The vendor recruiter calls at 2:47 on a Tuesday. You have four minutes to find a quiet spot before the phone rings again. If you have never mapped out what is coming, you will stumble on question three and lose the req before the tech screen even gets scheduled.
Here is the good news: the fifteen-minute vendor phone screen is not a mystery. It runs the same seven questions, in roughly the same order, almost every time. Learn the script once and you can answer it half-asleep, because sometimes you will be.
This is not the deep work-authorization interview. That conversation deserves its own prep. This is the full rundown, start to finish, so you walk into every call sounding like someone who has done this a hundred times, because you have.
Why This Call Is Scripted (and Why That Helps You)
Vendor recruiters are working a req against a deadline, often for a client they have never spoken to directly. Their job is to qualify you fast, then package your answers into a submission summary. They are not evaluating your technical depth. They are checking boxes: available, affordable, mobile enough, authorized, coherent, and not already burned by a competing vendor on the same req.
Once you know the boxes, you stop rambling and start closing. A fifteen-minute call where you hit all seven cleanly, in order, tells the recruiter you are submission-ready. That alone moves you ahead of candidates who wing it.
The Seven Questions, Scripted
| Question | What They Are Really Checking | Tight Answer Framework |
|---|---|---|
| 1. When are you available to start? | Whether the timeline fits the client's need date | Give a specific date or notice period, not "soon." Example: "I can start two weeks from an offer, or sooner if the client needs it." |
| 2. What is your rate expectation? | Whether you fit the client's budget band before they burn a submission | Give a range tied to your pay type. Example: "On W2 I am targeting $85 to $95 an hour depending on the full scope. On C2C I would need to see the corp-to-corp markup before I can quote a number." |
| 3. Are you open to this location, or is it fully remote? | Onsite flexibility and relocation cost | Be precise. "I am fully remote and not relocating," or "I can be onsite two days a week within driving distance of Dallas." |
| 4. What is your work authorization status? | Whether you can legally work the engagement without visa sponsorship complications for the vendor | State it factually, once, without elaboration. Example: "I am a US citizen," or "I hold an H-1B, currently sponsored by my employer, and my visa is valid through [date]." |
| 5. Can you give me a quick summary of your background? | Whether your stack matches the req at a glance | This is the 90-second tech summary, covered below |
| 6. What is your notice period with your current employer? | Realistic start-date math against the client's timeline | State the number. "Two weeks, standard." If you are on a contract with a specific end date, say that instead: "My current contract ends October 17." |
| 7. Are you being submitted anywhere else for this same role? | Duplicate submission risk, which can get both submissions rejected | Be honest and specific. "Not to my knowledge for this exact role. I do ask every vendor to confirm the client and end-client name before submitting, so we do not double up." |
The Work-Authorization Line: Say It Once, Move On
Question four trips up more consultants than any other, not because the answer is complicated, but because people either over-explain or go quiet.
The right move is a single factual sentence. No justification, no apology, no extra detail unless asked.
- US citizen or green card holder: "I do not require sponsorship."
- H-1B: "I am on an H-1B, currently sponsored by [employer], valid through [expiration date]. Transfer timelines typically run four to six weeks with premium processing."
- OPT or STEM OPT: "I am on OPT, valid through [date], and will need H-1B sponsorship at some point during this engagement."
- TN status: "I hold TN status, renewable annually, and do not require sponsorship for the length of most contracts."
Say it, then stop talking. If the recruiter needs more, they will ask a follow-up. Volunteering extra detail here almost never helps and sometimes invites a question you did not need to answer.
The 90-Second Tech Summary That Does Not Ramble
Question five is where most consultants either freeze or launch into a ten-minute autobiography. Neither works on a screen where the recruiter is typing your answer into a submission template in real time.
Structure it in four beats, out loud, in under 90 seconds:
- Current role and stack — "I am currently a senior .NET engineer on a contract building microservices on Azure."
- Years and depth in the core skills on the req — "Nine years total, the last four focused on Azure Service Bus, Kubernetes, and C#."
- One concrete outcome — "Last year I led a migration that cut our deployment time from 45 minutes to under 6."
- Direct tie to the req — "I saw this role needs AKS and Terraform experience, which is exactly what I have been doing the past year."
Practice this out loud, timed, before the call. Recruiters remember candidates who sound rehearsed in a good way — organized, confident, easy to submit.
What Happens in the Ten Minutes After You Hang Up
The recruiter is now building a submission packet: your resume, your rate, your availability, and a short write-up based on your answers. If your rate and availability were vague, they either guess or call you back, which slows down a process where speed decides who gets submitted first.
Ask one question before the call ends: "What is the client's timeline for scheduling technical interviews?" It signals you are organized, and it gives you a date to hold the recruiter to when you follow up.
Ready When the Phone Rings
The Josh Pros LLC team works vendor screens on both sides of this call every week, and we are glad to talk through your rate strategy, availability language, or how to frame a work-authorization disclosure before your next screen. Email contact@joshpros.com or visit https://joshpros.com when you want a second set of eyes on your script.
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