The problem
A driving and warehouse role can draw dozens of applications in a day, and the first job is finding out whether each one has the license, card or certificate the client insists on. Read in date order, a strong candidate who applied last can wait a day and take another agency's offer. If a one-person agency gets 160 applications a month and spends 4 minutes on each just to find the essentials, that's 640 minutes, about 10.7 hours a month.
What the AI does
Jev is a decision model that software calls through an API; TypeSafe lists evaluating applications against explicit, job-related criteria and sending uncertain cases for human review among its recruiting uses. When an application arrives in Recruitly, a Zapier automation fetches the candidate's parsed profile and the job, and sends both to Jev with questions you write for that role: yes or no checks such as 'Does the CV show a current Category C+E license?' and a score for relevant experience. Jev answers each with a probability and a confidence figure. Zapier adds the answers to the application as a note, marked 'check' where Jev is unsure. The consultant still opens and reads every application, starting with the strongest, and makes every decision on who to call, shortlist or turn down. Nothing is sent to candidates or clients automatically.
A worked example
A one-person driving and warehouse recruitment agency in Doncaster gets about 160 applications a month into Recruitly for HGV driver, forklift and warehouse roles. A freelance developer builds the Zapier automation that sends each application to Jev and adds the note.
Before
160 applications read in date order at 4 minutes each to find the essentials: 640 minutes, about 10.7 hours a month
After
Every application still read, in score order with the essentials already noted, at about 2.5 minutes each: 400 minutes, about 6.7 hours a month
What it's worth
About $160£120€143A$230C$226 a month of consultant time saved, against about $45£34€40A$65C$64 to $55£41€49A$79C$77 for the software. That's 4 hours (640 minus 400 = 240 minutes) at an assumed $40£30€36A$58C$56 an hour; calling the best candidates first may win placements too, but isn't counted. Cost: Recruitly Solo at $25 (about $25£19€23A$36C$36) a month, Zapier Pro at $19.99 (about $20£15€18A$29C$28) billed annually or $29.99 (about $29£22€26A$42C$41) monthly, and a few pence for Jev at $42 per billion input tokens.
How to set it up
- Check that TypeSafe will give you an API key from its console, as Jev is in early access, and read its data processing agreement.
- Carry out a data protection impact assessment, and update your privacy notice to tell candidates that software checks applications against the role's requirements and that a person reads every one.
- For each role, write the essentials the client has confirmed as Jev's questions: licenses, cards, certificates and relevant experience only, nothing about age, gaps, names, addresses or nationality.
- In Zapier (Pro plan or above, which includes webhooks), trigger on new job applications in Recruitly, get the candidate and the job, send them to Jev's API and create a note on the record with the answers.
- Test it on 20 past applications you've already judged, check the parsed profile reaches Jev as text, and compare its answers with your own.
- Read every application yourself, low scores included, and once a month compare who you called and placed with the scores to look for patterns that shouldn't be there.
What goes wrong
- If you only read the high scorers, the score is making the decision. Under article 22A of UK GDPR, a decision with no meaningful human involvement is solely automated, and the ICO's recruitment report gives ranking without reading every application as an example. Read them all.
- Questions that look neutral can still discriminate under the Equality Act 2010, such as asking for years of experience a role doesn't need, which can count against younger candidates. Keep every question tied to what the job really requires.
- Right to work is checked properly, by you, later in the process. Never ask Jev to guess it from a CV, as that drifts into nationality.
- Each application uses about 4 Zapier tasks, so 160 a month fit the 750-task Pro tier; a busy month can push you to the 1,500-task tier at $39 (about $39£29€35A$56C$55) billed annually. This is technical setup, and someone has to fix it when Recruitly or the job fields change.