ChatGPT Prompts for Recruiting: 12 for Recruiters to Copy

ChatGPT prompts for recruiting work best on the parts of the search that are writing and arithmetic: cleaning up intake notes, turning requirements into search strings, planning pipeline targets, and drafting screen guides and candidate updates. You paste the facts from your intake call and your ATS, and the model drafts; you and the hiring manager decide. Here are 12 copy-paste prompts grouped by stage, plus a flagship prompt that builds a full search plan from one intake call.

One rule for every prompt below: AI drafts, people decide. Do not ask any model to rank, score, or reject candidates, keep names and contact details out of public tools, and keep every question tied to the job. In the US, Title VII, the ADEA, and the ADA apply to every screen, and some states and cities ban salary history questions, so check with your HR or legal team.

Prompts for the intake

1. Intake follow-up questions

Here are my notes from an intake call for [role]: [notes]. List the questions I should send back to the hiring manager where the notes are vague, contradict each other, or are missing pay, location, or start date.

2. Skills-based requirements

Rewrite these requirements for [role]: [requirements] as five or fewer must-haves based on the work itself. Flag any degree, years of experience, or company name requirement that is a proxy, and suggest skills-based wording.

3. Evidence per requirement

For each must-have: [must-haves], tell me what evidence of it looks like in a resume and what a strong answer sounds like in a 30 minute screen.

Prompts for sourcing

4. Search strings

Write three Boolean search strings for [role] using only these skills and job titles: [skills and titles]. Explain what each string finds and what it might miss.

5. Channel plan

We can source through [channels] with [budget or seats]. Make a weekly plan for [number] weeks: who we look for on each channel, volume, and who owns it.

6. Referral ask

Write a short message asking employees in [teams] for referrals for [role]. Include the must-haves [must-haves], the pay range [range], and how to submit a referral.

Prompts for screening

7. Phone screen guide

Write a [length] screen guide for [role]: logistics questions asked the same way to every candidate, then one question per must-have [must-haves] with what a strong answer includes. No questions about protected traits or salary history.

8. Screen notes to summary

Turn my screen notes: [notes] into a summary for the hiring manager organized by must-have, quoting only what the candidate said. Do not add a score or a recommendation.

Prompts for the pipeline

9. Pipeline math

We need [number] hires by [date]. Our past funnel ratios are [ratios]. Work backward to the offers, interviews, screens, applicants, and outreach we need, show each step, and give weekly targets.

10. Weekly hiring manager update

Write this week's update for [hiring manager] from these counts: [stage counts] and notes: [notes]. Keep it under 120 words and end with the decisions I need from them.

Prompts for candidates and offers

11. Candidate status update

Write a short update to a candidate in the [stage] stage for [role]. The next step is [next step] by [date]. Warm, specific, and no promises about the outcome.

12. Offer call outline

Outline an offer call for [role] with these approved terms: [base, bonus, start date, benefits summary]. Include how to answer questions I cannot answer yet and what to send in writing after the call.

Build the whole search plan from one intake call

The Recruiting Prompt: Intake Notes to Sourcing and Screen Plan combines prompts 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, and 10. Paste your intake notes, must-haves, pay and location, timeline, ATS funnel ratios, channels, and screen format. It returns open questions for the hiring manager, a requirements check, a channel plan with search strings, pipeline math, a phone screen guide, an update template, and a fairness check. The example plans a senior data analyst search in Chicago and works out that one hire needs about 70 outreach messages and 60 applicants over six weeks.

Hiring managers have their own side of the process. Share the ChatGPT Prompts for Hiring Managers guide with them, and use the Hiring Manager Interview Loop Planner once candidates pass the screen.

Tips for recruiters using ChatGPT

• Use your own ATS ratios for pipeline math. Industry averages from the internet do not describe your company.
• Paste the pay range into every prompt that writes to candidates, so nothing contradicts the job post.
• Read every search string before you run it and remove anything that works as a proxy for age or background.
• Keep summaries to what the candidate said. The hiring team scores, not the model.

Related prompts and guides

Write the job post and scorecard with the Job Description and Hiring Scorecard Writer, or build interview scorecards with the Interview Scorecard From a Pasted JD. Find more in the HR prompts hub, browse all prompts, or share a prompt your recruiting team relies on.