AI screening interviews for staffing agencies

Staffing agencies use Simplehire to give every applicant on a req the same first-round AI voice interview between sourcing and client submission, then submit only the candidates whose screening report holds up. The candidate takes the interview in their browser through a link. The recruiter reads a report with a verdict, the required skills the candidate demonstrated and any integrity alerts, and decides who goes to the client. Screens cost $2, $3 or $5 depending on depth, and every account gets 25 free Basic screens a month.

Where does Simplehire fit between sourcing and client submission?

It replaces the first recruiter phone call, the one you can't make to every applicant on a busy req. Everything before and after it stays with your team.

1. Take the req. Agree the must-have skills with the client. These become the role's required skills in Simplehire.
2. Set up the role. Enter the role and its required skills, pick Basic, Adaptive or Advanced, and decide which integrity checks the role needs.
3. Source as you do today, from job boards, your database and referrals.
4. Send interview links to every applicant who passes your resume review, including the ones you'd usually skip because the day ran out.
5. The candidate takes the screen: a voice interview with an AI interviewer in the browser, in enforced full-screen mode.
6. Read the reports. Each one leads with a verdict on whether the candidate cleared the screen, followed by Skills demonstrated X/Y, a Screen summary, Strengths, Areas to probe and Key insights.
7. Call your finalists about pay, availability, start dates and the Areas to probe. Work authorization stays in your existing process, because Simplehire's recruiter screen doesn't check it.
8. Submit, with a note built from the evidence in the report.
9. Track what happens next: client interviews, offers and early drop-offs.

The verdict is a recommendation. Simplehire doesn't hire, reject or submit anyone; the recruiter decides at every step. Our longer guide to AI phone screening for staffing agencies goes deeper on each stage.

Which tier should you use for which role?

Match the depth to what a weak submission would cost you on that req.

We'd start with Adaptive for anything technical you plan to submit, and keep Basic for the first sort on high-volume reqs. One thing to know on both of the deeper tiers: weak answers aren't probed further. Follow-ups go to the answers that earn them, so Areas to probe is where your own call should start.

Which integrity checks should an agency use?

Every Simplehire screen, on every tier, runs in enforced full-screen mode and records leaving it. Copy, cut and paste are restricted or flagged, tab switches, window changes and focus loss are monitored, and common shortcuts for copying, searching or switching are blocked or flagged. Every event is timestamped in the report, interview audio is recorded, and alerts come with screenshots and a severity from Low to Critical concern.

For riskier roles, add the optional checks. Here is how we'd set them by role type:

Remote roles get the strictest settings because impersonation happens in virtual interviews. In Checkr's September 2025 survey of 3,000 US managers, 35% said someone other than the listed applicant had participated in a virtual interview, and 31% had interviewed a candidate later found to be using a fake identity. When an agency submits that candidate, the problem lands on the agency's name.

Every finding is reviewed by a person. Simplehire raises alerts; it doesn't judge whether an answer came from AI, and we explain why in AI cheating in interviews. The integrity features page covers each check in detail.

What does it cost?

You pay per screen, with no contract:

• Basic: $2 per screen, about 15 minutes
• Adaptive: $3 per screen, about 20 minutes
• Advanced: $5 per screen, about 30 minutes

Every account gets 25 free Basic screens every month with no credit card required. Unused screens don't roll over. For volume pricing, talk to sales, and the pricing page has the current table.

Say a recruiter screens 40 applicants on a mid-level req with Adaptive. That's 40 × $3, or $120, for a structured first interview with every one of them. Our worked example on submission quality compares that kind of figure with what one failed submission costs an agency.

What are the limits?

Before you roll it out, know where it stops:

• No ATS integration today. Recruiters send links and read reports in Simplehire, and results don't sync back to your ATS yet. Integrations are planned, starting with Ceipal and JobDiva.
• It's a browser interview, not a phone call. The candidate opens a link and talks with the AI interviewer with their webcam on. Candidates who expect a call should hear that in the invite.
• It doesn't check work authorization or visa status in the recruiter screen.
• It's a first screen. Your recruiters still talk to finalists, and they decide who gets submitted.

If you're weighing other tools, our roundup of the best AI screening tools for staffing agencies compares published prices and integrations, and the compare pages go one tool at a time.

How do you run a two-week pilot?

Two weeks is enough to see whether the reports change who you submit. Use your 25 free Basic screens on the first req.

Week 1:

1. Pick two open reqs: one with more applicants than you can call this week, and one technical role you'll submit to a client.
2. Write down the required skills with each client.
3. Set up the high-volume req on Basic and the technical req on Adaptive. Decide the integrity settings in advance and use the same ones for everyone on the req.
4. Send the link to every applicant who passes resume review.

Week 2:

5. Read every report, and call the candidates who cleared the screen or came close, starting with their Areas to probe.
6. Submit as you normally would, with notes built from Strengths and Skills demonstrated.
7. Compare against a similar req you screened by phone: recruiter hours spent on first screens, submissions per req, and client interviews per submission.

Client feedback can take longer than two weeks, so keep tracking those submissions after the pilot ends. When the numbers look right, move your technical reqs to Adaptive and your senior searches to Advanced. You can create a free account and send your first 25 Basic screens this month.

Guides by agency type

• AI screening for IT staffing agencies: How IT staffing agencies use AI voice screens to check technical skills and record integrity events for review before client submission.