If the attempt is clearly compromised, let it finish, then create a fresh code and run it again when conditions are right. An attempt cannot be restarted; that is deliberate.

When they finish

The candidate sees their score, band and item breakdown immediately, with a plain description of each item but not the correct answers. They see an "uploading your recording" bar for a few seconds. If the page tells them the recording could not be uploaded, ask them to tell you right then, while still on the call, and make a note.

On your dashboard, the candidate's row updates with the score, the band, the gate result, and two links in the Recording column: camera and screen. If the Recording column says "none uploaded" in red for a completed attempt, something failed; the attempt still counts but you have no recording, and you should treat the result with more caution.

Thank the candidate. Tell them when they will hear from you. End the call.

Reading the result

The score is out of 17, shown as a percentage, with a band: Strong, Borderline or Below benchmark. The band is a reading aid, not a verdict. The item breakdown is where the information is.

• Reorder and twist items missed, everything else fine: careful in routine, weak with exceptions. Important if your work has expensive exceptions.
• Memory items missed, instruction items fine: reads carefully, does not retain. Does well with written instructions.
• Correction item missed: the wrong-date-goes-out profile. Ask about it.
• Arithmetic missed only: usually unimportant for admin work; give them a calculator.
• Gate items both missed: the candidate did not engage with the format. Occasionally a connection or comprehension problem; look at the recording.

Then look at the recording if anything surprised you. Two minutes of watching the reorder item usually explains a miss.

What to do with it

The screen is one input. Put it next to the interview and references, follow up on anything that needs it, and decide. Do not let the score decide; do not rank candidates by score alone; do not use a band as a cut-off. Offer accommodations to anyone who needs them. Those habits keep the process fair and keep it defensible.

If the candidate is hired, use the breakdown to shape the first fortnight: written read-backs for someone who missed the twists, checklists for someone who missed the correction, early autonomy for someone who missed nothing.

Things that go wrong, and what to do

The candidate shares a window instead of the whole screen. The exercise refuses to start and tells them to choose Entire Screen. Walk them through it: when Chrome asks, pick the "Entire screen" tab in the picker, then the screen, then Share.

The browser blocks the camera. Usually a previous "block" decision saved for the site. Click the camera icon in Chrome's address bar, allow, reload the test page. The code has not been used yet, so nothing is lost.

The candidate is on a phone or tablet. Reschedule. The exercise needs a laptop or desktop; it will say so.

The candidate's connection drops during the exercise. The attempt is single-use and cannot be resumed. Let the timer run out on their side, create a fresh code, and run it again once they are stable. Note on the dashboard which attempt is the real one; the first can be deleted, and its recording is kept regardless.

The results page says the recording could not be uploaded. Ask the candidate to tell you immediately, make a note, and check the dashboard. The result still counts, but you have no video for that attempt. Mention it to whoever runs your account so the cause can be looked at.

The candidate asks what the answer was. Say, kindly, that you cannot discuss content. They see their breakdown; they do not see the answers.

Someone walks in. Note the time. The recording will show it. Decide afterwards whether the attempt was compromised; usually a brief interruption is not.

For the supervisor's own test

If you are the person who will supervise everyone else, someone should supervise you first, the same way. It takes ten minutes, it gives you a clean result on the dashboard, and it means every member of the team has taken the same exercise under the same conditions before asking a candidate to. Employers find this reassures candidates ("everyone here has done it") and, quietly, it is a useful benchmark for what "good" looks like in their own team.

A checklist to print

• Code created (extended time if requested). Not sent.
• Meet created. Meet link and test link sent with the "what to expect" note.
• On the call: alone, entire screen shared, laptop, Chrome.
• Read the code aloud; have it read back.
• Candidate opens test in a second tab, consents, signs, starts; RECORDING badge visible.
• Stay present, muted, ten minutes.
• Results screen reached; recording uploaded (no warning).
• Dashboard row shows score, band, camera and screen links, "consent signed".
• Breakdown read; recording checked if anything surprised you.

After the first few calls

Supervisors who have run three or four screens tend to settle into a rhythm: code created the day before, links sent with the standard note, two minutes of setup on the call, the code read out, ten quiet minutes, a glance at the breakdown, a note to the owner. The whole thing becomes a fifteen-minute routine that produces a result everyone trusts. Two things are worth keeping even once it is routine: say the candidate's name and the date at the start of the call so the recording is self-identifying, and never, under any pressure of time or politeness, send a code before the call. The moment that habit slips, the result stops being evidence.

Frequently asked questions

Can I supervise two candidates at once? No. One call, one candidate, one supervisor. The value is in being present.

Who should supervise? Anyone on your team with a login whom you trust. Many small firms have their most reliable assistant supervise candidates, after someone else has supervised her.

What if the candidate refuses to be recorded? They can decline, and the exercise will not start. Decide as you would about any step a candidate declines; many employers simply do not proceed with that candidate for a role that is itself remote and recorded by nature.

How soon after the interview should the screen happen? Within a few days, while the candidate is still engaged. Same day is fine if they are prepared; same call is not, because the setup note should go out in advance.

Can I run the screen for an internal promotion? Yes, and some employers do. The same fairness rules apply: explain it, apply it to everyone considered, offer accommodations, and treat it as one input.

What if the candidate finishes very quickly? Speed is not scored. A fast clean breakdown is simply a clean breakdown. A fast poor one usually means items were skipped, which the recording will show.