A first recruiter call is a screen, usually 20 to 30 minutes long. The recruiter is checking that you match the posting, that your expectations are in range, and that you can talk about your work without rambling. You do not need a full day of preparation. Thirty minutes spent well is enough, and this post splits them into three blocks of ten.
Minutes 0 to 10: the company and the posting
Open the posting, the company’s website and its careers page. You are looking for answers to four questions, and you should write each in a line.
- What does the company sell, and to whom? Use its own words from the homepage, then restate them simply.
- What is the role for? Reread the posting’s verbs. If you completed the ten-minute reading routine, your notes are the answer. If not, write one sentence on what the work seems to be.
- Why this company? Pick one specific, true reason. “Your product serves schools, and I have spent three years building tools for teachers” works. “Innovative culture” does not.
- What do you not know? List two or three gaps. These feed your questions in the last block.
Then check three quick things: how long the role has been listed, whether the company has recent news that affects hiring, and whether the recruiter has a public profile that shows which roles they cover. Do not spend more than ten minutes. The recruiter is not testing your trivia.
Minutes 10 to 20: your pitch and your pay answer
The 60-second pitch. The first question is nearly always some version of “tell me about yourself”. Prepare four sentences:
- Who you are professionally, in one line: “I am a backend developer with six years in payments.”
- A highlight that matches the posting: one thing you did, with a number or a result if you have a real one.
- What you are looking for, which should match the role.
- Why you are talking to this company.
Say it aloud twice. Written pitches and spoken pitches feel different, and the second run is where it becomes natural.
How do I answer the pay question?
Your pay answer. Recruiters often ask about expectations in the first call, and a bad answer can sink the process or lock you into a number too low. Do the work before the call.
- Decide your floor, the lowest total package you would accept. Write it down, and do not tell anyone this number as a floor.
- Find a range for the role and location. Zorlya’s salary tool shows a benchmark it already holds for a role and location, and on Plus and Pro it can research one with AI. Salary figures in postings, where posted, are another. Treat both as guides and not facts.
- Decide whether your current pay is relevant. Some places restrict employers from asking for it, and elsewhere you can still decline to say. If it comes up, you can reply, “I would rather talk about the range for this role.”
In what order do I reply?
Then rehearse this order of replies:
“What range have you budgeted for the role?”
Ask first. It is a fair question, and many recruiters will answer. If they will not, and press for your number, give a range that begins at a number you would be happy with:
“Based on the scope of the role and what I have seen in the market, I am looking at [X] to [Y]. I am flexible depending on the full package.”
Set X above your floor, not at it. Ranges tend to be negotiated toward the bottom. Be honest: do not state a figure you have not researched, and do not claim a competing offer you do not hold.
Minutes 20 to 30: five questions to ask
Recruiters remember the candidates who ask good questions. Choose five from this list, and keep two spares.
- What does the process look like from here, and how long does it usually take? It tells you the number of rounds and the pace.
- What is the team and who would I report to? You get the shape of the group.
- Why is this role open? New headcount and a replacement are different situations.
- What would success look like in the first six months? The answer shows whether the role has a clear goal.
- What is the compensation range and are there components besides base pay? If you were not asked first, ask now.
- What are the working arrangements: remote, hybrid, time zone, travel? Pair it with the remote checklist if the posting says remote.
- Is there anything in my background that you would want me to clarify? It gives you a chance to address a doubt on the spot.
Write the answers down as they come. They are the start of the file for this application.
On the call itself
- Take it somewhere quiet and charge your phone or laptop beforehand. Have your resume and the posting open in front of you.
- Answer the question that was asked, in under a minute, then stop. A recruiter has a list and will ask a follow-up if they want more.
- If you do not know something, say so and say what you would do to find out.
- Be plain about gaps. “I have not used that tool in production, but I have used a similar one for two years” is better than a bluff that is exposed in the next round.
- End with a clear next step: “Should I expect to hear by Friday?”
After the call
Within the hour, write four lines in your tracker: the recruiter’s name, the date, what was said about pay and process, and what you promised to send. Send a two-sentence thank-you the same day. The tracking post has a template and the follow-up dates.
Where Zorlya fits
Interview prep in Zorlya drafts preparation for a specific job, and the job page shows a company brief where Zorlya holds one, or on Plus and Pro researches one, which is a starting point for the first ten minutes. The generated material is a draft: you still read it, cut what you cannot back up, and say it in your own words. The free plan includes interview prep and the other writing tools with a monthly allowance, and the pricing page shows what each plan allows.
The call is short, and preparation is mostly about not being surprised by the pay question. Do the three blocks and you will be.