A screening call, annotated
An invented call on Monday 5 October 2026: the candidate Arjun, the company Kestrel Payments and the role PAY-114 are made up, and so is every number. The right-hand column is what the recruiter types onto the form; each entry in the middle column is a decision, not a script.
INVENTED example 2 min
| Recruiter says | Arjun's move | What goes on the form |
|---|---|---|
| "Tell me about yourself." | Current scope, one result with a number, why this role; about fifty seconds | 6.5 yrs; owns order routing; cut p99 latency by half; wants a larger system |
| "What is your current CTC?" | Fixed, target variable, last payout, no stock; payslips at offer stage | 18 lakh fixed plus 1.8 variable (paid about 80%); CTC 20.87 per letter; no stock |
| "What are you expecting?" | Asks the level and band first; recruiter says SDE-2, 24 to 32 fixed; he names the middle of it | Expects 27 to 29 lakh fixed at SDE-2; band 24 to 32 |
| "That is a big jump from 18." | Agrees it is, as a percentage; says it is inside their band and his evidence is SDE-2 evidence | Ask is mid-band; reasons from level, not payslip |
| "This opening's budget is up to 24." | Asks if 24 is the band top or this opening's; states his floor of 25 once; asks to run the manager round with pay open | Floor 25 fixed; budget 24; proceed, pay open |
| "What is your notice period?" | "My letter says 90 days. I haven't asked my employer about early release; I'll do that once I hold a written offer. Is your joining date fixed?" | 90 days per letter; no release agreed; date to be confirmed |
| "It's 30 days. We prefer immediate joiners." | Asks cut-off or preference; gives the earliest date from his policy, about 30 days after a written offer with a buyout of about 3 lakh; asks about a grossed-up reimbursement (question 4) | Policy allows 60-day buyout (not yet requested); 30 is a preference; manager's mid-Dec date reachable |
| "Can you relocate?" | "I'm in Bengaluru and would stay here. Three office days a week is fine." | Bengaluru; hybrid OK; not relocating |
| "Any other processes?" | One final round elsewhere, decision in about two weeks; suggests moving the manager round | 1 other final round; decision about 2 weeks |
| "Why are you looking?" | "My team is moving to maintenance; I want a system that is still growing." | Wants to own a growing system |
| "Which level?" | Asks what SDE-2 owns at Kestrel; his evidence is SDE-2 evidence, so he does not ask for the SDE-3 loop | SDE-2 fits; asked what the level owns here |
| "Rate yourself on Java and Kafka?" | Years from the resume; 8 and 7 with a stated scale, one system each, one limit | Java 6.5 yrs, 8/10 (GC tuning); Kafka 2 yrs, 7/10, not brokers |
| "Why Kestrel?" | The posting's multi-region routing plan; his one-region order routing | Knows multi-region plan; has run routing |
Gave up / revisit when / signal (Arjun). Gave up: a reason to push for SDE-3 now, because his page shows 6.5 years and no cross-team system. Revisit when: he owns a design that three teams depend on, which is Meera's position below. Signal: every entry on the form is a date, a range or a fact. Cost. Asking the level first costs one sentence; accepting an SDE-2 band without asking can cost a year at the lower pay. Stating a floor of 25 against a budget of 24 risks the process stalling now; hiding it risks a full loop that ends in an offer he will not take.
Read the right-hand column as the hiring manager will, in a minute. It shows a candidate with a date, a range, a reason and one open question. Nothing in it can be contradicted by a document.
Next stop: A senior call, annotated, 3 min
A senior call, annotated
An invented call: the candidate Meera, ten years in, the company Kestrel Payments and the role PAY-231 are made up, and so is every number. This time the middle column is what she says and the right-hand column is the signal the recruiter writes for the hiring manager. The follow-ups are the ones a senior call draws and a mid-level call usually does not.
INVENTED example ยท senior call 2 min
| Recruiter says | Meera says | Signal on the form |
|---|---|---|
| "Walk me through your background." | "Ten years. For the last three I have led the ledger and settlement platform at a payments company: four engineers on it, three teams depend on it. The result I am proudest of is a migration of 22 million postings a day with no customer-visible break. I want the same kind of ownership at larger scale." | 10 yrs; leads a platform others depend on; one scale number; fits SDE-3 |
| "Your second job was only 14 months. What happened?" | "I joined to build the catalogue service. In month nine the company announced it would shut that product line. I documented the service and handed it over before the line shut, then left in month 14, with a reference from my manager. Since then I have stayed in one place for six years." | Stint explained by an event, not a pattern; reference exists |
| "What is your current compensation?" | "Fixed is 42 lakh. Variable target is 6 lakh, paid at 90 per cent last cycle. I hold RSUs: 60 lakh granted at grant value, 35 lakh vested, the rest vesting over 18 months. I would like to compare fixed with fixed and total with total. What is the band for this level?" | Three lines, not one number; asked for the band |
| "We cannot match stock at that size. Our band is mostly cash." | "Then I would compare four-year totals. Is there a sign-on to cover the stock I forfeit, and what is the usual refresh at this level?" | Thinks in four-year terms; asks two precise questions |
| "This role is SDE-2 on our ladder. Is that a problem?" | "My last two years were a system across three teams, and I hired three engineers; two have since been promoted a level. That reads as SDE-3 to me. Can the loop assess above SDE-2, with the hiring manager deciding after the first round?" | Asked for the higher loop; gave two facts, not an adjective |
| "The loop is the same. The level is decided afterwards." | "That works if the offer letter states the level. If it comes back SDE-2, I would like a review date in writing." | Wants the level on paper, not a promise |
| "What is your notice period?" | "My letter says 90 days. I will ask about early release once I hold a written offer. I am already planning a handover." | 90 days; no release yet; credible |
| "If your manager counters, would you stay?" | "I decided before this call: I am leaving for scope, not for money, so a raise does not change the reason. I will tell you by the date we agree." | Low counter-offer risk |
| "What else are you running?" | "One final round at a company I will not name yet, decision in about two weeks. Yours is my first choice if the level fits." | Real stage and date; no invented offer |
Gave up / revisit when / signal (Meera). Gave up: naming the other company, and any stock-for-stock match. Revisit when: the offer arrives at SDE-2 without a written review date, which reopens the level question before she resigns. Signal: no figure she gave can be contradicted by a payslip or a vesting statement.
Four things in this call separate it from Arjun's. The stint question is met with an event and a reference. The pay answer carries stock as granted, vested and still to vest. The level is asked for with evidence, and the answer is a written level, not a hope. The counter-offer question gets its answer before it is asked. None of the four has a source: all are the author's reading of how the form is read, and lesson 2 labels its stint advice the same way.
Next stop: Drill, rubric and pitfalls, 4 min
Drill, rubric and pitfalls
The drill. Say your answers out loud to the twenty-four questions below, two minutes each (three for the walk-through), with a timer, using your own papers on the desk. Record yourself once. Then score each answer against the rubric, and re-do any answer with an empty box. The card below runs the drill with an AI as the recruiter.
Table: Question, The answer must include, Box (24 rows)
| Question | The answer must include | Box |
|---|---|---|
| Background pitch (the opener) | Current scope, one result with a number, why this role; under a minute; the same words as your resume | |
| Current CTC | Components, not one blended figure; a statement that you will document it | |
| Expected pay | Level or band asked first; a range for fixed pay | |
| Notice | What the letter says; what is checked and not checked; a question about the joining date | |
| Other processes | Real stage and date; no invented offer | |
| Location | Your real limit in one sentence; their office expectation | |
| Why change | One forward-looking fact; nothing bitter | |
| Level | What the level owns here, asked before any number; two facts of scope if you ask for the level above | |
| Process and timeline | Rounds and their order, time to a decision, the latest joining date they can hold; buyout help asked | |
| Rate yourself | Years from your resume; a number on a stated scale, one named system, one limit | |
| Why us | One checked fact about the company; one fact about you that meets it; nothing about pay | |
| "Joining is fixed at 30 days" | Cut-off or preference asked; the earliest date after an offer and its buyout cost, only if read from your policy; no resignation promised | |
| IC or manager track | The track you want; a headcount you can name; which track the role is on | |
| "Share your offer letter" | Figures in writing now; the letter at the offer stage, masked, if its terms allow | |
| "Applied before?" | Role, date and round said first; one change since; the cool-off asked | |
| Contract-to-hire | Whose payroll, how long, conversion terms in writing, who covers PF, insurance and leave | |
| Hands-on share (mostly SDE-3) | A percentage; one thing you built yourself this quarter; what fills the rest | |
| First round and preparation time | A date, not "whenever"; the loop time you need, tied to a real reason; the format asked | |
| A challenging situation | One situation, one action that was yours, one result with a number; under a minute | |
| Last rating, no promotion | The real rating and its scale; the promotion rule in one fact; nothing about your manager | |
| Stack mismatch | The gap said first; what carries over; no side project rounded up to years; the coding round's language asked | |
| Long tenure, why now | How the scope changed inside it, in dates that match the resume; one forward-looking reason | |
| "Walk me through [your main system]" (manager's screen) | Three minutes: the problem, the one design decision and what it rejected, the scale, the risk and how it was gated, one result with a number, your people | |
| Disagreement; unclear brief (manager's screen) | Two sentences each: one situation, what you did, a measure or a trade you gave; nothing about rank |
Pitfalls.
- One blended number. "18 lakh" cannot be compared with another company's "18 lakh". Give components.
- A portal field that disagrees with your letter. The first check on the call is usually this match. Fix the portal first.
- "Negotiable" notice. It tells the manager nothing, and it may be untrue. State the letter, then what you have and have not asked.
- Promising 30 days to meet a fixed date. Ask whether it is a cut-off first, then give the earliest date your policy allows. Resigning to meet a filter is a decision for home, with its costs (question 4).
- Naming a percentage hike. It ties the offer to your current pay. Name a range for the level.
- Taking a budget or a hike cap at face value. A cap on the hike and a cap on the band have different fixes. Ask which it is, then state your floor once.
- A bare 9. A rating with no scale and no limit invites the interviewer to find the gap. Give the scale, one system and one limit.
- An invented offer. It is dishonest, and a false claim may surface later. Describe your real stage and date.
- Promising a relieving letter or an exact last day you do not control. Say "expected" and name the date.
- Signing a consent you have not read. It should name the checks and the vendor.
- Treating a reported law as certain. Everything legal in this lesson is a pointer to a question for HR or a lawyer.
Next stop: The call on one page, 2 min
The call on one page
Copy this onto one sheet the night before. Every line points back to a section above; nothing in it is new, and every sentence in the right-hand column is the author's construct from this lesson, untested.
Five numbers on the desk.
- Current fixed pay, variable target and last payout, from the payslips and the letter that set your CTC.
- The CTC on that letter, exactly as you typed it on every portal (briefing 2).
- Your ask, as a range inside the level's band, and your private floor.
- Notice per the letter, the earliest date you could join if a release or buyout is agreed, and the buyout's cost under your policy.
- Years in each main skill, counted from your resume's dates.
Three questions you ask. "Which level is this, and what is the band?" "What are the rounds, the time to a decision, and the latest joining date you can hold?" "Has the company helped candidates with a buyout before?"
Table: If the recruiter says, One sentence back (10 rows)
| If the recruiter says | One sentence back |
|---|---|
| "Just give me one number." | "Fixed is 18; with variable at target it is 19.8; the letter's CTC is 20.87. I'll send the split in writing." |
| "Our budget is 24." | "Is that the top of the band, or this opening's budget?" Then the floor, once. |
| "We only do 30 per cent on current." | "Is the cap on the hike or on the band? I'd rather be placed on the band." |
| "I can't submit you without your current CTC." | The letter's figure, with the split in the notes; never 0 or a guess. |
| "Can you join in 30 days?" | "My letter says 90; I'll ask for early release once I hold a written offer." |
| "Joining is fixed at 30; immediate joiners first." | "Is 30 a cut-off or a preference? My policy allows a 60-day buyout; the earliest is about 30 days after a written offer. Would you reimburse it, grossed up?" |
| "This role is SDE-2." | Two facts of scope, then "Can the loop assess SDE-3?" |
| "Rate yourself on Java." | Years, then a number on a stated scale, one system, one limit. |
| "Why us?" | One checked fact about them, one fact about you that meets it. |
| "Would you stay for a counter?" | The reason you started looking, decided before the call. |
Next stop: Six more questions: hands-on, Go, and four others, 1 min
Six more questions: hands-on, Go, and four others
Scripts are the author's constructs, untested.
- How hands-on are you? Meera: "About 40 per cent coding in a normal month. Last quarter I rewrote the reconciliation matching job myself, and I review every change to the posting path." One named thing you built this quarter.
- This role is in Go. "Six and a half years of Java, in Go one internal tool. Service design, Kafka and concurrency carry over; I would plan a month before my Go passes review unaided. Can I take the coding round in Java?"
- Why were you not promoted? "'Exceeds' last cycle. SDE-3 at my company needs a design other teams depend on, and my team has been in maintenance this year." Fact, then what changed; nothing about the manager.