AI Prompts for Hiring

Write a job description.

Job title: [TITLE]
Department: [TEAM/DEPARTMENT]
Reports to: [MANAGER'S ROLE]
Location: [REMOTE / HYBRID / OFFICE LOCATION]
Employment type: [FULL-TIME / PART-TIME / CONTRACT]

About the role:
[DESCRIBE WHAT THIS PERSON WILL DO AND WHY IT MATTERS]

Key responsibilities:
[LIST 5-7 MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES]

Must-have qualifications:
[REQUIREMENTS THAT ARE ACTUALLY REQUIRED]

Nice-to-have qualifications:
[THINGS THAT WOULD BE BONUS BUT AREN'T DEAL-BREAKERS]

What we offer:
[BENEFITS, CULTURE, GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES]

Create a job description that:
- Opens with what makes this role exciting
- Is honest about the work and expectations
- Distinguishes between must-haves and nice-to-haves
- Gives a sense of the team and company culture
- Avoids gendered language and unnecessary requirements

Keep it under 700 words. Write to attract, not to filter out.

Create interview questions for a role.

Position: [JOB TITLE]
Level: [ENTRY / MID / SENIOR / LEADERSHIP]
Key skills needed: [LIST 3-5 CRITICAL SKILLS]
Team culture: [DESCRIBE YOUR TEAM'S WORK STYLE]

Interview stage: [PHONE SCREEN / TECHNICAL / CULTURE FIT / FINAL]
Interview length: [MINUTES]

Create questions that assess:
1. Relevant experience and skills
2. Problem-solving approach
3. Culture fit and work style
4. Growth mindset and learning
5. Specific scenarios they'll face in this role

For each question, include:
- The question itself
- What you're looking for in the answer
- Follow-up probes if needed

Mix behavioral ("Tell me about a time...") with situational ("How would you handle...") questions. Avoid questions with obvious "right" answers.

Create a candidate evaluation form.

Position: [JOB TITLE]
Key competencies to evaluate:
[LIST 4-6 SKILLS OR QUALITIES]

Interview stage: [WHICH ROUND THIS IS FOR]

Create an evaluation form with:
1. Candidate information section
2. Rating scale (1-5) with clear definitions
3. Competency sections with:
   - Specific criteria to evaluate
   - Space for evidence/examples
   - Rating for each competency
4. Overall recommendation section
5. Strengths observed
6. Concerns or gaps
7. Questions for next round (if applicable)
8. Hire / No Hire / Unsure with explanation

Design for consistency across interviewers. Include prompts for specific examples, not just impressions.

Write a job offer letter.

Candidate name: [NAME]
Position: [JOB TITLE]
Department: [TEAM]
Start date: [DATE]
Salary: [AMOUNT AND FREQUENCY]
Employment type: [FULL-TIME / PART-TIME / CONTRACT]

Additional compensation:
[BONUS, EQUITY, ETC.]

Benefits:
[KEY BENEFITS TO HIGHLIGHT]

Reporting to: [MANAGER NAME AND TITLE]

Special terms (if any):
[SIGNING BONUS, RELOCATION, ETC.]

Write an offer letter that:
- Opens with genuine excitement about them joining
- Clearly states the key terms (title, compensation, start date)
- Summarizes benefits
- Explains next steps
- Includes deadline to respond
- Notes that this is pending [background check, etc.] if applicable

Tone: Professional but warm. Make them feel wanted, not processed.

Write a rejection email to a candidate.

Candidate name: [NAME]
Position they applied for: [JOB TITLE]
Stage they reached: [APPLICATION / PHONE SCREEN / INTERVIEW / FINAL ROUND]

Reason for rejection (internal, don't share specifics):
[WHY THEY WEREN'T SELECTED]

Should I:
- Encourage them to apply for other roles? [YES/NO]
- Offer to keep them in mind for future opportunities? [YES/NO]
- Provide any feedback? [YES/NO - if yes, what's appropriate to share]

Write an email that:
- Thanks them sincerely for their time and interest
- Delivers the news clearly and early (don't bury it)
- Doesn't over-explain or give false hope
- Leaves the door open appropriately
- Maintains the company's reputation

Keep it brief but human. They spent time on this process—respect that.

Create reference check questions.

Candidate: [NAME]
Position they're being considered for: [JOB TITLE]
Key qualities we need to verify: [LIST 3-4 IMPORTANT TRAITS]

Reference type: [FORMER MANAGER / COLLEAGUE / DIRECT REPORT]

Create questions that:
1. Verify basic information (role, dates, responsibilities)
2. Assess specific competencies needed for our role
3. Understand their work style and collaboration approach
4. Identify growth areas or development needs
5. Get a sense of fit for our specific environment

Include:
- Opening questions to build rapport
- Behavioral questions about specific situations
- Questions about areas of concern from interviews
- Closing question: "Would you hire them again?"

Design questions to get beyond generic praise. Ask for specific examples.

Design a take-home assignment for a candidate.

Role: [JOB TITLE]
Level: [ENTRY / MID / SENIOR / LEADERSHIP]
Core skills to assess: [LIST 3-5 SKILLS THAT MATTER MOST ON THE JOB]
Time budget: [HOURS YOU WANT THE CANDIDATE TO SPEND — IDEALLY 2–4]
Stage in the process: [BEFORE FIRST INTERVIEW / AFTER PHONE SCREEN / FINAL ROUND]

Real-world context the assignment should mirror:
[A REPRESENTATIVE TASK FROM THE ACTUAL ROLE — NOT A PUZZLE]

Materials I can share with the candidate:
[ANY EXAMPLE DATA, DOCS, OR BACKGROUND I CAN PROVIDE]

Produce:
1. A clear assignment brief addressed to the candidate, including:
   - The scenario and what they're being asked to produce
   - Time budget and what to do if they hit it (deliver what's done, no penalty)
   - Submission format and deadline
   - What "good" looks like (3–5 evaluation criteria, plainly stated)
   - What we will NOT evaluate (e.g. pixel-perfect design, production-ready code) — to reduce gold-plating
   - Whether AI assistance is allowed, and how to disclose it
2. An internal evaluation rubric with the same criteria, each scored 1–5, plus a section for evidence/quotes from the submission
3. A short list of follow-up discussion questions to use in the next interview — designed to test that the candidate can defend and extend their submission
4. A calibration note: 2–3 examples of what a "3" vs "5" submission looks like for each criterion

Bias the assignment toward judgment over completeness — the goal is to see how they think, not how fast they type. If the time budget is over 4 hours, propose a smaller version. Consider whether to pay candidates for assignments over 2 hours (note the trade-off either way).

Write a cold outreach message to a passive candidate.

Channel: [LINKEDIN INMAIL / EMAIL / OTHER]
My role: [HIRING MANAGER / RECRUITER / FOUNDER]
Company: [COMPANY NAME + 1-LINE DESCRIPTION OF WHAT YOU DO]
Role I'm hiring for: [JOB TITLE]

What I know about this candidate (specific, not generic):
[CURRENT ROLE, A PROJECT/PUBLICATION/TALK I ACTUALLY SAW, SHARED CONNECTION, ETC.]

Why this role might appeal to them specifically:
[A REAL REASON GROUNDED IN THEIR BACKGROUND — NOT "GROWTH OPPORTUNITY"]

What's distinctive about the role or team:
[COMPENSATION RANGE / TEAM SIZE / TECHNICAL CHALLENGES / REMOTE POLICY / EQUITY]

What I'm asking for in this first message:
[A 15-MIN CHAT / A REPLY TO GAUGE INTEREST / NOTHING — JUST PLANTING A SEED]

Write 2 message versions:
1. **Short version** (under 90 words) — for LinkedIn InMail or a busy senior candidate. Open with the specific thing I noticed about them. State the role in one line. Give one concrete differentiator. Ask one easy yes/no question.
2. **Slightly longer version** (under 180 words) — for email when I have more permission to talk. Same structure plus one extra paragraph on why the role might fit their trajectory.

In both versions:
- No "I hope this finds you well" or "I came across your profile"
- Salary range or compensation expectation should appear if I shared it above — passive candidates filter on this
- Make the ask asymmetric — they should be able to reply in under 30 seconds
- No corporate-speak; sound like a human

Also output:
- A subject line (under 50 chars) for the email version
- One sentence explaining what the message is NOT doing (e.g. "not pitching the role hard, just opening a conversation") so I can self-check

Design a hiring debrief for a panel that just finished interviewing a candidate.

Role: [JOB TITLE AND LEVEL]
Candidate: [NAME]
Interviewers (with the area each owned): [LIST INTERVIEWERS AND WHICH COMPETENCY/STAGE THEY ASSESSED]
Decision deadline: [WHEN A DECISION NEEDS TO LAND]

Competencies assessed (the ones we set going in):
[LIST 4–6 COMPETENCIES FROM THE INTAKE / SCORECARD]

Known signals already collected:
[ANY SCORES OR NOTES THAT EXIST FROM INDIVIDUAL EVALUATIONS — SUMMARIZE IF SHARED]

Produce:
1. A 30-minute debrief agenda (timed), structured to surface evidence before opinions:
   - 2 min — purpose recap and decision deadline
   - 8 min — round-robin: each interviewer reads their 1–5 score for the competency they owned, plus the specific evidence behind it (no opinions yet)
   - 8 min — gap surfacing: where competencies got conflicting signals, dig into the evidence; where any competency went unassessed, name it
   - 6 min — strengths and concerns boards: write strongest evidence and biggest concerns on a shared doc, then read silently
   - 4 min — independent vote: each interviewer privately writes "Strong Hire / Hire / No Hire / Strong No Hire" with one sentence why
   - 2 min — reveal votes simultaneously, then the hiring manager calls the decision (or schedules a follow-up if blocked)
2. A facilitator script for the hiring manager — opening line, transition prompts, and how to handle a 4–1 vote split vs a 3–2 split
3. Anti-bias guardrails:
   - "Culture fit" is not a valid concern unless tied to a specific competency
   - Likability is not a competency
   - Tenure at brand-name employers is not evidence on its own
   - If anyone uses "they remind me of..." — pause and ask for evidence instead
4. The decision artifact — a one-page summary the hiring manager fills out after the meeting: decision, key evidence, level/comp recommendation, dissents documented, and a follow-up plan if the decision is "schedule another round"

Bias the agenda toward evidence before opinion. The first person to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down anchors the room; the design above prevents that.