The problem
Hiring house cleaners is constant, and a vague ad brings 40 applicants a month the owner has to phone one by one to find out who has a car, works weekends or can start soon. If each screening call takes 10 minutes and writing ads takes an hour, that's about 7.7 hours a month (40 × 10 minutes + 1 hour), about $231£174€207A$333C$327 at an assumed $30£23€27A$43C$42 an hour.
What the AI does
The owner gives ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini the facts of the job (pay, hours, areas, whether a car is needed, W-2 or 1099) and asks for a plain job ad, 5 job-related screening questions for the application form and an interview scorecard. Applicants answer the screening questions when they apply, so the owner only calls the ones who fit. The owner checks every question is about the job, and makes every hiring decision.
A worked example
A house cleaning company in San Antonio, Texas, with the owner and 7 W-2 cleaners hires about 2 cleaners a month at an assumed $17£13€15A$25C$24 an hour, and gets about 40 applicants a month from job boards. The owner drafts the ad, screening questions and scorecard with a free assistant plan and adds the questions to the job post.
Before
About 40 screening calls a month at 10 minutes each, plus an hour writing ads, about 7.7 hours
After
About 12 calls to applicants who fit, plus 15 minutes updating the ad, about 2.25 hours
What it's worth
About $163£123€146A$235C$230 a month of the owner's time saved, against nothing to $20£15€18A$29C$28 for an assistant plan. That is about 5.45 fewer hours a month (7.7 down to 2.25) at an assumed $30£23€27A$43C$42 an hour.
How to set it up
- List the facts of the job: pay rate, hours, days, areas covered, whether a car and license are needed, and whether cleaners are W-2 employees or 1099 contractors.
- Ask the assistant for a short, plain job ad with those facts, and 5 screening questions about the job only: availability, transportation, start date, cleaning experience and consent to a background check.
- Ask for an interview scorecard that rates the same things for everyone, and use it in every interview.
- Add the screening questions to your job post's application form and call only applicants who fit.
- Do I-9 employment eligibility checks after an offer, for every new W-2 hire, not as a screening question.
What goes wrong
- Federal and state anti-discrimination laws mean questions about age, family, pregnancy, religion, national origin or disability are out. Delete any the assistant suggests.
- Background checks through a screening company need the applicant's written consent under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and some states and cities limit when you can ask about criminal records.
- Calling cleaners 1099 contractors while controlling their schedule and methods can be misclassification. Get advice before choosing.
- Don't paste applicants' names, phone numbers or résumés into a free assistant plan; work from the job facts only.