Agency recruiter here, placed a bunch of candidates at Big 4 firms including EY over the last few years. Going to demystify the EY recruiter phone screen because candidates consistently show up underprepared for what's actually a scripted process.
First: EY's recruiting is centralized through their talent acquisition team. The person calling you is not your future manager or even close to the tech team. They are working through a structured intake conversation.
Here is what they ask, more or less in order: Background walk-through. 2-3 minutes. They want to confirm what's on your resume is real and hear you narrate your arc briefly. Keep it to 90 seconds. Motivation question. 'Why EY specifically?' or 'What draws you to EY over other firms?' This is not an invitation to say you love their culture. Give a specific, credible answer: a service line, a client sector you want to work in, a specific EY initiative you read about. Work authorization and location. Non-negotiable confirmation. For visa holders: be direct about your status and timeline. They will ask. Vague answers create problems later. Role fit check. One or two questions about why this specific role, sometimes a brief competency question ('can you give me a quick example of working on a cross-functional project?'). At the phone screen stage it's rarely deep. Logistics. Salary expectations (sometimes), timeline, next steps.
The phone screen is a gate, not an evaluation. They're filtering for basic fit, clear communication, and red flags. Don't overshare, don't undersell. Give clean answers. The technical and behavioral depth comes in the rounds after.
One tip: end the call with a specific question about the team or the role, not a generic 'what's the culture like.' It signals you've done actual research.