Build a Voice AI Recruiter for Your Niche
Yes, voice AI tools can be designed for pre-qualifying candidates in niche industries. These systems use conversational AI to conduct initial phone screens and score candidates automatically.
The complexity depends on the technical specificity of the roles. Screening for a general sales role is simpler than screening for a robotics engineer who needs experience with a specific PLC. The more specialized the questions and scoring rubric, the more fine-tuning the AI prompts require.
We built a voice AI pre-qualifier for a 12-person recruiting firm specializing in aerospace engineers. Their 3 recruiters spent 10 hours a week on initial phone screens. The system went live in 4 weeks and now screens over 200 candidates per month, delivering scored transcripts directly to their ATS.
What Problem Does This Solve?
Recruiting teams often start with text-based screening questions in their Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This fails because many candidates write "see resume," and keyword matching cannot evaluate the nuance of real-world experience. You can't ask a follow-up question to a text box.
Traditional Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems are the next logical step, but they are too rigid. Their "press 1 for yes" logic cannot handle open-ended questions. If a candidate says, "I have about five years of experience, but two of those were as a team lead," an IVR system either fails or incorrectly parses the response, making the data useless.
General AI call center platforms are designed for support or sales call summaries, not structured candidate evaluation. They might transcribe a call, but they lack the internal logic to score answers against a rubric, ask dynamic follow-up questions based on a previous response, and push a final, structured score into an ATS. Recruiters end up listening to every call recording, which defeats the purpose of automation.
How Does It Work?
We start with your top 3-5 job descriptions and current screening questions. We use the Claude API to analyze these materials and generate a set of 10-15 probing questions designed to test for non-obvious, niche-specific skills. This question set and a corresponding scoring rubric are deployed as a configuration file for a Python application running on AWS Lambda.
When a candidate calls the dedicated phone number we provision through Twilio, the AWS Lambda function executes. It uses a high-quality text-to-speech engine to ask the first question and then transcribes the candidate's answer in under 2 seconds. The transcribed text is sent to a FastAPI endpoint that contains the core scoring logic.
This scoring logic is a structured prompt sent to the Claude API, asking it to evaluate the answer against the rubric on a 1-5 scale and identify key concepts. Based on the answer, the system dynamically selects the next best question. An entire 10-question screening call is typically completed in under 8 minutes.
Once the call is finished, a separate process aggregates the scores, generates a concise summary, and compiles the full transcript. Within 30 seconds of the candidate hanging up, the system makes an API call to your ATS (e.g., Greenhouse, Lever) and attaches this data as a note to the candidate's profile. Monthly hosting costs for screening up to 400 candidates are typically under $50.
What Are the Key Benefits?
Clear Your Backlog in a Day
The system handles dozens of concurrent calls without scheduling. Screen over 100 candidates in a single afternoon instead of spending weeks on manual phone screens.
Pay for Usage, Not Recruiter Seats
A one-time build fee and minimal monthly cloud hosting costs. Your expenses are tied to candidate volume, not your team's headcount.
You Own the Questions and Code
We deliver the complete Python source code and configuration files to your GitHub. You can change screening questions and scoring without a new work order.
Get Transcripts with Every Score
Recruiters see the full conversation behind every score directly in your ATS. This provides crucial context for borderline candidates.
Works With Your Existing ATS
We build direct API integrations to post results into platforms like Greenhouse, Lever, and Ashby. Your team's workflow doesn't change.
What Does the Process Look Like?
Week 1: Scoping and Rubric Design
You provide 3-5 target job descriptions and read-only access to your ATS. We deliver a draft of the screening questions and the scoring rubric for your approval.
Week 2: Core Voice AI Build
We build the core voice agent using Python, FastAPI, and the Claude API. You receive a dedicated test phone number to conduct sample screening calls.
Week 3: ATS Integration
We connect the voice AI to your ATS API and configure the data mapping. You receive test candidate profiles in your system populated with scores and transcripts.
Week 4: Launch and Handoff
The system goes live for real candidates. We monitor the first 100 calls to fine-tune prompts, then deliver the final source code and a technical runbook.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much does a custom voice AI screening tool cost?
- Pricing is based on the number of unique roles to screen for and the complexity of the ATS integration. A system for a single, well-defined role is a straightforward 4-week build. Supporting multiple distinct roles with different question sets requires more development. We provide a fixed-price quote after a 30-minute discovery call where we review your specific requirements and existing workflow.
- What happens if the AI misunderstands a candidate?
- The system is designed to handle ambiguity. If an answer is unclear, it can ask a clarifying question like, "Could you please elaborate on that?" The full transcript is always available, so a recruiter can review any low-confidence scores. We also build in a 'flag for review' status that automatically tags calls where the AI detected significant confusion.
- How is this different from using a service like HireVue?
- HireVue is a video interview platform for assessing soft skills and conducting later-stage interviews. Our tool is a voice-only, top-of-funnel pre-qualifier focused on niche technical skills. It is designed to replace the initial 15-minute recruiter phone screen. It's a one-time build that you own, not a per-seat SaaS subscription.
- Can the voice AI handle different accents?
- Yes. The transcription and language models we use via API have strong support for a wide range of English accents, including US, UK, Indian, and Australian varieties. Building the system for other languages like Spanish or German is possible but must be defined during scoping, as it requires language-specific prompt engineering and text-to-speech engine selection.
- Does the system call candidates or do they call in?
- The standard build provides a dedicated phone number that you include in your application process, so candidates can call in at their convenience 24/7. We can build an outbound-calling version that integrates with your ATS to automatically dial new applicants, but this adds scope to handle scheduling rules, voicemails, and call-backs.
- What kind of maintenance is required after launch?
- The system runs on AWS Lambda, which requires no server management. The primary maintenance task is updating the questions and scoring rubrics as your job requirements evolve. The runbook we deliver explains how to edit these configuration files. We also offer an optional flat monthly plan for ongoing prompt tuning and monitoring.
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