Rejections at the recruiter screen stage

I see lots of wonderful advice already being shared in this thread. As a new grad software engineer, I have experienced something similar.

What I notice is that you have two major audiences during the recruiter screen: recruiter and hiring manager. I realize that when I spend more time elaborating on how my technical background makes me the perfect fit based on the job description (with specific examples from my experience), I pass more screens. Therefore, it is essential not only to make recruiter happy but also to convince a manager why he/she should interview you in the next round.

Carefully study the job description to understand the type of skills they value the most. Make sure to emphasize that you possess these skills during the interview.

I doubt it's a you problem (although of course it's good to be self-aware, there's always room for improvement in how one can communicate). I think the bar is extremely high at the moment, and that they are looking for someone who matches ALL of the requirements. I think being smart + adaptable + being able to learn very fast is no longer enough for AI labs. They have no issue attracting great talent, hence they can afford to be picky and look for someone who can start making impact on their first 1-2 weeks, versus first 90 days for other big tech (usually).

I had a similar experience 2 months ago with OpenAI, except I was the one to cold apply. The recruiter reached out to me 2 weeks later and we scheduled a screen a week after their email. Although the screen went well, the recruiter told me after a couple days that the team has decided to move forward with other candidates who more closely align with the requirements.

It's really tough to know without having been in the room. I recommend going through the behavioral interview course regardless - Maybe you can reflect and find something you could have improved on: Master The Behavioral Interview As A Software Engineer

What I will say is that the bar for a company like OpenAI is stupidly high. FAANG hires the top ~5% of engineers and then OpenAI hires the top ~5% of those people. Resumes are supposed to be short (1 page max for most engineers), so it's possible that your resume looked good to them on the surface, but after the recruiter dove in, they believed that you didn't have the depth of experience to perform at a company like OpenAI.

Lastly, it could also be due to recruiter incompetence of which there is a lot of. Maybe they misread your resume really badly and thought you worked at a company you didn't work at or something (e.g. they thought you were ex-Anthropic). It's often hard to tell much when it comes to interviewing - Just gotta take as many shots on goal as you can, learn from your mistakes, and keep your head high.