Finding a job has literally become a full-time job. Job seekers are navigating a market in which they outnumber available roles , spending months or more on the hunt. The frustration is so widespread that new workforce trends are emerging, including reverse recruiting —paying someone to help land you a position. Meanwhile, startups are rolling out AI agents to automate the hiring process from end to end .

Leaders remain uniquely positioned to help candidates connect with roles they’re qualified for, speeding up hiring without sacrificing the human judgment that benefits both prospective employees and company culture.

At Jotform, we encourage an automation-first approach. But when it comes to hiring, we aim to preserve the human side—the conversations and evaluations that really help us get to know and understand a candidate. ChatGPT can help automate parts of the hiring process. It can reduce the busywork side of recruiting and leave the important decisions in human hands.

Here are five prompts to get started.

Craft A Compelling Job Description

Writing is one of my favorite parts of my work. Penning job descriptions, however, doesn’t feel like the most creative endeavor. But it’s a task that requires thoughtfulness to catch the eye of top talent who will be a good match for your company’s unique culture.

To craft a compelling job description, take a moment to envision the candidate you’re seeking. What is their skillset and their relevant experience? Which qualities will set them up for success? Think about the responsibilities they’ll have and how they’ll work. What does their team dynamic look like? Who are they reporting to, and who are they managing? Harvard Business Review also recommends asking yourself what makes the job appealing—what will excite a potential candidate about the role and your company?

Jot down these ideas and ask ChatGPT to help turn them into a captivating description. Here’s the prompt:

“I’m crafting a job description for [role] at my company. I’d like you to review the following text and identify any key information about the role that may be missing. Also, consider whether it will excite potential candidates to apply. Add any light edits to make it more compelling. [Insert description.]”

Feel free to add any additional context about your company that you’d like to transmit as well. For example, if your company values a good sense of humor or camaraderie between colleagues, let potential candidates know.

Turn A Job Description Into An Evaluation Framework

You’ve put a lot of effort into crafting a captivating description of a role you’d like to fill at your company. Like any great piece of content, you can maximize the impact of your efforts by repurposing it.

Recruiters sometimes go into interviews without having a clear, objective idea of the ideal candidate. Each interview will inevitably run a different course, and recruiters ultimately evaluate candidates differently.

With your perfected job description in hand, you can tap ChatGPT to help create a rubric so that each candidate is evaluated by the same framework. Here’s a prompt to try:

“I’d like you to analyze this job description. Make a list of the 3-5 most important skills and experiences to look for. Also, make a list of the less tangible qualities I should look for during the interview (i.e., communicates ideas clearly, seems like a team player, etc.). Then, create a weighted interview scorecard that I can use to assess each candidate. [Insert job description].”

Generate Targeted Interview Questions

One thing I’ve learned in two decades of interviewing: if you ask generic questions, you’ll often receive generic answers.

What do you consider your weakness?

I tend to be a perfectionist.

Those types of back-and-forths tell you very little about an interviewee (and even less about your company).

ChatGPT can help you to generate questions that are tailored toward a role, dig deeper into a candidate’s character and motivations, and still assess them consistently.

Here’s a prompt you can use to get started.

“I am hiring for a [job title] at my company. Here is the job description: [insert description]. Please generate 15–20 role-relevant interview questions that go beyond generic interview prompts. The questions should help me understand how candidates think, make decisions, approach challenges, collaborate with others, and whether they are likely to succeed in this role. They should also provide insight into candidates’ personality traits, motivations, and long-term career goals. The questions can be creative, but at least half should require candidates to draw on specific past experiences or concrete examples.”

Evaluate Resumes Against The Role

It’s no secret that AI-powered resume screening is on the rise. According to at least one source, 44% of organizations use AI specifically to screen resumes . It’s not without risks—of removing from the pool great candidates who don’t have certain objective bullet points or words listed on their resume.

If you’re wary of using AI to screen candidates, understandably so, you can still use AI to help evaluate them. It can assist you in identifying areas to explore further later in the process, rather than just eliminating applicants automatically. Try this prompt:

“I am going to share a resume, and I’d like you to compare it to this job description. [Insert description.] Please identify the ways in which this candidate is a strong match for the role. Also, please create a list of missing qualifications and potential concerns that I should discuss with the applicant during the interview.”

Convert Interview Notes into Structured Evaluation

I’ve written before about how I use AI tools and agents to make meetings more efficient . After any meeting, I leave with transcribed notes, action items, and, as needed, follow-up email drafts.

Why would I treat interviews any differently?

Interviewers often leave meetings with random observations scribbled on a notepad. Instead, use an AI-powered notetaking app like Otter.ai to make sure that key information and telling anecdotes aren’t forgotten. Then, you can use ChatGPT to turn those notes into structured, useful assessments.

“I’m going to share notes from a recent interview with a job candidate. Here is the job description: [insert description]. Please review the notes and create a structured evaluation of the candidate, including: (1) evidence of their strengths, (2) evidence of potential weaknesses or risks, (3) open questions that should be explored in future interviews, (4) notable qualities, experiences, or characteristics that may differentiate them from other candidates. For each point, please cite specific evidence from the interview notes.”