The Screening Agent uses AI to evaluate candidates against job-specific screening criteria and assign each candidate a Screening Score from 0 to 100. Configure it for a job, test it before enabling it, and let it screen candidates automatically when they reach selected hiring stages or manually whenever required.
What this feature does and when to use it?
The Screening Agent helps you evaluate candidates consistently against the requirements of a specific job. You can define up to five screening criteria, assign each criterion a weight, and let AI assess candidates against them.
You can use the Screening Agent when you want to:
Screen a high volume of applicants without manually reviewing every resume.
Apply consistent screening criteria across candidates and recruiters.
Use AI-suggested criteria as a starting point and customize them to match the job requirements.
Identify candidates who best match your screening criteria.
Screen candidates already in your database or re-screen candidates after updating the criteria.
The Screening Agent is configured separately for each job. It produces a Screening Score and a Screening Status for each candidate, which you can use to review and prioritize candidates.
📌 Please note: The Screening Agent only evaluates and scores candidates. It does not move candidates between hiring stages automatically. You or your team must make all hiring stage changes manually.
How is the Screening Agent different from AI Job Candidate Matching?
| Screening Agent | AI Job Candidate Matching |
Purpose | Evaluates candidates assigned to a job against defined screening criteria. | Finds and suggests candidates who match a job from your database. |
Criteria | Up to five criteria with individual weights. | Uses job details to identify matching candidates. |
Result | A Screening Score and Screening Status for each screened candidate. | A list of suggested candidates. |
When it runs | Automatically at selected hiring stages or manually on demand. | When you run AI Job Candidate Matching. |
Before you begin
You need edit access to the job to configure its Screening Agent.
Make sure the job has a hiring pipeline with the stages you want to use as screening triggers.
Complete job details, a job description, and candidate questions can help AI suggest more relevant screening criteria.
The Screening Agent uses Recruit CRM Credits. One credit can screen up to 10 candidates. Free credits are used first, and credits are deducted only after a screening completes successfully.
Testing the agent does not consume credits, save actual screening records, or send notifications.
How to configure and use the Screening Agent
Step 1: Open the Screening Agent
Open the relevant job in Recruit CRM.
Click the Screening Agent button in the actions bar at the top of the job details page, next to the existing AI Matching icon. If you're configuring the Screening Agent for the first time, you can also access the setup directly from the Candidate Pipeline.
The Screening Agent page opens with two tabs: Configure Agent and Screening List. The configuration panel appears on the left, while the job description and job details, including candidate questions, appear on the right for reference.
Step 2: Choose the hiring stages that trigger screening
Under Trigger Agent, select the hiring stages at which candidates should be screened automatically.
You can select any stage from the job's existing hiring pipeline, including Applied, Assigned, and Placed. You can add or remove stages based on your screening workflow.
When the agent is enabled, candidates are screened automatically when they reach one of the selected stages. You can also screen candidates manually at any time.
Step 3: Configure the screening criteria
Under Screening Criteria, AI can suggest criteria based on the job details. Review and customize these criteria before enabling the agent.
You can configure up to five criteria per job. For each criterion, you can:
Edit the criterion: Click its description to update the screening requirement.
Set the weight: Assign a weight from 1 to 10. Criteria with higher weights contribute more to the final Screening Score.
Delete a criterion: Use the trash icon to remove a criterion you no longer need.
Add a criterion: Click Add Criterion to create your own, up to the maximum of five criteria.
Review the criteria carefully to ensure they reflect the requirements of the job. You can also use AI to help populate the criteria, then edit or reset them as needed.
📌 Please note: The Screening Agent validates whether the criteria are relevant to the job. If a candidate's profile does not contain enough information to evaluate a criterion confidently, the agent accounts for the missing information rather than guessing.
Step 4: Save your configuration
Click Enable Screening Agent to save the screening configuration.
Once you enable the Screening Agent, a confirmation pop-up appears. Click Enable Agent to proceed. Once the configuration is saved, the Test Agent option toggle becomes available.
Step 5: Test the Screening Agent
You can test the agent before enabling it for live screening to check how it evaluates candidates against your criteria.
Click Test Agent at the bottom of the configuration panel.
Select up to five candidates for the test. The list includes candidates assigned to the job, and you can search for candidates in your database by name, stage, company, or ID.
Click Run Test.
Four sample candidates labeled Sample are also added to the results to help you understand how different score ranges appear. Select a result to review the test output.
To try different criteria or weights, update the configuration, click Save Changes, and select Test Again. To test different candidates, click Select Candidates.
If a candidate selected for testing is not yet assigned to the job, you can use the briefcase icon next to their score to assign them to the job.
📌 Please note: Test runs are previews only. They do not create actual screening records, change candidate records, deduct credits, or send notifications.
Step 6: View screening results
Once candidates have been screened, their results are available in the Screening List tab on the Screening Agent page and in the candidate list views associated with the job.
Each screened candidate has three separate fields:
Field | Description |
Screening Score | The candidate’s score from 0 to 100. It displays Not available if the candidate has not been screened yet. |
Screening Summary | The candidate’s highlights and key gaps against your screening criteria. |
Screening Status | Indicates whether the candidate is Not Screened, Screening, or Screened. |
The Screening Score is also displayed as a color coded ring:
Color | Screening Score |
Green | 75 to 100 |
Blue | 50 to 74 |
Yellow | 30 to 49 |
Red | 0 to 29 |
Where screening results appear
The Screening Score, Screening Summary, and Screening Status are available as columns in the following places:
Screening List tab: On the Screening Agent page.
Assigned Candidates list: Within the job's Assigned Candidates list.
Candidate Pipeline: Under Job Details → View All Candidates, in both List and Kanban views.
You can show, hide, or reorder these columns using each list's own column settings, just as you would with other fields. Any changes you make apply only to that particular list and won't affect the column settings in the other locations.
You can search, sort, and filter candidates using any of the three fields:
Screening Score can be filtered numerically, such as is between or is more than.
Screening Summary can be filtered by text, which searches the candidate’s highlights and key gaps together. Use Show More and Show Less to expand or collapse each summary.
Screening Status can be filtered by category.
On Kanban cards, the score ring appears directly below the candidate name. Its position is fixed and cannot be reordered or removed like other card fields. Screening Status is available in List view only and does not appear on Kanban cards.
Read a candidate’s Screening Summary
Hover over a candidate’s Screening Score on any list or Kanban card to see a tooltip, then click the score to open the candidate’s resume view. The Screening Summary shows:
The candidate’s Screening Score
Candidate Highlights: what the candidate brings that meets your criteria
Key Gaps: where the candidate falls short
Screening Criteria Breakdown: a score and explanation for each criterion
If the candidate hasn’t been screened yet, the resume view shows one of these instead:
Screening in progress: The candidate is queued or being screened.
Not screened yet: The candidate has no screening result. Click Screen Candidate to screen them right away.
Step 7: Screen or re-screen candidates manually
You can screen candidates manually without waiting for them to reach a selected trigger stage. This is also how you screen candidates who were already in the pipeline when you enabled the agent, or candidates you want to screen again after changing the criteria.
Manual screening works for candidates in any hiring stage, not only the selected trigger stages.
To screen multiple candidates: Select the candidates in the Candidate Pipeline and choose Screen Candidates from the bulk action bar.
To screen an individual candidate:
Open the candidate's three dot menu in the job.
Select Screen Candidate with Agent.
Step 8: Receive the daily screening digest
Recruit CRM sends a daily email digest summarizing candidates who were successfully screened the previous day. Candidates are grouped by job, with a direct link to review each candidate in Recruit CRM.
Troubleshooting
Problem: No screening scores appear in the Candidate Pipeline
Problem: No screening scores appear in the Candidate Pipeline
Likely cause: The Screening Agent isn’t enabled, or the candidate hasn’t moved into a selected trigger stage since the agent was enabled.
What to check: Confirm that the Screening Agent icon is green, and that the candidate moved into one of the stages selected under Trigger Agent after the agent was enabled.
Resolution: Enable the agent if it’s turned off. To screen candidates who were already in the pipeline, select them and choose Screen Candidates from the bulk action bar.
Problem: The Screening Agent icon is yellow and the agent is paused
Problem: The Screening Agent icon is yellow and the agent is paused
Likely cause: A hiring stage selected as a trigger was deleted or removed from the job’s pipeline.
What to check: Open Configure Agent and review the stages selected under Trigger Agent.
Resolution: Select valid trigger stages and turn the Screening Agent back on. The agent pauses in this situation to prevent screening with an incomplete configuration.
Problem: I cannot add another screening criterion
Problem: I cannot add another screening criterion
Likely cause: The job already has the maximum of five screening criteria.
Resolution: Delete a criterion you no longer need, then click Add Criterion to add a replacement.
Problem: Test results do not reflect the requirements of the job
Problem: Test results do not reflect the requirements of the job
Likely cause: The screening criteria or their weights may not reflect your priorities for the role.
What to check: Compare the criteria and weights against the job description, job details, and candidate questions shown on the right side of the configuration page.
Resolution: Update the criteria or weights, click Save, and select Test Again to review the results.
Problem: A candidate did not move to the next hiring stage after screening
Problem: A candidate did not move to the next hiring stage after screening
Likely cause: This is expected behaviour. The Screening Agent evaluates and scores candidates but does not change their hiring stages.
Resolution: Review the candidate's screening result and decide whether to move them to another hiring stage manually.
FAQs
Does the Screening Agent move candidates to the next hiring stage automatically?
Does the Screening Agent move candidates to the next hiring stage automatically?
No. The Screening Agent only screens and scores candidates. You or your team must move candidates between hiring stages manually.
How are screening criteria created?
How are screening criteria created?
AI can suggest criteria based on the job's details. You can review, edit, reweight, delete, or add criteria before enabling the agent.
How many screening criteria can I configure?
How many screening criteria can I configure?
You can configure up to five criteria per job, each with a weight from 1 to 10.
Can I test the Screening Agent before enabling it?
Can I test the Screening Agent before enabling it?
Test Agent becomes available once the agent has been enabled for the job for the first time, and it stays available after that. You can test up to five selected candidates, alongside four sample candidates. Test runs do not create actual screening records, deduct credits, or send notifications.
Does enabling the agent screen candidates already in the job’s pipeline?
Does enabling the agent screen candidates already in the job’s pipeline?
No. Enabling the agent only affects candidates who move into a trigger stage afterward. To screen candidates already in the pipeline, select them in the Candidate Pipeline and choose Screen Candidates from the bulk action bar. This works for candidates in any hiring stage.
Why are Screening Score, Screening Summary, and Screening Status separate?
Why are Screening Score, Screening Summary, and Screening Status separate?
They serve different purposes. Screening Score is the numerical result, Screening Summary explains it, and Screening Status shows whether screening hasn’t started, is in progress, or is complete. Keeping them separate lets you filter by each one independently.
Why can't I move or remove the score ring on a Kanban card?
Why can't I move or remove the score ring on a Kanban card?
The score ring is fixed directly below the candidate name so that the screening score remains easy to identify. This is intentional and differs from other Kanban card fields, which can be reordered.
How many Recruit CRM Credits does screening use?
How many Recruit CRM Credits does screening use?
Each screening uses 0.1 credits, so one credit screens 10 candidates. The cost is also shown when you enable the agent. Free credits are used first, credits are deducted only after a screening completes successfully, and test runs are always free.
Can I configure different screening criteria for different jobs?
Can I configure different screening criteria for different jobs?
Yes. Each job has its own Screening Agent configuration, including its screening criteria, trigger stages, and enable or disable setting.
Do I need to save my configuration before enabling the agent?
Do I need to save my configuration before enabling the agent?
No. Enable Screening Agent saves your configuration and turns on the agent in one step, once at least one trigger stage and one criterion are set. After that, use Save Changes to apply any edits.
What do the Screening Agent icon colors mean?
What do the Screening Agent icon colors mean?
Purple means the agent hasn’t been configured or has been turned off. Green means it’s enabled and screening candidates. Yellow means it’s paused, usually because a trigger stage was removed from the pipeline.
Why does the candidate count on the icon sometimes show a +?
It means more candidates are still being screened in that batch. Once the agent finishes screening everyone in the queue, the + disappears and the count becomes exact. It never appears while the agent is paused or turned off.
Why does the candidate count on the icon sometimes show a +?
It means more candidates are still being screened in that batch. Once the agent finishes screening everyone in the queue, the + disappears and the count becomes exact. It never appears while the agent is paused or turned off.
Can I see why a candidate received their score?
Yes. Click the candidate’s Screening Score to open their Screening Summary, which shows their highlights, key gaps, and a breakdown of how they scored on each criterion.
Can I see why a candidate received their score?
Yes. Click the candidate’s Screening Score to open their Screening Summary, which shows their highlights, key gaps, and a breakdown of how they scored on each criterion.
Can I filter candidates by their Screening Summary?
Yes. Filtering by Screening Summary searches the candidate’s highlights and key gaps together.
Can I filter candidates by their Screening Summary?
Yes. Filtering by Screening Summary searches the candidate’s highlights and key gaps together.
Important notes
The selected trigger stages determine when automatic screening runs. You can still screen candidates manually at any time, in any hiring stage.
Enabling the agent never screens candidates already in the pipeline. Use the Screen Candidates bulk action for them.
If a trigger stage is deleted or removed from the job’s pipeline, the agent pauses and its icon turns yellow until you review the configuration.
Review and adjust AI-suggested criteria before enabling the agent to ensure they match the job requirements.
Test runs include four sample candidates in addition to the candidates you select.
The score ring on Kanban cards always appears directly below the candidate name and cannot be repositioned or removed.
Screening results support your evaluation but do not replace recruiter judgment. All hiring stage changes remain manual.
Conclusion
The Screening Agent helps you evaluate candidates consistently against job specific criteria, reducing the time spent on initial screening. Configure the criteria and trigger stages, enable the agent, and use the resulting scores and summaries to prioritize candidates while keeping every hiring stage decision under your team’s control.
If you need further assistance, contact the Recruit CRM support team using the chat icon at the bottom right of the screen.