How to Prepare for an Interview with a Recruiter

The first step of the interview process with a recruiter is different than an internal interview. If you are speaking to a recruiter as a first-step interview, the process is much more condensed but more information-heavy about your wants and needs at a company. Here are the best tips to prepare for an interview with a recruiter and what you should expect. 

Information-Packed

One crucial factor that differs from an interview with a recruiter versus an interview internally at a company is the amount of information given in a short period. The role of the recruiter is to screen the potential candidate to see if their skill set, experience, and budget matches the current jobs they have to fill. 

Unlike an internal interview, the recruiter will ask for everything in a broad sense, your experience, what projects you worked on, your top skills, and your salary requirements. On average, a call with a recruiter will only be 15-30 minutes, and they will want to get as much out of you as possible. 

Instead of going in-depth about your experience and projects, talk more generally about clients, projects, and your top skills. If a recruiter is asking about specific skillsets or your experience, they will ask about it. 

In an internal interview, it would likely take 2-3 rounds for a full-time role, but a recruiter only wants the main points about you and your career to send to the hiring manager at the company. 

That’s what recruiters are here for 

When talking to a recruiter, always be honest about your experience and the opportunity you want. The recruiter is there to help you make as much money as possible and get all the benefits you need. Even if your needs and requirements don’t match a current role, chances are a similar role will come in soon, and they will keep you in their matrix to call you when that opportunity becomes available. 

The more honest you are with a recruiter, the more you can use them to your advantage. We guarantee that recruiters want you to succeed just as much as you want to succeed because their product is people. It can be hard to put your trust and faith into the hands of a recruiter, but we promise it will be worth it in the end. 

Overall, it is crucial to note the differences between a recruiter interviewing you and an internal interview. A recruiter wants to know everything about your career summarized to help you find the perfect role within their pool of jobs. We wish you the best of luck on your job search!