Got laid off a few months ago and Best Buy came through an application I'd kind of forgotten about. The recruiter phone screen was 25 minutes. Wanted to write this down because I had no idea what to expect going in.
What the recruiter covered: The role itself. About 8 minutes of her explaining the team and what they're building. Felt genuine, not scripted. The team was in their supply chain optimization area, working on order routing and fulfillment. She mentioned they're expanding their tech headcount after some team consolidation last year. My background. Standard walkthrough of resume. She specifically asked about my most recent role's scope, how large the teams I'd worked with were, and whether I had experience working with distributed systems at any point. Not a technical quiz, just categorizing. Comp expectations. She asked directly: 'what are you targeting?' I said I was looking for a range and asked about their band first. She gave me a range ($150-185k base for the level they were considering) and asked if that worked. No weirdness, no pressure. Timeline and logistics. Minneapolis HQ vs hybrid/remote options (the role was hybrid, 3 days in Richfield). She confirmed the next steps: OA first, then technical phone screen, then a panel onsite.
What she did NOT ask: anything behavioral, anything about why I left my last role (she only asked what I was looking for next), no curveballs.
General impression: professional and organized. She followed up the same afternoon with a calendar invite for the OA. That kind of process efficiency after months of ghost-town applications was refreshing, honestly.
If you're heading into one of these: have your current comp and target range ready, and be clear on your timeline so you can push back if they move too slow.