How to pass a phone screen
The first call is usually twenty to thirty minutes. The other person is checking that your story matches the CV, and that a longer interview is worth the team’s time.
Before the call
Read the posting again and mark the two stories you will tell. Have the CV in front of you, a charged phone or a headset, and a quiet room.
Know the interviewer’s name and whether this is a recruiter or the hiring manager. Join a minute early. If the call drops, write back immediately with a time you can retry.
The first minute
Confirm the role and how long you have. Then give a ninety-second account of what you do now: the product, your piece of it, and one result.
Stop there. A tour of every job since university uses up the call before they can ask what they called to ask.
Short answers
Tell a small story: the situation in one sentence, what you did, and what changed. Stay under two minutes, then ask if they want the detail.
If you do not know an answer, say so and say how you would find it. A metric you cannot defend becomes the trap in the next round.
Pay and logistics
Look up a realistic range for this title, level, and city before the call. If they ask for a number, give a range and say it depends on the whole package. Ask what they have budgeted when they have not said.
Confirm workplace, timezone overlap, and whether you have the right to work where the role sits. A blocker found in the final round wastes the loop for both sides.
Close the call
Say you want to continue, if you do. Ask what the next step is and when you should hear. Ask one question about the team: who you would work with, or what the first three months are meant to produce.
Write the answers down as soon as you hang up, including any story they asked you to expand next time.