The problem
After every candidate call a recruiter writes up notes: salary, notice period, what they want next. At 10 minutes a write-up and 15 video screens a week, that's 150 minutes a week, about 11 hours a month, and notes written in a hurry miss details clients ask about later.
What the AI does
Fathom AI Notetaker joins Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams calls, records and transcribes them and writes a summary. The free plan gives instant AI call summaries; Premium adds advanced summaries and AI action items. Tell the candidate at the start that the call is recorded and why, then after the call check the summary, correct anything wrong and paste the key points into the candidate's record. Keep recordings only as long as your retention policy says.
A worked example
A one-person recruitment agency in Glasgow placing marketing staff runs 15 video screening calls a week on Teams. The owner uses Fathom on every screen and copies the checked summary into the candidate's record.
Before
15 write-ups a week at 10 minutes each: about 11 hours a month
After
If checking and pasting a summary takes 3 minutes: about 3 hours a month
What it's worth
About $299£225€268A$432C$423 a month saved, against $16£12€14A$23C$23 to $20£15€18A$29C$28 for the software. About 7.5 hours a month saved (about 11 hours down to about 3), worth about $299£225€268A$432C$423 at an assumed $40£30€36A$58C$56 an hour, if the 3-minute check holds. Cost: Premium is $16 (about $16£12€14A$23C$23) a user a month billed annually or $20 (about $20£15€18A$29C$28) monthly. The free plan includes AI summaries, but its limits aren't clearly stated, so test it first.
How to set it up
- Sign up with your work calendar and let Fathom join your Teams, Zoom or Meet screening calls.
- Add a line to your call opening telling candidates the call is recorded and summarized, why, and how long you keep it, and stop recording if they object.
- After each call, read the summary, check salary, notice period and availability against what you heard, and paste it into the candidate's record.
- Set a rule for deleting recordings in line with your candidate retention policy under UK GDPR.
- Use the free plan for two weeks, then move to Premium if you hit its limits or want the advanced summaries.
What goes wrong
- It only works on online video calls (Zoom, Meet and Teams). Phone screens aren't covered.
- Summaries can get numbers wrong, such as salary or notice period. Those are the details a client relies on, so check them every time.
- Recordings of candidates are personal data. The pricing page says Fathom is SOC 2 Type II and GDPR compliant but doesn't say whether customer data trains AI models, so check its terms against your privacy notice.
- Some candidates won't want to be recorded. Make it optional and take your own notes when they say no.