- Where it gets stuck
- Before a CV goes to the client, someone copies it into the agency template, strips the contact details so the client cannot go round you, and writes up the screening call. A formatter can do the template; the write-up is what eats the evening.
- What the workflow does
- The workflow proposes a version in your template with the contact details removed, which the consultant checks, and drafts the write-up from your screening notes: career, current and expected package, notice, location and reasons for moving, with the note each line comes from, visible to the consultant only. The consultant writes their own assessment and sends the CV once the candidate has given the right to represent.
AI for recruitment agencies
Your consultants are flat out on delivery, so candidates go a week without news and nobody rings the clients who said “come back in the spring”.
From what is already in Bullhorn, or whichever CRM you use, and your inbox, we draft the CV write-up, the candidate update and the BD call list, and your consultant edits and sends.
AI for a recruitment agency helps with three jobs that slip first when a desk is busy: the write-up that goes with each CV, the candidate update after each stage change (including extensions and redeployment on contract desks), and BD calls to lapsed clients. The aim is for each consultant to carry more live roles and keep making BD calls, without you hiring.
Today
- Three CVs for ThursdayNotes from the screening call still to turn into a write-upWrite-up done in the evening
- Candidate after a second interviewClient feedback in, candidate not told yetNo news for six days
- BD leads to call backLapsed clients in the ATS or a spreadsheet, not called this monthOn hold
With the workflow
- Branded CVYour template, contact details removed, write-up drafted from the screening notesConsultant adds the assessment
- Candidate updateDrafted from the client feedback logged in the ATSTo approve
- BD call listThe roles they are advertising, people moves and your call history with themReady for the consultant
Three jobs every consultant still does by hand
Each one ends with a consultant’s decision.
Every candidate write-up is rebuilt by hand
Candidates wait for news the agency already has
- Where it gets stuck
- Client feedback arrives by email or phone, the stage changes in the ATS, and the candidate hears nothing until the consultant finds a free moment. Hiring managers who promised feedback are chased one reminder at a time.
- What the workflow does
- When a submission status changes in Bullhorn or your ATS (submitted, interview booked, offer, rejected), the workflow drafts the update for the candidate and, if feedback is overdue, a reminder for the hiring manager. Both wait in the consultant’s drafts, and a rejection is always worded and sent by a person. Drafts are only as quick as your stage changes: if a consultant moves the stage on Friday afternoon, that is when the draft appears. On a contract desk, it also drafts the extension or redeployment message ahead of each end date, for the consultant to send.
Business development stops when the desk is busy
- Where it gets stuck
- A consultant running twelve live roles stops ringing the hiring managers who said “try us in the new year”, and once those twelve are filled, there is nothing behind them.
- What the workflow does
- For each lapsed client or target company on a list the consultant has approved, the workflow prepares a call list entry from the roles they advertise on job boards and their own site, people moves reported in the press and your call history with them, with a reason to call and, if you want one, an anonymised spec CV of your most placeable candidate, once that candidate has agreed to be marketed. The consultant chooses who to call. LinkedIn accounts are never automated.
Which flow should you start with?
Three questions, about a minute. The answer points to one of the moments above, or to a smaller step when a workflow would be too much.
Answer the three questions to see where to start.
This is an exercise: nothing is sent when you use this selector.
Do we have to change our ATS?
No. The workflow reads what your ATS and inbox hold and leaves its draft in the consultant’s mailbox or as a note on the ATS record. Live Bullhorn access needs API rights on your contract, which can cost extra; we check that with you, or whoever manages your Bullhorn account, before building anything. The test needs no Bullhorn access: you email us one CV and the consultant’s screening notes.
- A candidate moves stageA CV goes to a client, feedback arrives or a stage changes in the ATS.
- Approved sources are readThe candidate record, the screening notes and the job brief, within the access you allow.
- A draft is preparedCV write-up, update or call list entry, with its sources.
- A consultant decidesEdits, approves or rejects the draft. Corrections become written instructions for the next drafts, which the agency can read and change.
- Back into your toolsThe consultant sends from their mailbox, and the message is logged on the ATS record when API access allows it.
- Outlook
- Gmail
- Bullhorn
- Recruit CRM
- Vincere
- Word
Three conditions before anything acts
Your existing tools
The workflow runs inside the tools you already pay for, with the access rights they already have, so the team keeps its usual screens.
A named person approves
Every draft waits for a named person. Nothing goes out in the agency’s name without that approval, and exceptions go back to a human.
Every step leaves a trace
Sources, drafts, corrections and approvals are recorded, so you can see why an output was prepared and improve the next one.
Looking for a specific product?
PitstopOptional: a workspace that keeps the instructions, sources and approvals behind these drafts, next to your ATS rather than instead of it, so what a consultant knows about a client stays with the agency when they leave.Discover Pitstop →Managed AI agent serviceWe build, run and maintain one defined workflow, with named approvals, a written boundary and a handoff record.See the managed service →
Our only published case is an executive search firm
AI outreach case study: Asia-Connect. Documented outreach at Asia-Connect over three months. One client and one workflow; results depend on context and execution.
“In the last three months, the agent helped me to book more than 90 qualified meetings with executives I would never have had time to reach, and I approved every single message before it went out. It works while I am in meetings.”
No published recruitment agency case yet. Asia-Connect is a two-partner executive search firm, and the case covers its client business development, the third moment above; branded CVs and candidate updates have no published result. We suggest testing on a CV write-up because you can judge it against what you sent. If you would rather start where there is a published result, start with business development. Read the case study
Your questions
Which recruitment agencies is this for?
Owner-led specialist agencies, perm and contract, where consultants write up CVs, update candidates and do their own business development. On a contract desk, the workflow drafts extension and redeployment messages ahead of each end date in your ATS, for the consultant to send; timesheets, payroll and IR35 status determinations stay out. High-volume temporary staffing is a different problem.
Our ATS already sends stage-change emails and brands CVs. Why add this?
If automation and a CV formatter already do the job, keep them. Templates fire on a trigger; this workflow writes from your consultant’s own screening notes and the client’s actual feedback, shows the source of each line and waits for the consultant. Where your current tools already cover CVs, we start with candidate updates or business development instead.
Can you connect Bullhorn, Recruit CRM or Vincere?
Your Bullhorn administrator requests API access, and we check with you whether your contract allows it, and what it costs, before anything is built; other systems go through their own API where your plan includes one. Without one, the first workflow runs from an export.
Where does candidate data go?
Candidate records are personal data under the UK and EU GDPR, and your agency stays responsible for them. Before you send us anything, even for the test, a data processing agreement is signed and you receive the written list of every system that will read the data, where it is hosted, which model provider processes the text and what that provider keeps. Each client gets its own deployment, separate from the others.
What should we start with?
We suggest the CV write-up on a placement you have already made, because you can compare it line by line with what went to the client; if your write-ups are already fine, we start with candidate updates. The drafts are only as good as your notes, so on the call we look at a real screening note and say whether it is enough to start.
Will it screen or reject candidates automatically?
No. Who is screened in, who goes forward and every rejection stay with the consultant. Automated filtering or ranking of applicants is classed as high-risk under the EU AI Act, and the ICO has published its own recommendations on AI tools in recruitment in the UK; we do not build it.
How much does it cost?
There are no prices on this page. If the test carries a fee, you have the amount in writing before you send anything, and you can stop there. If you go further, our paid scoping review, the Leverage Assessment, has its scope and price on the pricing page, and it can conclude that a smaller change is enough.
In 30 minutes, we pick what to test: one recent placement or a short list of lapsed clients.
For a placement, once a data processing agreement is signed, you send the CV as the candidate sent it with the screening notes, and we return the formatted CV and write-up for the consultant who made the placement to compare with what went to the client. For business development, you send the list, and we return a call list entry for each client, which your consultant judges before ringing anyone.