“DM me if interested.”
It was such a simple oversight 😱. I have a great network on LinkedIn, so when Bardeen was ready to hire our first Product Manager, I tried to help with this post 💪.
Within 24 hours, we had over 700 applications (🙌), but my inbox was flooded with hundreds of other LinkedIn messages (😰) with no recruiting process in place for these job seekers. Candidate sourcing was solved, but creating a shortlist of talent based on our special criteria was going to be a nightmare.
Everything was jumbled together. Job applicants, well-wishers, referrals, and some young entrepreneurs who just wanted advice 🧑💼. To go through resumes and messages manually would have taken so much time ⏱️. There had to be a better way than manually importing applicants into our applicant tracking system.
So I used Bardeen to train a custom AI classifier to screen the candidates and review resumes based on our unique qualifications with AI 🤖.
TL;DR
Instead of manually reviewing hundreds of messages and applications, I used three forms of automation to put the entire recruitment process on autopilot:
1. Transfer LinkedIn message data into Google Sheets📄
2. Train an AI classifier to screen the candidates 🧑🏫
3. Send email responses and schedule interviews 📨
We recorded a demo for a similar use case using Bardeen that showcases these playbooks. Follow along and try out the playbooks here to automate the recruitment process with AI. If you want some help setting this up, we are here to help.
The start - 1,000 LinkedIn messages
For a few days, I got a taste of being a recruiter 😵💫.
My inbox was overflowing with:
- Inquiries about the role 🤔
- Chats with VCs 🤑
- Sales team questions 💼
- Personal connections 🧑🤝🧑
I felt like avoiding it all, but that wouldn’t be fair to everyone who messaged me. Plus, I might have missed the chance to find an A-player for the role. Perhaps I should have used a recruitment or screening tool, but honestly there just isn't one that just works with LinkedIn like I wanted.
So, I had a challenge on my hands: hundreds and hundreds of messages to get through—limited time to do it.
I got to work 👷.
First up was scraping the message data from my LinkedIn inbox. I used a playbook to pull the information from each message and fill in a Google Sheet (you can use Excel, too).
I cleaned it up a little bit by removing duplicates and spam 🧹. Nothing was sorted or screened yet, but the data was much easier to work with.
Training an AI screening assistant
The data needed to be categorized, but I had a hunch there was more I could do 💡.
AI was the answer ✅. I trained a new custom classifier on our job requirements and qualifications to analyze the resumes and job applicants, and decide whether they were qualified candidates. I built our own screening tool for the hiring process.
I just entered a few sample messages, and the AI assistant generated questions to refine the parameters. With specific answers, the classifier will know exactly what the ideal candidate looks like.
I’d given the candidate list a once-over, but the classifier quickly identified a few candidates I would have otherwise overlooked.
Sure, we still needed to meet face-to-face (or screen-to-screen) before knowing if they fit our culture, but it was a great start 😎.
The flood of job applicants was sorted, I could respond to the messages that needed it, and we had plenty of candidates to interview.
Actually, we had a lot of candidates to interview.
Good thing Bardeen can do that too 🔥!
Scheduling hell
Ever apply to a role, only to never get feedback (or even confirmation) from the company? It’s an extremely frustrating part of the job search 🤬.
So at Bardeen, we keep applicants informed—even if they’re not the right fit.
After sorting and screening, we had some great candidates. Now we needed to do two things:
- Set up some interviews 🤝
- Inform unqualified candidates 💔
This is the kind of job we build automations for.
Automatic emails were sent to all of the addresses in the Google Sheet, and job candidates picked an interview time with Calendly 📆. Easy.
But I still wanted to connect with the other people who applied.
Email playbooks give you a quick, powerful way to add a personal touch to a large number of stock emails. So that it doesn’t sound like it’s coming from a 🤖 (even if it sorta is).
If I was doing these HR functions on a daily basis, you can bet I’d be using automations. They save so much effort, meaning I have more time to do—well, anything I want ⛱️!
Why use AI and Bardeen to automate recruiting
Let's face it, candidate screening is often the figurative needle in a haystack problem—one made of CVs and cover letters, that is. But what if I told you that it could sort itself, bringing the needles to you 🪡?
That's precisely where AI and Bardeen sail in to save the day (and your sanity).
1. Time saved is time earned ⏳
With Bardeen's automated candidate screening, you reclaim hours—heck, days—that you'd otherwise spend in the initial slog of the hiring process. This is about the freedom to use your time where it counts.
2. Precision on point 💯
AI isn't swayed by a fancy font or an impressive-sounding previous employer. By injecting an automated resume screening system into the mix, we're guaranteeing a level playing field for all applicants and honing in on the right fit with the accuracy of a laser.
3. Leaner budget, fatter ROI 💰
Training AI for the job screening process cuts back on costs - no expensive screening tools or fancy algorithms are required. You're no longer throwing money at the recruitment process. Instead, you're investing in an AI assistant that supports the hiring manager and does better for less.
By marrying AI candidate screening with Bardeen's wizardry, you're not just keeping up with the times—you're sprinting ahead of them 🏃. AI in recruitment is here.
So, here's the deal: let the machines do the grunt work, and you focus on handpicking the 🌟 from a pre-vetted lineup.
