HR screening interview: what recruiters ask and why they reject

A recruiter writes that they'd like a half-hour call "to get to know each other." There will be no technical questions, so many people don't prepare at all. Then they get a polite "we'll come back with feedback" and can't tell what went wrong, because the conversation felt pleasant.

In the interview reports that users share in the Sobes bank, an HR interview averages 11 to 12 questions, and the set barely changes from company to company. "Do you have any questions about the company and the role?" was asked at 59 companies, "Why are you looking for a new job now?" at 30, "What salary are you aiming for?" at 25. People pass this stage more often than any other: in AI reviews of Sobes users' interviews, the average success rate for HR interviews is 83%, against 61% for technical ones. Most rejections here come from mismatched terms, and weak answers are rare.

What the recruiter checks in half an hour

The recruiter has a request from the hiring manager: level, stack, budget, work format, start date. Their job on the screening call is simple: confirm that you fit that request and avoid spending an hour of the team's time on someone who won't agree on money or office days.

They check four things:

• Whether what you say matches your resume: dates, titles, stack, team size.
• Whether you fit the salary range and the format (office, hybrid, remote, city, citizenship, contract type).
• Whether your reason for looking makes sense and you won't leave in three months.
• Whether you can be shown to the team: do you speak clearly and to the point.

The recruiter doesn't judge technical depth. They do write down keywords and pass their notes on, so the technical interviewer will see everything you said about your experience.

The usual order of questions

The script is almost always the same:

1. The recruiter describes the company and the role for two or three minutes.
2. They ask you to talk about yourself and your latest job.
3. They clarify details: the team, your role, what exactly you worked with.
4. They ask why you're looking and what matters to you in a new place.
5. They check the terms: salary, format, location, readiness for office days or travel.
6. They ask about status: other processes and offers, when you can start.
7. They answer your questions and explain the next stages.

Blocks two through four take more than half the time. Keep the self-introduction to a minute and a half or two; how to build it is covered in "Tell me about yourself" for developers. The reason for leaving has its own article: "Why are you leaving your job?".

Why candidates get cut

The story doesn't match the resume

The resume says "three years with Kafka," and the conversation reveals that a neighboring team ran Kafka. Or the dates in your story don't match the dates in the document. The recruiter won't argue. They'll just note "experience not confirmed."

Before the call, reread the resume you sent for this particular role and talk through each job: when you joined, what you did, why you left. If a stint was short or there was a gap, prepare one calm sentence.

Salary range

If your number is well above the budget, the process ends on this call, and that's fine: better to learn it now than after four rounds. The bad case is when you cut yourself: you name a number below what you'd accept, or you say "whatever you think is fair."

I'm aiming for 280 to 300 thousand rubles a month net. I can be more precise once I understand the tasks and the compensation structure. What range is budgeted for this position?

A range with a clear lower bound, plus a question back. The recruiter gets a number for the request, and you learn the budget. How to pick the number itself is covered in the article on salary expectations.

Motivation

The recruiter listens to what you want and compares it with what the role offers. If you want a new product from scratch and the job is maintaining a ten-year-old system, you won't go further. "I'm open to anything" also works against you: it's unclear why you'd choose them.

I work at an outsourcing company now, and projects change every six months. I want a product team where I can see what happens to a feature after release. The job description mentions exactly that, which is why I applied.

The answer names the reason for looking and ties it to the role right away, with no need to invent a passion for the company.

Work format

The most frustrating reason to be rejected, because it takes one minute to find out. If the role is hybrid with three office days and you live in another city, say so yourself at the start of the call. Same with the contract type: employment contract, sole proprietor, self-employed status, working from abroad.

What to prepare before the call

• The resume in front of you, the same version the recruiter sees.
• A self-introduction of a minute and a half to two minutes.
• Your reason for looking, in two or three sentences.
• The number: a range, the lower bound, net or gross.
• Your start date and the status of other processes. If you have an offer with a deadline, name the date: it speeds things up.
• Three or four questions of your own.

Reread the job description too. "What do you know about our company" comes up often on screening calls, and one sentence about the product is usually enough.

Questions to ask the recruiter

Ask the recruiter what they can definitely answer: process and terms. Architecture and tech debt are better saved for the team; a list of those questions is in Questions to ask the interviewer as a developer.

How many stages are ahead, and how long does the whole process usually take?

Is this a new position or a replacement? How many people are on the team now?

How is compensation structured: base, bonuses, how often is it reviewed?

What matters most to the hiring manager in a candidate for this role?

The last one is the most useful. Recruiters often repeat, almost word for word, what the technical interviewer will be looking at.

How to rehearse

Screening answers are short, and the only way to check them is out loud. The mock interview has an HR screening mode: the interviewer asks the same questions about experience, motivation, and terms, and shows a review at the end. Go through it once in voice mode and notice where you stall and where an answer runs longer than a minute.

If you're interviewing at a specific company, look through the interview reports to see what was asked at its HR stage. After the call, write down the number and the start date you named. The final round will ask again, and the answers should match.