Simplifier

Yes, that is definitely a bit too long. Think of a screening call like a movie trailer. You want to show the most exciting highlights so the recruiter wants to see the "full movie" in a later interview. If you spend 8 minutes on just one experience, the recruiter might lose track of the story or run out of time to ask you other important questions. Most of these calls are meant to be quick "get-to-know-you" chats. A good rule of thumb is to keep each answer to about one or two minutes. This keeps the energy high and makes the call feel like a friendly conversation rather than a long lecture. You want to give them just enough information to prove you’re a great fit without getting lost in the tiny details. To keep it simple, try to focus on the "big picture." Tell them what the problem was, what you specifically did to help, and how it turned out in the end. If the recruiter wants more details, they will definitely ask! Keeping your answers short shows that you know how to get straight to the point.

Experienced HR Manager

Yes, 7–8 minutes per experience is far too long. A typical screening call is a high-level assessment meant to last 20 to 30 minutes total. If you spend nearly a third of that time on a single bullet point, you are depriving the recruiter of the chance to see your full range of skills. From my perspective, brevity is a key indicator of professional communication; if you can’t synthesize your experience quickly, it suggests you may struggle to prioritize information on the job. We are looking for the "so what" of your background. Instead of a play-by-play of your daily tasks, focus on the specific results you achieved and how those skills bridge the gap between your education and our specific business needs. I need to see that you understand the practical application of your work, not just the administrative steps you took to complete it. Aim for two minutes per response. Use the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—but keep it lean. Your goal is to provide enough evidence of your competency to move to the next round, where you can dive deeper into technical details. Efficiency in an interview signals that you will be an efficient and focused intern.

Former Technical Recruiter (Large Company)

Yes, that is far too long. In a large corporate environment, a recruiter’s day is packed with 30-minute screening slots back-to-back. If you spend eight minutes on a single experience, you’ve effectively consumed nearly a third of the entire call. We have a specific checklist of requirements—graduation dates, technical stack, and relocation status—that we must verify before we can move you to the next stage of the bureaucracy. My job is to gather enough "signal" to justify your candidacy to a hiring manager who is already overwhelmed. When you ramble, you make it difficult for me to extract the three or four bullet points I need for my internal notes. If I can’t get through my list of questions because you’re stuck on one project, I’ll likely mark you as a "communication risk" and move on to the next candidate in the pile. You have to remember that at this scale, the screening call is a gatekeeping exercise, not a deep-dive technical interview. We need concise, high-impact summaries so we can check our boxes and keep the process moving. If you can't explain your impact in two minutes or less, it signals to us that you might struggle with the cross-functional communication required in a large, complex organization.