AI features

FocalVAHire uses Claude AI and OpenAI Whisper to screen resumes, analyse video responses, and generate interview questions — saving hours of manual review.

AI Resume Screening

When you view an applicant in the Applicants tab, click Screen with AI. FocalVAHire reads the resume PDF and compares it against your job description using Claude. You get back:

  • Score (0–100) — An overall fit score. 70+ is a strong match.
  • Keyword match % — How many key skills and terms from the job description appear in the resume.
  • Top skills — What the candidate is strongest at based on the resume.
  • Missing skills — Skills in the job description that aren't evident in the resume.
  • Red flags — Things worth asking about — unexplained gaps, vague descriptions, etc.
  • Summary — A 2-3 sentence plain-English summary of the candidate's fit.

The AI score badge appears on the applicant card and is saved — you don't need to re-run it each time.

AI Question Generator

In the Questions tab, click Generate with AI. Claude reads your job title and description and returns 6 tailored interview questions ranked by importance.

You can use the suggestions as-is, edit them, or just use them as inspiration. Generated questions are added below your existing ones — they don't replace anything.

Tip: The more detailed your job description, the better the questions. A description with required skills, responsibilities, and team context produces much more relevant questions than a one-liner job title.

AI Video Transcription & Analysis

Once a candidate submits their video interview, open their review page and click Run AI Analysis. This does two things in sequence:

  1. Transcription — Each video is sent to OpenAI Whisper, which converts the spoken words to text.
  2. Analysis — The transcripts are sent to Claude, which returns:
    • Sentiment score (0–100) — How positive and confident the candidate sounds.
    • Clarity score (0–100) — How clearly and concisely they communicate.
    • Keywords found — Relevant skills and topics they mentioned.
    • Summary — A 3-sentence plain-English summary of how they performed overall.

Analysis takes 30–90 seconds depending on video length. The results are saved — you only need to run it once per candidate.

Composite score

When both a resume AI score and a video AI analysis exist for a candidate, a composite score is calculated:

Composite = (Resume score × 0.4) + (Video score × 0.6)

The composite score is shown on the pipeline card. It gives more weight to the video analysis because it reflects how the candidate actually communicates, not just what's on their resume.

AI limitations

  • AI scores are a starting point — not a final decision. Always watch the videos yourself for important roles.
  • Whisper transcription works best with clear audio and a stable internet connection. Heavy accents or background noise can reduce accuracy.
  • Resume screening works on PDF and Word (.docx) files. Scanned image PDFs (non-text) may not extract correctly.
  • AI responses can vary slightly between runs — if you re-run analysis, scores may differ slightly.