I've placed candidates at AIG over the years and I've also talked to their recruiting team pretty extensively. let me tell you what the AIG recruiter phone screen is actually doing, because most candidates go in underprepared.
the recruiter screen is 30-45 minutes. it's NOT just a logistics check. AIG recruiters are doing three things at once:
1. compensation alignment they will ask your comp expectations early. not a trick, they have real bands and they don't want to waste anyone's time. be direct. if you're not sure what senior SWE pays at AIG in 2026, reasonable range in NYC is $155k-$195k base depending on level. don't give a range so wide it means nothing.
2. reasons for interest in AIG specifically this catches a lot of candidates flat-footed. "I want a stable company" is a bad answer. they want to hear you understand that AIG is one of the largest property and casualty insurers in the world, that they're midway through a multi-year technology modernization (moving core systems to cloud, building out data platforms), and that you're interested in the specific problems of that environment. research the team before you call.
3. background verification they'll walk through your resume chronologically. gaps, short tenures, reasons you left prior roles. standard, but they are actually listening. if you have something unusual in your background, frame it before they have to ask.
questions they commonly ask: why AIG and why now? walk me through your last 2-3 roles what's your timeline for a decision? are you interviewing elsewhere?
that last one: be honest. AIG doesn't lose many offers to faster-moving companies because they know they're not the fastest. but knowing you have competing processes does sometimes accelerate their timeline.
overall the recruiter screen is low stakes but not zero stakes. people do get screened out here, usually for comp misalignment or clearly being a role mismatch.