Passing screening calls

An exhaustive guide on how to prepare for screening calls.

Includes common questions and pro tips to ensure you are better prepared.

A screening call is typically the first direct interaction you'll have with a company after submitting your application. It is an important step because, first, it shows they are interested in your profile, and second, it helps recruiters or hiring managers determine if you meet their expectations to proceed with the actual recruitment process.

During these calls, they aim to confirm several things:

• Do you meet their experience or technical knowledge requirements?

• Are you motivated?

• Are you a good cultural fit?

• Can you actually be hired (e.g. visa issues, location)?

• What are your salary expectations? (read more here)

Screening calls are usually relatively short (about 30 min) and conducted via videoconference or phone.

Common screening questions

Introduce yourself

• Don´t take more than three to four minutes

• You can answer this by mixing a brief summary of your studies, a bit more detail on your professional experience, and some relevant personal details (e.g. place you were born, family or hobbies)

Walk me through your resume

• Don´t take more than four to five minutes

• Don´t give a perfect, sequential summary of your resume. They already read it, and it isn´t the most engaging way to start

• Tell a structured, east-to-follow story that explains why you made the things you choices you did

  • Explain not only what you did but also the impact it had on the organization (ideally with numbers to show you are data-driven).

  • Be strategic by highlighting those skills or experiences most relevant to the job you're applying for.

  • Do not try to tell everything; you risk sounding superficial. Instead, focus on fewer but more relevant things and discuss them in depth

  
  

  Imagine applying for a PMO role at Meta:

  
  

  Bad: "I studied X, then I worked here, then I worked there, then ..."

  
  

  Better: "I studied business management because I was passionate about understanding more about finances and business operations. Generally, my career can be split into two parts. The first years at Y and X companies I worked in sales, specifically B2B (...). In these positions I was responsible for X and Y, and I managed to achieve Z. While I enjoyed it a lot, I always wanted to understand more about the mechanics behind the products we were selling. So, the next years I changed to product management roles, first as X and then as Y. Overall, these experiences gave me X skills (...)"

• Be ready for a follow-up question on "How do your skills and past experience make you a good candidate for this position?"

Why are you interested?

• Be prepared for different "Why" questions, broken down by category. For instance, if you are applying for a Product Manager role in the Small Enterprise team at the Worldwide Consumer Department at Amazon:

  • Why the company (Amazon)?

  • Why the role (Product management)?

  • Why the topic/ team (Small Enterprises)?

  • Why the industry (Consumer/ retail)?

  
  

• Be convincing. Recruiters know that you are applying to many companies, but they still expect you to sound convincing. For each Why above, have three specific arguments ready

  
  

  Bad: "I want to work at Amazon because it is a very innovate company, it is growing fast and because I was told it has a very solid culture

  (this answer could apply to thousands of companies)"

Better: "I want to work at Amazon for three reasons. First, it is the number one innovative retail company in the US, with +X B invested in X. Second, it has experienced steady growth, +20% CAGR 5y, which demonstrates that is able to adapt to all the changes in the industry. Finally, I researched on Glassdoor and LinkedIn Groups, and Amazon is rated top in company culture and teamwork, which I consider solid proxies for the overall working environment"

Behavioral questions

Interviewers like these questions because they help get a more realistic and nuanced sense of how you work. They help them see what you’re capable of accomplishing based on your past experience and performance.

Tell me about a time you...

Behavioral questions are usually of two types:

Type 1: Questions about transferable hard/soft skills

Examples: Analytical thinking, problem-solving, proactivity & drive, teamwork, leadership, adaptability, success & failure, influence & negotiation, entrepreneurial mindset

Type 2: Questions about past experience & specific skills for the job

These focus on past experiences and skills that relate to the job you applied to

Examples: If the job application is for a PMO with a focus on operational efficiency, they will ask about projects you successfully implemented, or a situation when you improved the efficiency of the operations

You can read all the details about how to prepare behavioral questions here

Cultural fit

Prepare answers for questions like:

• What values of the company you like the most and why?

• What motivates you at work?

• What matters the most to you in a work culture?

• What is your leadership style?

• (Also, some behavioral questions will touch on cultural fit.)

Salary expectations}

It´s likely you haven´t had many salary negotiations, and the idea of it might make you feel uncomfortable. You'll need to know: What is your target and floow?

You can find all the details about how to prepare for the money talk here.

Questions for the interviewer

Asking questions at the end of the interview is a sign that you are genuinely interested in the position and the company. It´s also an opportunity to show you have smart questions

Sampe questions to ask include:

• Even if the role is an individual contributor, will I have the opportunity to coach or train junior peers?

• What are the main expectations or ambitions for this job/team for the coming years?

• How does the work of this position fit into the strategy and the priorities of the department?

• Does this position have any dotted reporting lines to any other teams?

• Is there any expectation for the team to take on new responsibilities or lead any other workstreams soon?

• What is the compensation philosophy of the company for this position and role?

• What should I expect in the next rounds, and what is the typical continuation of the recruitment process?

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