Always do these 16 things when you're taking screening calls with recruiters
Tags: webdev, career, productivity, discuss
Published: 2021-10-26 21:10:46

# When doing a screening call with a recruiter ALWAYS have these 16 down:

## 1 - have shared your updated resume before the call

- include portfolio page, GitHub, + LinkedIn profile on resume
- few things slows it down like no updated resume
- offer to share pdf and word doc

* the word doc is often appreciated by the recruiter to prepare before sending to the client

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/413kmk5clj4yzlas1k24.jpeg)

## 2 - be able to quickly in < 2 min. preferably tell:

a. what you're excited about doing
b. share your story
c. share the number of years or months you have with each of the three main required skill

- sharing years before them (be proactive because they will ask)
- show passion to learn

## 3 - prepare to tell what are you currently doing in < 1 min. preferably

- what you do like you're telling a 6 year old
- avoid using company or industry jargon

No experience?

Place a high priority on gaining experience by networking and making "intern" experience, e.g. offering to build an app

## 4 - look up the company's web presence and prepare to tell why you want to work there

keys to focus on:
- company website (what do they do?)
- what's the mission of the company in your own words
- view social media accounts to see what they value
- view reviews like Glassdoor and/or talk with current employees if possible

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bpae33mtwk8w8tkig0yi.jpeg)

## 5 - prepare your 1-3 most polished and most recent projects

- place them in a public repo
- deploy to a url
- have them ready to share when requested

Stallers here:
- projects only in private repos (no public code)
- code older than a year
- public repos don't represent your current ability

## 6 - glance at the job description before chatting with the recruiter or interviewer

- if you don't have it before the call then request it via email or LinkedIn (I wouldn't schedule the call without it)
- note the tech and soft skills
- find out what the top 3 must haves are

## 7 - be prepared and be on-time

- get sleep the night before
- have energy for the call
- have a clean, quiet distraction-free workspace for the call from desktop preferably
* if you've not got these 3, then reschedule
- arrive at least a couple of minutes before time

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/olgs8th6kaxhjjggylac.jpeg)

## 8 - seek to get to know the recruiter's story

- where are they from?
- what cause them to become a recruiter?
- how many people have they place at this company and other companies in the past year?

Most recruiters are never asked this and appreciate it when they are.

## 9 - build rapport

- seek to know what sort of rapport the recruiter has with not just the company but the hiring manager
- if not much then ask if they have a company with similar needs that they would
- ask them if their senior's in their company have rapport at the company

## 10 - ask what the interview process is like

This gives you heads up if:

- the process is one-off or it's a 5-step process
- the next step will happen in a week or tomorrow
- it's a technical or cultural interview

## 11 - know your availability for the next week

- have your calendar bookmarked 
- be ready to tell them a few best times
- understand if the scheduled time is a zoom call invite or a phone screen
- accept the calendar invite
- create a reminder if one is not sent to you

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/rvee8f2p223zqlvvx9r7.jpeg)

## 12 - ask what is the specific team that you're going to work on and the size

- it makes a difference if you'll be working on a front-facing app for customers or the internal app for the employees
- is your team all remote and made up of 10-15 people or is it a small team < 5 devs?

## 13 - seek to understand the scenario that you'll be walking into

- has the role been open for 6 months or was it just available today?
- was someone fired or is it a brand-new team?
- are there colleagues from the team who've been with the company a long time?
- is it agile?

## 14 - know the salary range that you would need to take the sort of role that they're asking you to fill

- if you're uncomfortable to answer then ask some questions and tell them you'll return to answering when you've gotten some answers
- ask if contract-hire or direct
- ask them what's the total compensation package
- how have comparable candidates been paid (also gives you an idea if they've placed devs in the team)
- if contract to hire will they submit a conversion salary
- if contract do you get full health benefits and PTO

## 15 - seek to understand what the hesitations would be with you as a candidate

- seek to know how you would mitigate those and ask again at the end of the call whether they have hesitations
- the best scenario is that they have zero hesitation
- if they have hang-ups, address it without being defensive or hurting your prospects
- do sell your strengths and your passion
- tell them that you want the role

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/796hlsbrii5d2pa1md6t.jpeg)

## 16 - seek to know all the tips and advice that the recruiters have to share

- ask and you shall receive
- good recruiters explode with every bit of information that they've got to help you succeed
- bad recruiters will have not gotten this far with you and moved to the next quota

## You've reached the end. Go you!

That's it. That's all the nuggets I have. Trust me, the more time you spend putting focus here, the better your odds will be of landing a great role that you enjoy. I'm rooting for you to get the role. Now go seize your next role.