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- #019 - How To Ace Your Recruiter Screening Call
#019
How To Ace Your Recruiter Screening Call
If you’re anything like me, there might have been one or two (or three) exams you had in school you didn’t prepare for.
You kept saying you’d do it soon, then you kept justifying putting it off, and then, when it was nearly too late and you were stumbling into your student halls after a night out right before the exam, you told yourself, “Well, there’s no point now. I’ll just see what happens. Also, I need to throw up.”
How did those exams go? Not well, I imagine. And how did you feel going into them? Confident? Ready?
No. You probably felt anxious. You probably felt like throwing up (again). Or perhaps you buried those feelings just so you could make it through and get it over with. (This is getting a bit too dark, isn’t it?)
I think, in general, preparing for a recruiter screen is easier than preparing for an exam. If you did 30 minutes of prep for an exam, you might not do that well. If you do 30 minutes of prep for a recruiter screen, you give yourself a great chance of going through to the next stage.
Why? Benjamin Franklin said it best: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Now, that’s a bit of a dramatic quote for a mere recruiter screen so perhaps we can amend it to this:
“A bit of prep, just like the Great Wall of China, goes a long way.”
I know this might be hard to believe - just like when I found out sharks are older than the rings of Saturn - but if you do some prep, it really is quite easy to stand out in that initial recruiter screen.
But how do you prep for that initial recruiter screen?
Here are some questions you might be asked that shouldn’t be too strenuous to prep for:
“So, tell me about yourself?” (I know, but it might be asked)
I know you’re wonderful and interesting and worthy but they don’t really want to know everything about you. What they want to know is, “Is this person qualified? Are they going to be a good fit?”
So, yes, tell them about yourself. But only include what’s relevant. You can take a few minutes to run them through your CV, spending most of your time talking about what’s relevant to the role and the company. If I was applying to a Lead Recruiter role, for example, I might say something like this:
“I’d rather do a thousand burpees than answer this but yeah, sure.” (That part is optional).
“My first job was as a data analyst but I very quickly realised I wanted to work more with people than with data. I moved into a hybrid HR/L&D/recruitment role, and then got promoted and moved into looking after brand, attraction, and recruitment for graduates. I then did some freelance work for a few years. After that, I went back into recruitment and worked for an agency for a few years. Most recently, I’ve been a Senior Recruiter at one of the top 2 or 3 gaming companies in the world. I’ve recruited for roles across the UK, Spain, Sweden, Germany, and the US. I’ve recruited junior roles, mid-level roles, and senior roles. I’ve recruited across cybersecurity, strategy, tech, marketing, data, HR, IT, and more. I’ve hired more than 100 people over the past 2 and a half years and have kept a 90%+ offer acceptance rate. I also post on LinkedIn to 57k+ jobseekers, which hopefully adds a ton of value and definitely helps to attract great candidates. Happy to answer any questions on any of that.”
Make sure you cover the key points they’re looking for in the job description. If they want to know more, they’ll ask. But they probably just want an overview of what you’ve done to get a better sense of whether you’d be a fit or not.
“Can you please run me through your CV/resume?
Same as above.
“Can you please tell me about your experience that’s relevant to this role?”
You can either have the job description up on your computer - something I’d recommend - or you can memorise it. Either way, don’t be shy to say, “I see from the job description you’re looking for [x]. What I’ve done is [x].” Keep doing that until you’ve covered all the requirements and also any nice-to-haves you have.
No need to be coy about it. Make it easy for the recruiter to understand.
“What are you looking for in your next role?”
Feel free to refer to the job description once again. “I can see on the job description it says [x]. I’m doing [x] in my current role and would love to continue and build on that. I can also see it says [x]. I’ve done [x] but don’t get to do it that often and would love to do it more.”
You could also refer to the company values. “I can see on your website that the company values are [x] and [x]. I’d love to work somewhere that embodies [x] and [x] and would like to ask a question or two on those at the end, if that’s okay.”
You might as well be honest here. You can do that strategically by referring to the job description, yes, but you can also talk about what kind of culture you’re looking for (humble, open, transparent, trusting, etc), what kind of manager you’re looking for, what kind of flexibility of working location and hours you’re looking for, and whatever else you want and need in a role.
Why be honest, other than the obvious? You want to make sure you and the company are on the same page about what’s important. If you’re not, it’s best to know now.
“What do you know about [company]?”
This question is like giving Steph Curry an open three. Or at least, it should be.
Look at the company's ‘About’ page, check Google News, read LinkedIn posts from employees. You could even ask your friends and network if they know anything.
No excuse to not have a good answer here.
“What made you want to apply for this role?”
I know there are memes saying things like, “Because you’re hiring and I need a job,” but please don’t say that. We’re aware we’re hiring and everyone who applies needs (or wants) a job.
Ideally, you want to pick out at least a couple of reasons. You could talk about the company - its reputation, you grew up playing their games, you wear their clothes, you like the way your friends talk about it, you’ve heard good things from people who worked there, your research made you want to know more. Whatever you say, be specific.
You can also talk about the role - the job description looks fun and challenging because [x], there’s something on there you’ve only done a little bit of but would like to do more, there’s something you have a ton of experience in and want to keep doing. Again, be specific.
“What’s your experience like in [technical skill]?”
This might be asked in that initial screen so we don’t waste anyone’s time if the technical skills aren’t quite up to par. Be prepared to answer.
“What salary are you looking for?”
Ideally, you’ll know this before getting on a call. But you might not, so be prepared to answer. You can do this in a couple of ways:
“I’m looking for between [x] and [x]. Is that within the budget?”
“Could you tell me what the budget for the role is? I know roughly what I’m looking for but I have some flexibility.”
Don’t feel pressure to tell them what you’re currently on. Why? It’s not relevant. The salary for the role is the salary for the role, regardless of what you’re making currently.
I know some people say it’s potentially a red flag if the company asks you for your salary rather than just sharing the range, or if they push you a little bit to say what you're looking for rather than sharing the range. My view is these things aren’t necessarily red flags. Companies have all sorts of processes that recruiters have to abide by and so the recruiter might just be doing what they’ve been told they must do. They might not like it either, and might even be advocating things change from the inside.
Basically, don’t be like an unhappy baby and throw your toys out the pram. It might be a red flag, it might not be. You’ll have to trust yourself in terms of assessing the recruitment process as a whole rather than just one small bit.
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The more you prep, the less anxious you’ll feel. The less anxious you feel, the more “in the moment” you’ll be. The more “in the moment” you are, the better you’ll do. And I know you know that.
Ultimately, you owe it to yourself to prepare. If you’re not preparing, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Now, courtesy of Michael Jordan, let’s finish off with another way-too-dramatic quote from me just trying to get you to do 30 minutes of prep for your recruiter screen:
“I never feared about my skills because I put in the work. Work ethic eliminates fear.”
In Conclusion
The inaugural audio event is here this week. What a time to be alive.
If you somehow missed the details from the last couple of emails, here you go:
Date: Thursday 2nd November
Time: 5pm GMT / 6pm CET / 10am PT / 1pm ET (too many acronyms, I know)
Location: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8735877431
Duration: 40 mins (because that’s what the free Zoom plan allows)
Come armed with questions.
See you there. And then.
Cheers!
PS If you missed last week’s newsletter, here you go: What On Earth Does Bamboo Farming Have To Do With Your Job Search?
PPS UK daylight saving time started today but US daylight savings time starts next. Very odd.
PPPS What did you think of the blue logo?