The First Cut
READ TIME: 4 MINUTES
I sat down with Gregg Salkovitch, founder of Right Choice Resources, a national sales recruiting company, to talk about what actually happens on the recruiter screen
He's placed hundreds of sales reps. He's seen every type of candidate walk through the door. And when I asked him what the single most common mistake was among candidates he interviewed, he didn't hesitate.
Rambling.
Candidates who overexplain. Who can't answer a direct question without giving you their entire career history going back to their first SDR role. Who, when asked "walk me through your background," start from the beginning of their career.
Here's the problem with that. The recruiter has a script. They have specific boxes to check before they can move you to the hiring team.
When you ramble, you make it hard for them to pull the right information. You lose control of the story you're trying to tell.
What the recruiter is actually trying to do
Gregg's job on that call is specific. He needs to determine whether your background and experience closely matches the role he's hiring for. That's it. Especially for mid-market and enterprise roles where real sales experience is expected.
He's focused on:
Quota and percent to quota
Sales cycle
How you ranked on the team
Awards or recognition
Your sales process from first touch to close
A big win, a tough objection you overcame, or a deal that failed and what you learned
He has hundreds of resumes on his desk. His question, whether he says it out loud or not, is: are you the A player or the D player?
Your job is to answer that question.
Remember, the recruiter screen is a sales qualifying call.
You're the product. Your numbers are the proof points. And the recruiter is running a discovery process to determine if you match the role they're trying to fill.
Controlling the narrative
Here's where most candidates sell themselves short. They think being honest means volunteering everything. It doesn't.
Let's say the recruiter asks “how much did you sell in 2025?”
The facts: You sold $1M on a $1.2M quota, 83% to quota.
You say: "I sold a million dollars."
You don't lead with the quota. You don't lead with the percentage. You answer the question asked.
If they follow up and ask what your quota was, what percentage you finished at then you answer honestly. But you can still control how you frame it.
Here are two examples of how you can control the narrative:
You say: "I finished at 83% of quota. That still put me in the top 10% of the sales organization of 50 people. 2025 was a tough year across the team. I had one large deal push at year-end that I was counting on. The good news is I closed it in Q1, and I used that experience to intentionally build extra coverage going into the new quarter. I finished Q1 at 200% of target."
Or you could say: “I finished at 83% of quota in 2025. I had a tough year versus previous years where I exceeded quota at 100% 2024 and 105% in 2023. When I look back on it I realized that I didn’t have enough pipeline in 2025, which is why this year I’ve refocused on my outbound messaging and process to build more pipeline. I’ve already seen a 10% increase in demos in 1H 2026.”
Same numbers. Different story when paired with context.
It’s objection handling 101.
Presenting the right pieces of information to overcome the objection, with proof that you’re the right product.
One thing Gregg flagged that most candidates overlook: always know where you ranked on your team. If your company has a leaderboard, pay attention to it. Recruiters use team ranking to calibrate your performance against the broader org, not just your number in isolation.
The question that trips everyone up
"Walk me through your background."
Gregg doesn't love asking it. He can't control what he's going to get. But he hears it asked all the time by recruiters. The candidates who crush it all do the same thing.
They keep it to one to two minutes. They lead with results, numbers, and achievements. They answer the underlying question: why do I stand out?
The ones who struggle start too early, go too long, and bury their best material under a lot of context that doesn't support their case for the role.
Specific. Clear. Concise.
If you can't distill your career into two compelling minutes, that's the work to do before your next screen. I wrote an entire issue on this → here.
How to use the recruiter after the screen
Most candidates think the recruiter's job ends once they move you forward. It doesn't.
Gregg supported one of my clients through the entire process, not just the initial screen. Before each interview, my client asked Gregg for intel. You can do the same. It’s one of the most underused moves candidates make throughout the process.
Before your next interview, ask the recruiter:
"Can you tell me how to best prepare for [hiring manager's name]?"
"What do they typically like to see from candidates?"
"What's made them say yes — or pass — on people before?"
A good recruiter will help you with that. They're invested in your success. Their paycheck depends on it.
Here's something worth understanding about agency recruiters specifically. They're paid 20–25% of your first-year base salary when you get placed. On a $100K base, that's $20–25K. They want you hired. They want you hired at a higher number. That's worth knowing when you get to offer negotiation.
The flip side: a bad recruiter might push you toward a role that isn't right just to make the placement. That’s why it’s important to make sure you're interviewing the company too.
Corporate recruiters, the ones employed directly by the company, are also incentivized. Their bonuses are tied to hiring goals. The motivation looks different, but it's still there.
Gregg's parting advice
I asked him: if you could give a candidate one thing to separate them from everyone else on your call, what would it be?
He said: come in prepared with good questions, stay concise, know your numbers, and treat the recruiter call like a well-prepared sales call.
You know how to run a discovery call. You know how to prep for a demo. The recruiter screen is no different.
Treat it that way.
Hit reply and tell me: what's the recruiter screen question you dread most and how have you been answering it? I read every response.
To clarity and confidence in your career path,
Amanda
See you next Sunday.
P.S. Gregg mentioned that even with hundreds of resumes on his desk, most of the candidates he actually calls came from LinkedIn. I'm covering LinkedIn strategy in an upcoming issue — how to show up, what to say, and how to make sure recruiters find you.
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