💬 My first phone screening was on a noisy metro platform

My first phone screening was 3 years ago. A recruiter called while I was on the Ameerpet metro platform. Trains passing, a man selling peanuts behind me, announcements every minute. I answered anyway. She said, is this a good time? I said yes, because I was scared she'd call someone else. I couldn't hear half of what she asked, and I said sorry about 9 times. Then she asked about my notice period. I said, um, around 2 months, maybe 3, it depends. She waited. I could hear her typing. Then she asked what I knew about the company, and I had nothing. I'd read one line on their website the night before. I said it twice, in different words. The call lasted 11 minutes and I never heard from them again. My cousin works in HR at a bank. I told her the story and she laughed for a full minute. Her advice was boring. If you can't talk, say, can I call you back in 30 minutes? They don't mind. Answer in 2 or 3 sentences, then stop. Say the notice period as a number, like 60 days. And keep 2 facts about the company on your phone, because you will freeze. I used all of it on the next call. Asked for 30 minutes, found a quiet corridor, and it went fine. I sent a 2 line thank you message that evening. The recruiter replied in 10 minutes. I got the next round. Can't say the message did it, but she mentioned it later. My voice still goes up at the end when I say my salary number. Nobody has fixed that yet.

Salary is the question that gets me. I never know whether to say a number first. A friend told me to give a range and keep the low end where I'd really be happy. I tried that last month and the recruiter just said, okay, that works. It took 10 seconds. Weeks of dread for 10 seconds. I wish I'd stopped overthinking it sooner,.

In my first HR call they asked why should we hire you, and I blanked. I said I'm a hard worker, which is what everybody says. The recruiter said okay in a flat voice. Now I answer with one project. What I built, how long it took, what broke. I also ask what the next round is before hanging up. It makes the call feel like a chat.

My worst screening call was at 6 in the morning because the recruiter was calling from Pune and forgot my time zone. I hadn't had tea. She asked my expected salary and I gave a number in dollars by mistake.

The company research part is where I have slipped up most. Got asked what I knew about a startup during a screening call and only had one generic line ready, which was obvious to the recruiter. Since then I keep a small note on my phone with two or three fresh points about any company before picking up a call from an unknown number.

Notice period questions used to make me nervous until I realized recruiters ask this purely for planning, not to judge you. I used to give a vague answer and get follow up questions every single time, which felt like pressure. Now I just state the exact number of days upfront and the calls move on to the next topic so much faster.

Sending a thank you note afterward really helped me once. A recruiter mentioned during the call that another candidate was also strong for the role, so I sent a short message that evening reminding her of one particular project I had worked on. Got the next round invite two days later, and I still cannot say for sure if that note made the difference, but it felt worth doing.

The two to three line answer rule is harder than it sounds when you are nervous. My first screening call, I rambled for almost two minutes on a simple experience question and could tell the recruiter had gone quiet on the other end.

The rescheduling tip is something I wish I had known earlier. I once picked up a screening call while standing in a noisy bus stop and just powered through it instead of asking for thirty minutes, and it clearly threw me off during the salary question. Next time a recruiter calls unexpectedly, I am asking to move it instead of winging it.