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January 13, 2025
6 min read
Recruitment automation has long relied on chatbots, emails, and structured workflows, but have known limitations. At this point, you likely already have some form of automation in your recruitment operation. Most high-volume hiring processes rely on multiple layers of automation—some executed beautifully, others not so much. There are impressive and highly effective applications for chatbots throughout the hiring journey, from answering FAQs to guiding candidates through assessments. But some moments in the process require a voice interaction—a conversation that feels more natural and engaging than text-based communication. It allows people to explain more complex situations and get personalized answers, faster.
Calling candidates with human recruiters is virtually impossible for high-volume recruitment operations. It’s incredibly costly, exhausting, repetitive, and will drain your recruiters. This is where Voice AI comes in. Voice Enabled Recruitment Automation (VERA) allows companies to automate candidate interactions using AI-powered voice technology. Unlike chatbots or email-based systems, VERA can speak to candidates, conduct initial interviews, answer questions, and schedule follow-ups—all in real time.
When discussing automation in recruitment, most people often lack the human touch that candidates expect. Many interactions in recruitment don’t require face-to-face conversations, but they need something more engaging than a text exchange.
VERA (Voice Enabled Recruitment Automation) is an AI-powered voice technology designed to interact with candidates at different stages of the hiring process. Instead of relying solely on text-based automation, VERA introduces real-time, voice-driven conversations that help recruiters screen applicants, answer questions, and schedule interviews—at scale.
Unlike chatbots, which rely on typed responses, VERA talks to candidates in a natural and personal way. It’s more than just a voice assistant; it’s designed to conduct structured conversations that help recruiters make informed hiring decisions faster.
Here are some applications for VERA in recruitment:
Why does this matter? By integrating Voice AI, companies can create a hiring process that feels more engaging—without overburdening recruiters. They gain more time to build relationships, make strategic hiring decisions, and improve employer branding. In addition, voice interaction will always make any interaction a lot faster.
In the next section, we’ll explore why Voice AI is such a game-changer in recruitment and how it fits alongside other automated hiring tools.
If you’re recruiting at scale, speed is everything. A slow hiring process doesn’t just frustrate candidates—it costs you top talent. When job seekers have multiple offers on the table, companies that respond quickly and provide a smooth experience will always have the upper hand.
At the same time, recruiters are drowning in repetitive tasks. Screening resumes, scheduling interviews, and answering the same questions repeatedly—it’s a time-consuming, manual workload that only worsens with high-volume hiring.
That’s where Voice AI bridges the gap. VERA doesn’t just make hiring faster—it makes it smarter.
Calling is faster. Period. Everything happens in real time.
Candidates can have a real-time conversation instead of being stuck in an endless email chain, which makes a massive difference in how candidates perceive the company.
Recruiters already juggle sourcing, interviews, employer branding, and stakeholder meetings—the last thing they need to have the same conversation dozens of times a day. It will break their spirit. They should be hunting the top talent instead.
Instead of hiring more recruiters to keep up with demand, companies can leverage Voice AI to manage thousands of applications simultaneously—without compromising on candidate engagement.
A big misconception is that Voice AI replaces chatbots or text-based automation. In reality, it complements them. Chatbots are fantastic for quick FAQs and text-based interactions, but when it comes to tasks that require a real conversation—like selling the role, screening candidates, or addressing nuanced questions—voice interaction is simply more effective.
The key is using the right tool at the right time based on candidate behavior.
For Voice AI to be effective, it needs to be used with the right audience at the right moments, for the right tasks. That’s where the Five Ws Framework comes in.
This framework helps recruiters strategically place Voice AI in their hiring process by answering five key questions:
Let’s break it down.
The first step is deciding what tasks Voice AI should take over. VERA isn’t here to replace recruiters—it’s here to automate repetitive tasks that slow them down.
Some key areas where VERA can be effective:
✅ Selling the position – for competitive roles, Voice AI can engage passive candidates, provide information, and convince them to apply.
✅ Initial candidate screening – ask pre-set questions and record responses for review.
✅ Interview scheduling – check availability and schedule interviews instantly.
✅ Answering FAQs – Candidates often ask the same questions about salary, benefits, or job expectations. Provide instant, consistent answers.
✅ Multilingual engagement – Companies hiring across multiple regions can use Voice AI to conduct interviews in different languages and accents, removing communication barriers.
Define what VERA should do and ensure it improves efficiency without overcomplicating the hiring process.
Next, you need to define who will be interacting with Voice AI. This includes both candidates and internal stakeholders.
For candidates, it’s essential to personalize interactions based on their profile:
On the recruiter’s side, who is responsible for overseeing Voice AI? Is it the recruitment team? HR? Operations? Understanding who owns the process ensures smooth implementation and prevents Voice AI from becoming another underused tool.
Where in the hiring funnel should Voice AI live?
Think of the platforms and channels VERA will operate on. Is it going to be used primarily through phone calls, or will you integrate VERA with other systems like WhatsApp, Messenger, or even SMS? VERA is flexible in terms of channels, so understanding where your candidates are most active will help you decide the best channels for voice automation.
Before implementing any new technology, you need to ask: Why are we doing this?
For most companies, the primary reasons to adopt Voice AI include:
🚀 Speeding up the hiring process – Reducing time-to-hire by automating screenings and scheduling.
📈 Scaling recruitment efforts – Handling thousands of applications without increasing recruiter workload.
🎯 Improving candidate engagement – Making hiring more personal and responsive.
⚡ Reducing recruiter burnout – Allowing hiring teams to focus on high-value tasks instead of repetitive admin work.
By clearly defining the why, recruiters can measure success and ensure Voice AI is solving real problems, not just adding another layer of tech.
The final step is defining when Voice AI should interact with candidates. Timing is everything in recruitment—engage candidates too late, and they’ve already accepted another offer.
🔹 Immediately after application – VERA can screen candidates and move them forward instantly.
🔹 During high-volume hiring periods – Seasonal or rapid hiring situations where manual processes can’t keep up.
🔹 As a follow-up tool – Keeping candidates engaged with reminders, updates, and next steps.
Using Voice AI at the right moment ensures a frictionless candidate journey and maximizes recruiter efficiency.
Let’s look at a real-world example of how Voice AI transformed a high-volume hiring scenario.
In this case, a large retail company needed to hire a high number of seasonal staff for the holiday shopping rush. They were looking for cashiers, stockroom staff, and sales associates to cover the busiest time of the year. However, like many companies dealing with seasonal hiring, they faced some major challenges:
❌ Too many applications, not enough recruiters – With thousands of applicants in a short period, manually reviewing resumes and scheduling interviews was overwhelming.
❌ Slow screening process – By the time recruiters contacted candidates, many had already accepted other job offers.
❌ High candidate drop-off rates – Many applicants lost interest due to delays in communication.
❌ Scheduling chaos – Recruiters spent too much time coordinating interviews.
To streamline the process and reduce recruiter workload, the company implemented VERA.
Using the Five Ws Framework, the company strategically placed Voice AI at key points in their hiring process.
📌 What did VERA do?
Instead of recruiters handling everything manually, VERA took over:
✅ Initial screenings – Asking candidates pre-set screening questions and recording responses for review.
✅ Interview scheduling – Automatically setting up interviews with candidates who met the criteria.
✅ Candidate engagement – Answering common questions and providing real-time updates.
✅ Multilingual communication – Conducting interviews in multiple languages for diverse applicants.
📌 Who interacted with VERA?
Candidates – Mostly entry-level seasonal workers who needed a quick and easy application process.
Recruiters – The hiring team used VERA’s screening insights to quickly move candidates forward.
📌 Where was VERA used?
At the beginning of the process – Engaging candidates immediately after they applied.
During interview scheduling – Eliminating back-and-forth emails.
For follow-ups – Ensuring candidates completed the hiring steps.
📌 Why was VERA implemented?
The company needed to:
Hire faster – Reduce time-to-hire to avoid staffing shortages.
Handle high applicant volume – Without overwhelming recruiters.
Improve the candidate experience – Keep applicants engaged and informed.
📌 When did VERA engage with candidates?
Immediately after they applied – To screen them while interest was high.
During peak application periods – To handle the hiring surge efficiently.
As a follow-up tool – To reduce candidate drop-off.
The results: Faster, more efficient hiring
After implementing VERA, the company saw:
✅ Hiring time cut in half – What used to take weeks was now done in days.
✅ Higher candidate engagement – Fewer drop-offs, more completed applications.
✅ Recruiters saving hours of work – No more manual screenings or endless email chains.
✅ More successful hires – The right candidates were identified and scheduled faster.
Voice AI isn’t a trend—it’s a powerful evolution in recruitment automation. Companies that integrate it effectively will gain a competitive edge, making their hiring faster, more scalable, and candidate-friendly.
This concludes our summary of Episode 1 of the podcast series. Future episodes will dive deeper into how to activate and optimize Voice AI within different recruitment models.
If you’re considering Voice AI for hiring, now is the time to explore its potential. The tools are here—the question is, how will you use them?
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