AI for recruitment agencies that keeps both sides of the desk warm
Business development stops the week a consultant is busy filling roles, candidates hear nothing between interviews, and a database of thousands sits untouched. AI for recruitment agencies should do the desk work around the placement: keep clients and candidates warm, confirm every interview and bring old contacts back, while your ATS stays the system of record.
For agencies with 10 to 250 staff- Job board applicants
- LinkedIn messages
- Candidate referrals
- Past placements
- Lapsed clients
- Website vacancy pages
- Spec CVs sent
- Hiring manager moves
- Industry events
- Temp booking requests
Two sides of the desk, and only so many hours
A recruitment business sells twice. It wins a role from a client and it wins the trust of a candidate, and the fee only lands when both stay engaged until the start date. Consultants know the work that makes that happen: regular business development calls, updates after every interview, a check-in before the offer, a call after the first week. They also know it is the first thing to go when the desk is busy.
The pattern repeats from agency to agency. Business development is feast and famine, so new roles dry up a month after a busy spell. Candidates complain they hear nothing, then accept a counter-offer or another agency's role. Interviews are arranged by a chain of emails and texts, and a no-show is discovered when the hiring manager calls. Meanwhile the database holds thousands of candidates and hundreds of past clients that nobody has contacted in a year.
The incumbent systems are part of the story. Reviews of recruitment software complain of interfaces that feel dated, bulk email and texting that do not work, data that is hard to get out and renewals that arrive with surprises. Most agencies are not looking to replace the ATS. They need the follow-up around it to happen whether or not a consultant has time.
BD stops when billing starts
Client calls and check-ins pause during a busy month, and the pipeline of new roles empties a few weeks later.
Candidates hear nothing
Updates after interviews depend on memory, so good candidates drift to the agency that kept in touch.
Interviews arranged by hand
Times, confirmations and reminders go back and forth by email and text, and no-shows surprise everyone.
A database nobody works
Thousands of past candidates and lapsed clients sit untouched, while the team pays to source new ones.
Clients called back.
Candidates kept informed.
Old contacts working again.
Lapsed clients and silent candidates brought back to the desk
Most of the value in an agency database is people who already know you. The platform keeps in touch on a rhythm you set and tells a consultant the moment someone is ready to talk.
Long-term nurture and reactivation
- Trigger
Starts when
A client has not briefed a role in months, or a candidate has gone quiet since their last process
Placed on the right track
Clients, active candidates, placed candidates and lapsed contacts each get messages that fit where they are.
InstantUseful notes on a rhythm
A salary snapshot for hiring managers, relevant roles for candidates. Worth opening, never spam.
Every 2 weeksReplies and clicks watched
Opens, clicks and replies are recorded on the contact, so you see who is warming up.
Ongoing- EngagedOpened, clicked or replied
Consultant alerted
When a client mentions a role or a candidate says they are open to a move, the right consultant gets a task the same day.
Same dayCall-back booked
On the owner's calendar
- Done
- Quiet for 90 daysNo engagement
Dormant contacts re-engaged
People silent for a year get a direct, personal check-in by text, WhatsApp or email.
QuarterlyReplies routed to the owner
With the history attached
- End
- EngagedOpened, clicked or replied
- Lapsed client: last role briefed 11 months agonew
- Quarterly salary note sent to the hiring managersent
- Opened twice, salary table clicked
- Reply: we are about to open two roles in financenew
- Consultant alerted, briefing call link sent
- Briefing call booked for Thursday 09:30booked
- Two roles added to the BD pipelinedone
Illustration of a typical reactivation. You write the messages and choose who receives them.
What chasing and scheduling cost your desk
Put in your own figures. The result is your arithmetic, not a promise.
Based on the figures you entered
This is your own arithmetic on the figures you entered, not a result levelpartner.ai has produced for anyone.
How this is calculated
weekly hours = people × hours each
annual cost = weekly hours × loaded hourly cost × 52
value returned = annual cost × the share you estimate could be automated
Every input is yours. The automatable share is an estimate, which is why the result is a range.
Worked example. Three people spending six hours a week each at a loaded 35 an hour: 18 hours and about 32,760 a year. If 40 to 70 in 100 of those hours can be automated, that is 7 to 13 hours a week back, worth roughly 13,100 to 22,930 a year.
What AI for recruitment agencies should actually do
Six parts of the platform matter most to agencies. None of them replaces your ATS or your judgement on a shortlist. They take the repetitive messages, bookings and reminders off the consultant.
AI agents on every inbound channel
An AI agent answers website chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram from the information you give it: open roles, locations, pay ranges, how to register. It collects the details, books a call with a consultant and hands over the conversation. Start in suggestion mode, where a consultant approves each reply.
Two-way texting and WhatsApp
Candidates answer texts faster than emails. Message from the platform, keep every thread on the candidate record and let the whole team see the history when a consultant is off.
Workflows for the updates nobody has time for
A stage change sends the candidate a short update and the consultant a task. A start date triggers a first-week check-in. A placement nearing the end of the rebate period triggers a call to the client and the candidate.
One inbox for the desk
Email, texts, WhatsApp, social messages and calls in one thread per contact. When a consultant is on holiday, the team picks up the thread with the full context.
Terms, invoices and payment links
Send terms of business for e-signature to a new client and keep the signed copy on the record. Send the placement invoice and a payment link from the same record when the candidate starts.
Reviews from placed candidates and clients
Ask for a review after a successful start, when the candidate is happiest, and draft replies for a consultant to approve. Reviews help the next candidate choose to register with you.
- When a candidate moves to interview stage
- Then send the confirmation and reminders by text
- If the interview is marked complete
- Then ask the consultant for feedback within a day
- Always log each message on the candidate record
The parts recruitment agencies set up first
Each one runs on the same contact record, so a client's roles, calls and invoices and a candidate's messages and interviews sit in one place, beside your ATS.
Database reactivation, done carefully
Segment past candidates by sector, seniority and last contact, then send a short personal check-in by text, WhatsApp or email. Replies land in the consultant's inbox with the history attached. Send only to people with a lawful basis to contact, and keep opt-outs honoured automatically.
Interviews confirmed
Send the candidate a booking link against the hiring manager's calendar, then confirmations and reminders by text and email, with the address or video link.
A BD pipeline per consultant
Stages for target, conversation, role briefed, CVs sent, interviewing and placed, with a value on each, so billing forecasts stop being guesswork.
Calls answered after hours
An AI voice agent answers candidate and client calls when the office is closed, takes the details and books a callback.
Market updates to clients
A monthly salary or market note to hiring managers keeps the agency in mind between roles, with opens and replies tracked.
Not your ATS: the patchwork around it
Most agencies keep their applicant tracking system for vacancies, CVs and compliance documents. Around it sit a bulk email tool, a texting app on personal phones, a scheduling link, an e-signature tool, a spreadsheet of BD targets and a reviews tool. That patchwork is what the platform replaces.
Around the ATS today
- Candidate texts on consultants' personal phones
- BD targets in a spreadsheet nobody updates
- Interview times arranged by email chains
- Old candidates and lapsed clients never contacted
One platform beside it
- Every text and WhatsApp on the contact record
- A BD pipeline with values per consultant
- Booking links with confirmations and reminders
- Reactivation on a rhythm, with replies routed to a consultant
One licence with unlimited users, so a new resourcer or a temp controller costs nothing extra to add. Keep the ATS for vacancies and compliance; contacts and activity can sync between the two during onboarding where your ATS allows it.
One licence, no tiers
Every feature is available on one licence, with no tiers to climb and no per-seat fees. Usage is billed as used, including WhatsApp, premium workflow steps, local listings sync and AI; implementation and custom work are priced separately and agreed before any work starts.
levelpartner.ai
€7,512
a year, the platform licence
- Every feature is available on one licence, with no tiers
- Unlimited users and unlimited contacts, no per-seat fee
- 30 hours of onboarding included, plus a 30-day check-in after launch
- Implementation beyond the included hours at €85 an hour, scoped and approved first
- Custom builds quoted to scope
- Usage billed as used: email, SMS, calls, WhatsApp, AI, premium workflow steps and local listings sync, at published rates
Guides worth reading first
Email nurture campaign: how it works and how to set it up
Run an email nurture campaign for leads who are interested but not ready, choose who enters, space the emails sensibly and stop the moment they respond.
AI text messaging: how it works and how to set it up
Hold two-way AI text messaging conversations from your business number that read like a competent person, book appointments and hand over when needed.
Lead management SaaS: how it works and how to set it up
Moving to lead management SaaS? What a hosted subscription replaces, what to check in the contract and data terms, and how to migrate without losing history.
See all industries, or the same platform written for other businesses that sell a high-value outcome: coaching businesses, car dealerships and wedding venues. Marketing and creative agencies have their own page.
Questions buyers ask
How can recruitment agencies use AI?
Start with the repetitive work around a placement: answering enquiries out of hours, confirming interviews, sending candidate updates, drafting job ads and BD emails, and re-engaging old contacts. Keep a person in charge of shortlisting and selection decisions. Regulators are paying close attention to automated decisions about candidates, so check the rules where you recruit.
What is the difference between a recruitment CRM and an ATS?
An ATS tracks vacancies, applications, CVs and compliance documents. A recruitment CRM manages relationships over time: client business development, candidate engagement before and after a role, and marketing to your database. Many agencies run both. This platform is the CRM and messaging side, used beside the ATS you already have.
Can we text candidates in bulk?
Yes, by segment, with replies landing in one shared inbox. Contact only people you have a lawful basis to message, include an opt-out, and keep to the consent and marketing rules in each country you recruit in. Opt-outs are recorded on the contact and stop future sends.
Will AI replies put candidates off?
Not if they are honest and useful. Tell people when they are talking to an assistant, give it only accurate information about your roles, and hand over to a consultant for anything personal. Run it in suggestion mode until the drafts no longer need editing.
Does it work for temp and contract desks?
Yes. Availability check-ins by text before each week, shift confirmations, reminders and a fast way for a client to request cover all run as workflows. Timesheets and payroll stay in the systems you use for them today.
What does it cost for a recruitment agency?
The licence is €7,512 a year with unlimited users and 30 hours of onboarding included. Work beyond that is €85 an hour, agreed before it starts. Email, SMS and WhatsApp usage is billed as used at the published rates.
Find the follow-up your desk keeps dropping
Bring a picture of last quarter: roles won, interviews held, placements and how big the database is. On the call we show where follow-up stalls and tell you plainly what we would automate first.
Book a strategy call
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Keep both sides of the desk warm
Client BD, candidate updates, interview confirmations and database reactivation that run while your consultants fill roles.