How to Manage High Application Volume Without an ATS

KOOKAÏ’s popularity as a brand translates into a constant stream of job applications. With no ATS in place, the HR team was individually reviewing and responding to each applicant. This involved scheduling and conducting screening phone calls for additional information, a routine that ate up countless hours. The manual process not only strained the recruitment team but also risked delays in responding to candidates.

 

Crucially, KOOKAÏ prides itself on offering an exceptional candidate experience, every applicant is also a valued customer. However, scaling that white-glove treatment to thousands of candidates was becoming untenable. As the head office geared up for a seasonal hiring surge, the team worried they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the influx while giving each candidate the attention they deserved.

 

“We’d been doing everything manually for years and have reached a scale where we wanted to trial implementing a platform that could assist us with delivering an even better experience for our applicants, who are also our customers.” Recruitment Manager KOOKAÏ”.

 

In summary, KOOKAÏ needed to save time on hiring administration without sacrificing the personal touch. Any solution had to:

• • Handle large volumes of applicants and screen them efficiently.

• • Free the recruitment team from repetitive tasks (like scheduling calls and answering common questions).

• • Preserve, or even enhance, the candidate experience that KOOKAÏ is known for.

Solution: Streamlining Hiring with AI and WhatsApp Automation

To tackle these challenges, KOOKAÏ implemented an AI-powered recruitment platform that automated key parts of the hiring workflow. This solution acted as a virtual recruiting assistant, taking over many of the time-intensive tasks and operating through the messaging channels candidates prefer, primarily WhatsApp, as well as SMS for those not on WhatsApp.

Here’s how KOOKAÏ’s hiring process was transformed:

• • Automated screening & scheduling: The platform automatically engaged each applicant in a chat conversation, asking pre-screening questions and collecting any missing information via WhatsApp or SMS. Based on the responses, it could instantly shortlist qualified candidates. Those who passed initial screening were prompted to self-schedule an interview slot. All of this happened without a recruiter picking up the phone or sending an email. What used to require back-and-forth coordination and calls for each candidate was now handled in an interactive chat.

• • Asynchronous video interviews at scale: KOOKAÏ leveraged the platform to conduct over 1,500 one-way video interviews as a replacement for live screening calls. Candidates could record responses to preset interview questions on their own time, which the hiring team could review at their convenience. This innovation enabled KOOKAÏ to identify high-potential candidates rapidly and funnel them into in-person interviews at the head office. It eliminated scheduling bottlenecks and let recruiters evaluate far more candidates in the same time it once took to phone screen a handful.

• • Instant candidate support via AI: KOOKAÏ introduced an on-demand AI careers assistant available through WhatsApp and SMS. Candidates took full advantage – thousands of inquiries were handled by the AI. Instead of waiting hours or days for a recruiter’s email reply, applicants could get immediate answers to FAQs like “What should I wear to the interview?” or “How do I prepare for my interview?”. This real-time support kept candidates informed and at ease. It also freed recruiters from answering the same questions repeatedly, day in and day out.

The combination of these tools meant KOOKAÏ could scale up its recruitment without scaling up its team. The automation took care of initial screenings, scheduling, and Q&A, while recruiters could focus on the more personal aspects of hiring, such as interviewing top candidates and evaluating cultural fit.