How to Build an AI Recruiter That Screens, Schedules, and Follows Up
Recruiting coordination is the ultimate bottleneck job. Every open role generates dozens of inbound emails, each requiring the same sequence: acknowledge the application, screen the resume, research the candidate, schedule interviews across multiple calendars and time zones, file documents, update the pipeline, send follow-ups. It’s high-volume, time-sensitive, and almost entirely procedural — which makes it one of the highest-ROI use cases for AI agents.
An AI recruiting agent handles this entire workflow autonomously through email. Not a chatbot that answers questions about your company. Not an ATS that stores resumes in a database. A fully autonomous agent with its own email address, tool access, and instructions that screens candidates at 2am, schedules interviews before your hiring manager’s coffee, and keeps the pipeline moving without anyone touching a spreadsheet.
What an AI Recruiter Does That an ATS Doesn’t
An applicant tracking system is a database with a workflow layer. It stores resumes, tracks stages, and generates reports. You still do the work — reading applications, writing emails, coordinating calendars, following up with candidates who went quiet.
An AI recruiting agent built on Carly’s agent platform operates independently. It receives emails, makes decisions based on your screening criteria, takes action across connected tools, and reports back. The difference:
| Task | ATS | AI Recruiting Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Receive application | Stores it | Reads it, screens it, responds |
| Schedule interview | You pick times manually | Checks calendars, proposes slots, creates event |
| File resume | You upload to the system | Saves to Google Drive in the right folder automatically |
| Follow up with candidate | Reminder notification to you | Sends the follow-up email itself |
| Research candidate | You open LinkedIn in another tab | Runs web search and adds notes to the candidate record |
| Update hiring pipeline | You drag a card | Updates CRM and posts status to Slack |
The agent doesn’t replace your judgment on who to hire. It replaces the 15-20 hours per week your team spends on coordination that keeps the hiring process moving.
Building Your AI Recruiter in Carly: Step-by-Step
The entire setup takes about ten minutes. You can either email agent@usecarly.com and describe what you want built — “Create a recruiting agent connected to Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive that screens candidates and schedules interviews” — or build it through the dashboard. If you’re new to Carly, the getting started guide covers account setup.
Step 1: Name and Email
Give your agent a clear, role-based identity. “Recruiting Coordinator” or “Talent Operations” works well. The email address should match: recruiting@yourdomain.com or a dedicated @usecarly.com address. For more on naming strategy, see our guide on giving your AI agent a name, email, and personality.
Step 2: Connect Your Tools
Toggle on the integrations your recruiting agent needs. Some recommended combinations:
- Email: Gmail or Outlook (to send and receive candidate communications)
- Calendar: Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar (to check availability and create interview events)
- Video conferencing: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or Webex (to generate meeting links)
- File storage: Google Drive, Dropbox, or Box (to file resumes and documents)
- CRM or database: HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio, or Zoho (to track candidates through your pipeline) — or Google Sheets, Airtable, or Notion if you don’t use a CRM
- Messaging: Slack or Discord (to notify hiring managers)
- Documents: Google Docs or Google Slides (to generate interview summaries and scorecards)
- Web Search (native integration for candidate research)
Carly connects to 70+ integrations across 25 categories, so you can customize the stack to match your team’s existing tools.
Step 3: Write Your Instructions
This is where the agent gets its intelligence. Write plain-English instructions that tell the agent exactly what to do, when, and how. Be specific. Number your steps. Define escalation rules. Here’s a starting template:
You are the Recruiting Coordinator for [Company Name]. You manage
inbound candidate communications, screening, interview scheduling,
and pipeline tracking.
When a candidate emails with a resume or application:
1. Acknowledge receipt within the same business day with a friendly,
professional reply
2. Save their resume to Google Drive in "Hiring/[Role Name]/Resumes"
3. Research their background via web search — LinkedIn profile,
current company, notable projects
4. Screen against these criteria: [list your specific requirements —
years of experience, required skills, location, etc.]
5. If they pass screening:
- Check the hiring manager's calendar for available 45-minute
blocks in the next 10 business days
- Reply with 3 interview time options including time zone
- When they confirm, create a Google Meet event with the candidate
and hiring manager, include the job description and candidate
summary in the event description
- Update the CRM with status "Interview Scheduled" and add
screening notes
- Post to Slack #hiring: candidate name, role, interview time,
one-line summary
6. If they don't pass screening:
- Reply with a polite, personalized rejection that thanks them
and encourages future applications
- Update the CRM with status "Screened - Not Proceeding" and
brief notes on why
7. If you're unsure whether they qualify, forward the application to
me with [REVIEW] in the subject line and your screening assessment
8. If no response from a candidate after 3 business days, send one
follow-up. After 7 days with no response, mark as "Unresponsive"
in the CRM.
Tone: professional but warm. Use their first name. Keep emails concise
— under 6 sentences. Never share salary ranges unless I specifically
approve it.Step 4: Test with a Real Scenario
Send a test email to your agent’s address with a sample resume and application. Watch the full workflow execute: acknowledgment email, resume filed, web research, screening decision, interview scheduling attempt or rejection, CRM update, Slack notification. Adjust your instructions based on what you see.
5 Recruiting Workflows with Detailed Instructions
Each workflow below includes the plain-English instructions you’d paste into your agent’s configuration. These can all live in a single agent, or you can split them across specialized agents for high-volume hiring.
1. Inbound Candidate Screening and Response
The core workflow. Every application gets read, evaluated, and answered — no candidate sits in a black hole.
INBOUND SCREENING RULES:
When you receive an email that contains a resume, CV, or job application:
1. Extract: candidate name, email, current role, years of experience,
key skills, location, and the role they're applying for
2. Save the resume attachment to Google Drive: Hiring/[Role]/Resumes/
[LastName_FirstName_Date].pdf
3. Research the candidate via web search. Look for their LinkedIn
profile, GitHub (for technical roles), portfolio, and any notable
work or publications
4. Score against the role requirements:
- Senior Engineer: 5+ years, Python or Go, distributed systems
experience, US time zones
- Marketing Manager: 3+ years, B2B SaaS experience, content
strategy background
[Add each open role's criteria here]
5. Create a candidate entry in the Google Sheet "Hiring Pipeline" with
columns: Name, Email, Role, Date Applied, Score (1-5), Key
Strengths, Concerns, Status, Research Notes
6. If score is 4 or 5: reply with enthusiasm, mention something
specific from their background, and move to interview scheduling
7. If score is 3: reply warmly and forward to me with [BORDERLINE]
in the subject for my decision
8. If score is 1 or 2: send a respectful decline within 24 hours2. Interview Scheduling Across Time Zones
The scheduling nightmare — multiple calendars, time zone math, rescheduling requests — handled entirely by the agent.
INTERVIEW SCHEDULING:
When scheduling an interview for a qualified candidate:
1. Ask the candidate for their time zone if not already known
2. Check the hiring manager's Google Calendar for available 45-minute
blocks between 9am-5pm in THEIR time zone, within the next 10
business days
3. Exclude any blocks marked as "Focus Time" or "No Meetings"
4. Propose 3 options to the candidate, displayed in the candidate's
time zone with the hiring manager's time zone noted in parentheses
5. When the candidate confirms:
- Create a Google Meet event with both parties
- Title: "[Role] Interview — [Candidate Name]"
- Description: candidate summary, resume link, role description
- Send a confirmation email to the candidate with: meeting link,
interviewer name and title, what to expect, and a reminder to
have examples of [relevant skill] ready
- Post to Slack #hiring: "[Candidate Name] interview confirmed
for [date/time] with [Hiring Manager]"
6. Send a reminder to the candidate 24 hours before the interview
7. If the candidate needs to reschedule, accommodate once. If they
reschedule twice, flag for me with [SCHEDULING ISSUE] in subject3. Resume Filing and Candidate Database Management
Every resume in the right folder, every candidate record complete and current. No more searching through email for that attachment from three weeks ago.
RESUME AND DATABASE MANAGEMENT:
For every candidate interaction:
1. Save all resume/CV attachments to Google Drive:
Hiring/[Role]/Resumes/[LastName_FirstName].pdf
2. If the candidate sends additional materials (portfolio, references,
cover letter), save to: Hiring/[Role]/Supporting/[LastName_FirstName]/
3. Maintain the Google Sheet "Hiring Pipeline" with these columns:
Name | Email | Phone | Role | Date Applied | Source | Status |
Interview Date | Interviewer | Score | Notes | Resume Link
4. Update the Status column as candidates move through stages:
Applied → Screening → Interview Scheduled → Interviewed →
Offer → Hired (or Declined/Withdrawn at any stage)
5. When I email you "hiring update" or "recruiting summary," send me
a summary: new applications this week, interviews scheduled,
interviews completed, candidates awaiting decision, and any
candidates who've been in the same stage for more than 5 business
days4. Candidate Research and Background Enrichment
Go beyond the resume. The agent researches each qualified candidate and builds a brief that gives the hiring manager context before the interview.
CANDIDATE RESEARCH:
For every candidate who reaches the interview stage:
1. Search the web for their LinkedIn profile and extract: current
title, company, tenure, education, notable skills
2. Search for their GitHub profile (technical roles), portfolio site,
or published work
3. Search for recent news about their current company — funding
rounds, layoffs, product launches — that might explain why they're
looking
4. Search for any conference talks, blog posts, or open-source
contributions
5. Compile a one-page brief in Google Docs saved to
Hiring/[Role]/Briefs/[LastName_FirstName]_Brief.doc:
- Summary (3 sentences)
- Key strengths relative to the role
- Potential concerns or gaps
- Conversation starters (specific things to ask about based
on their background)
- Links to all sources
6. Share the brief link with the hiring manager via Slack DM at least
24 hours before the interview5. Post-Interview Follow-Ups and Status Updates
After the interview, candidates hear back quickly. Hiring managers get reminded to submit feedback. Nothing stalls.
POST-INTERVIEW FOLLOW-UPS:
After an interview event ends (check Google Calendar):
1. Send the candidate a thank-you email within 2 hours: "Thanks for
taking the time to speak with [Hiring Manager] today. We'll be in
touch within [X business days] with next steps."
2. Send the hiring manager a Slack DM: "Interview with [Candidate]
for [Role] just wrapped. When you have a chance, reply with your
assessment — thumbs up, thumbs down, or on the fence."
3. If no response from the hiring manager after 2 business days,
send a follow-up Slack message
4. When the hiring manager responds:
- If positive: update the pipeline to "Moving Forward" and email
the candidate about next steps (second interview or offer
timeline)
- If negative: update to "Declined - Post Interview" and send the
candidate a respectful rejection within 24 hours
- If undecided: update to "Under Review" and ask the hiring
manager what additional information would help them decide
5. Update the Google Sheet pipeline with the hiring manager's
feedback and the current statusAdvanced: Multiple Recruiting Agents
For companies hiring across several roles simultaneously, a single recruiting agent can get overloaded with context. The solution: build multiple specialized agents that coordinate.
Role-specific agents. Create one agent per open role — “Engineering Recruiter,” “Sales Recruiter,” “Marketing Recruiter” — each with screening criteria, interview panels, and pipeline tracking specific to that role. Each gets its own email address so candidates always know which role they’re engaging with.
A coordination agent. Build a separate agent that aggregates data across all role-specific agents. When you email it asking for a hiring overview, it pulls from each agent’s pipeline spreadsheet, compiles a report, flags bottlenecks (roles with no qualified candidates in 2 weeks, candidates stuck in a stage), and posts the summary to Slack.
Spawning agents on demand. When a new role opens, email your main Carly agent at agent@usecarly.com: “Create a recruiting agent for the Senior Product Designer role, connected to Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Meet, and the Hiring Pipeline Google Sheet. Use the same screening workflow as the Engineering Recruiter but with these criteria: [paste criteria].” Your agent builds the new agent for you. When the role is filled, deactivate it.
This is the same agent-building-agents pattern that makes Carly’s platform scale from a one-person operation to a full recruiting team.
Mistakes to Avoid
Using the same screening criteria for every role. A Senior Engineer checklist has nothing in common with a Marketing Manager checklist. If your agent handles multiple roles, separate criteria under clear headers — required skills, years of experience, must-haves vs. nice-to-haves — per role. Generic screening produces generic results.
Not setting a tone that reflects your employer brand. Your agent’s emails are the first impression candidates get of your company. If your brand is casual and startup-y, a stiff “Dear Applicant” rejection undermines it. Write explicit tone instructions — voice, greeting style, sign-off — that match how your team actually communicates.
Letting the agent share salary ranges without approval. Candidates ask about compensation constantly. Without explicit instructions, the agent will either dodge awkwardly or guess. Define exactly what it can say: “We’ll discuss compensation details during the interview process” or whatever your policy is. Sharing the wrong number creates expectation problems you can’t walk back.
No process for handling internal referrals differently from cold applications. A referred candidate should get a warmer acknowledgment, faster screening, and a flag to the hiring manager that a team member vouched for them. If the agent treats referrals the same as cold inbound, you lose the goodwill that made the referral happen in the first place.
Scheduling interviews without buffer time between back-to-back slots. The agent checks calendar availability and sees two open 45-minute blocks in a row — now your hiring manager has zero minutes between interviews to debrief or grab water. Add explicit scheduling rules: minimum 15-minute gaps between interviews, no more than 3 interviews per day per interviewer.
Not testing with a borderline candidate. Strong matches and obvious rejects are easy. The hard case is the candidate who meets 3 of 5 criteria, or has the right experience but in the wrong industry. Test these edge cases specifically — they reveal whether your escalation rules actually work or whether the agent is quietly rejecting people you’d want to interview.
Related: What Are AI Agents · How to Build AI Employees · Best AI Agent Platforms · Getting Started with Carly · What Carly Can Do
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