I spent three years recruiting for pharma tech before moving agency side. Lilly was one of my biggest clients. Dropping this here because a lot of candidates go into the recruiter screen too casually and it costs them.
What the Lilly recruiter screen looks like: 30 minutes, phone or Teams Recruiter is usually from Lilly's internal TA team, not an agency Structured: they work through a checklist
What they'll cover: Why Lilly, why this role. Not a throwaway question. They hear 'I love pharma' twenty times a day. Be specific. Reference a recent pipeline, a product, a public strategy. Mounjaro, Kisunla, the oncology push. Say something real. Work authorization. They'll ask early. Lilly does sponsor H1B but only for select roles and there's a process. If you need sponsorship, say so clearly and ask what the team's current stance is. Salary expectations. They ask on the first screen. Have a number. Looking up glassdoor or levels.fyi for Lilly isn't perfect but it gives you a range to anchor to. A brief behavioral warm-up. Usually one question. Something like 'tell me about a project you're most proud of.' This is them checking if you can construct a coherent narrative, not a deep behavioral screen. Logistics: location, travel expectations, start date.
Where candidates lose points: vague answers to 'why Lilly,' not knowing what team or product they're interviewing for, and getting flustered on comp. Know your number before you dial in.
Lilly's TA team is generally professional and communicates well compared to a lot of pharma companies I've seen. If you don't hear back within a week of the screen, a polite follow-up email to your recruiter contact is appropriate.