What can AI in recruitment do for candidate contact?

AI can take over recurring contact with candidates, such as checking availability and asking initial screening questions. An AI voice holds that conversation naturally and follows up on what the candidate says. The call is recorded, so the recruiter can review it later. This lets an organisation reach many candidates at once, while letting them choose how they want to be contacted.

Do candidates know they’re talking to an AI voice agent?

Not automatically. AI voices sound more and more natural, so many people can no longer tell the difference. That’s why it matters to say so at the start of the call. A candidate who finds out afterwards that they spoke to a bot can easily feel misled. Being open about using AI protects trust in your organisation.

Do candidates prefer an AI voice agent or a recruiter?

It depends on the candidate and the situation. Some want to speak to someone straight away, others prefer to send a message or are happy with a first call with an AI voice. That’s why offering choice works better than prescribing one channel. When candidates choose for themselves, you quickly see what suits your audience.

What happens if a candidate asks something the bot can’t answer?

A well-designed AI voice agent recognises that moment and refers the candidate to a member of staff. The same applies when a candidate hesitates, gets emotional or brings up something completely different. That handover should be part of the design from the start. It ensures the candidate never feels stuck in a conversation that isn’t helping them.

AI in recruitment: let candidates choose

They want an answer when it suits them, through the channel they choose. A WhatsApp message, a conversation with a recruiter, or a call with an AI voice that asks follow-up questions right away. That last option may still sound like the distant future. It isn’t anymore. In this blog, you’ll read what AI in recruitment already makes possible in candidate contact, why choice is becoming a strategic question, and where to draw the line.

From “press 1 for…” to a real conversation

Most people hear “phone bot” and think of a menu. Press 1, press 2, and three minutes later you hang up in frustration. Voice AI works differently. The technology turns text into speech that sounds natural. And it holds a phone conversation that adapts to what the other person says.

An everyday example makes this concrete. You call a restaurant to book a table and an AI voice answers. It confirms the booking. A little later you run into friends, and suddenly you’re five people instead of three. You call back, and the voice updates the booking. No queue, no hassle. Ask something outside its scope, and it refers you to a member of staff.

That’s the shift. It’s no longer about a system that guides you down a fixed path. It’s about a conversation that moves with you. And what works for a restaurant also works for a candidate who wants to know if a vacancy is right for them. You can read more about what AI can mean for recruitment in our theme overview.

Why one contact channel is no longer enough

Candidates differ in how they want to be contacted. Some prefer a WhatsApp message, others want to talk to someone. And a growing group has no problem having a first conversation with an AI voice. Younger candidates in particular are less keen on phone calls. Given the choice, they may even prefer an AI voice agent to a person.

For a director, that changes the question. It’s no longer about whether you use AI in candidate contact. It’s about whether your organisation lets the candidate choose, or makes that choice for them.

This goes straight to the heart of the candidate experience. A candidate who gets an answer at their own moment, through their own channel, stays engaged. A candidate who waits three days for a callback keeps looking in the meantime. Offering choice isn’t a nice extra. It’s a way to keep the candidate on board.

What an AI voice agent takes over: AI in recruitment at scale

An AI voice makes the difference when volume is high. Say a client needs twenty people within a week, all able to start on Monday. That means calls, lots of them. Dozens of candidates, with the same questions every time. When can you start? Do you have experience in this role? Are you still available?

Anyone who has to call fifty candidates moves on quickly after a “no”. That makes sense, because time is short. An AI voice agent doesn’t feel that pressure. It can ask follow-up questions in the same call, share more about the company, or check whether someone might be interested in another vacancy. That’s how AI in recruitment gets more out of every call than a rushed round of phoning allows.

In practice, voice AI takes over three types of work:

Checking availability and interest across large groups of candidates, outside office hours too.
Asking screening questions and following up, for example about experience or where someone sees themselves in two years.
Recording the conversation as a transcript, so nobody has to ask the same questions again.

The call with the bot isn’t the end point. The transcript goes to a person, who reviews it and makes the decision. For a recruitment manager, that brings an extra benefit: every candidate gets the same groundwork, recorded the same way. That makes the process more consistent and easier to compare.

Where do you draw the line?

The better AI voices get, the harder it is to tell the difference. You’ve probably seen those tests on LinkedIn where you have to guess which image was made by a person and which by AI. More and more often, people guess wrong. The same is happening with voices. Clone your own voice, and you’ll hear a fairly convincing version of yourself played back.

That makes transparency the first line. A candidate should know they’re talking to AI. Not because the bot does a poor job, but because trust is the foundation of every placement. A candidate who later finds out they unknowingly spoke to a bot feels misled. And that feeling sticks to your name, not to the technology. Transparency is part of a good candidate experience.

But the line goes further than being honest about who’s on the other end. What does the bot do when someone suddenly starts talking about their sick cat? Or when a candidate hesitates, gets emotional, or asks something outside the script? A well-designed AI voice agent recognises that moment and hands over to a person. You build that into the design from the start, not as an afterthought.

Finally, there’s the downside of the technology itself. The same technique that clones a voice can also be misused. Think of a call that sounds like your bank, or like a family member. Organisations that use AI voices should understand that risk and be open about how they use them. Handle an AI voice agent with care, and you build the trust candidates need to take part in that kind of conversation.

Start with one question you ask over and over

Voice AI doesn’t have to be one big change. The first step can be small. Pick one recurring call moment where volume is high and the questions are always the same. Give candidates the choice there between an AI voice, a message or a recruiter, and see what they pick. That way you learn what works for your candidates, and where AI in recruitment genuinely adds to the candidate experience.

Curious how this sounds in practice? In the latest episode of Carerix Techtalk, Arco Westbroek and Marjolein Bouwer discuss what Voice AI can already do, how candidates respond to that kind of call, and what the most logical first step is. Want to keep reading? Visit our knowledge hub or explore the other recruitment themes we write about.

AI in recruitment FAQ

What can AI in recruitment do for candidate contact?

AI can take over recurring contact with candidates, such as checking availability and asking initial screening questions. An AI voice holds that conversation naturally and follows up on what the candidate says. The call is recorded, so the recruiter can review it later. This lets an organisation reach many candidates at once, while letting them choose how they want to be contacted.
Do candidates know they’re talking to an AI voice agent?

Not automatically. AI voices sound more and more natural, so many people can no longer tell the difference. That’s why it matters to say so at the start of the call. A candidate who finds out afterwards that they spoke to a bot can easily feel misled. Being open about using AI protects trust in your organisation.
Do candidates prefer an AI voice agent or a recruiter?

It depends on the candidate and the situation. Some want to speak to someone straight away, others prefer to send a message or are happy with a first call with an AI voice. That’s why offering choice works better than prescribing one channel. When candidates choose for themselves, you quickly see what suits your audience.
What happens if a candidate asks something the bot can’t answer?

A well-designed AI voice agent recognises that moment and refers the candidate to a member of staff. The same applies when a candidate hesitates, gets emotional or brings up something completely different. That handover should be part of the design from the start. It ensures the candidate never feels stuck in a conversation that isn’t helping them.

AI voice agent, WhatsApp or recruiter? The candidate chooses, you draw the line