The problem
Recruiters often advertise a role when a good candidate is already in the database, buried under hundreds of older CVs. If a one-person agency could fill 1 extra role every 2 months from its own database at a $3,990£3,000€3,570A$5,760C$5,640 fee, that's about $1,995£1,500€1,785A$2,880C$2,820 a month in fees it currently misses or earns more slowly.
What the AI does
Manatal parses CVs into structured candidate profiles and lists AI Recommendations: it reads the requirements from a job description and ranks candidates in your database against them. It also lists AI-generated job descriptions, a career page, and integrations with LinkedIn and Indeed. All three paid plans list these features. A consultant reviews every recommended candidate and speaks to them before anything goes to a client, and checks every advert before it is posted.
A worked example
A one-person IT recruitment agency in Manchester has about 3,000 candidates from four years of trading, spread across folders and an old spreadsheet. The owner imports them into Manatal and runs AI Recommendations each time a client sends a new role.
Before
New roles go straight to job boards; the 3,000 past candidates are rarely searched
After
If 1 extra role every 2 months is filled from the database at a $3,990£3,000€3,570A$5,760C$5,640 fee: about $1,995£1,500€1,785A$2,880C$2,820 a month in fees
What it's worth
About $998£750€893A$1,440C$1,410 a month in profit, at an assumed 50% margin after consultant time and advertising on $1,995£1,500€1,785A$2,880C$2,820 a month of extra fees (1 role every 2 months at $3,990£3,000€3,570A$5,760C$5,640). That is against $15 (about $15£11€13A$21C$21) a month billed annually or $19 (about $19£14€17A$27C$26) monthly for one user on Professional.
How to set it up
- Start the 14-day free trial and import your existing CVs so Manatal can parse them into profiles.
- Check a sample of 20 parsed profiles for wrong names, dates or job titles before relying on the search.
- For each new role, add the client's brief as the job description, run AI Recommendations and read the top matches yourself.
- Contact the candidates you choose to check they're still looking and agree to be put forward before you send anything to the client.
- If you use the AI job description, check it against the client's brief and make sure the advert gives your agency's full name and says whether the role is permanent or temporary, as the Conduct of Employment Agencies Regulations require.
What goes wrong
- Ranking is only as good as the data. Old CVs with out-of-date skills can rise to the top, so check when each candidate was last in touch.
- Matching on past data can repeat old biases, such as favoring certain employers or marking down career gaps. A person makes every shortlist decision, and the Equality Act 2010 still applies to you.
- Old candidate data needs a lawful basis under UK GDPR. Use Manatal's GDPR consent tools on the imported database before contacting people you haven't spoken to in years.
- Pricing is per user: a second consultant doubles the cost, and the AI Interviewer is a separate add-on with no listed price.