When more than 1,300 candidates applied, our inbox couldn’t keep up

We thought we were ready.

Our team posted a Business Development Representative (BDR) role on LinkedIn and our website.
With a modest advertising budget and a lean team, we anticipated receiving approximately 25 applications over the course of a month.

But within a few days, our careers@ inbox was flooded.
By the end of the month, we had received over 700 applications for a single role.

Suddenly, the hiring process we’d relied on for years — manual inbox monitoring, resume screening, internal back-and-forth — couldn’t keep up.

We needed to rethink recruitment from the ground up.

Whether you’re hiring for one position or multiple, missing out on a great candidate can be costly. Here’s how we addressed this issue and made hiring easier for our small team.

Why manual hiring doesn’t scale

Here’s how our legacy process worked:

         1. Resume and cover letter sent to careers@.

         2. Team members manually reviewed each submission.

         3. Candidate profiles were passed around internally via chat and email.

         4. A decision was made to screen, interview, or decline the candidate.

This worked fine when we were reviewing five or ten applications.

But with hundreds of candidates, it became clear: Manual hiring doesn’t scale.

We were losing valuable time and risking a poor candidate experience.

Our goal: Automate the workflow, not the judgment

We weren’t trying to hand hiring over to AI.

Instead, we wanted to:

• Reduce the time spent on admin and triage
• Improve consistency and fairness in the candidate review process
• Stay human-first in our decisions and communications

With access to tools like Microsoft Power Automate, Rewst, and our private Azure OpenAI instance, we had an opportunity to rebuild our process and test our internal automation philosophy in action.

Building the automation workflow

We created a system to manage the inflow of resumes, extract key insights, and surface best-fit candidates — all while keeping hiring decisions firmly in human hands. 

Step-by-step: How our AI-powered hiring process works

     1. Monitor the careers@ inbox for new submissions.

     2. Extract applicant data (name, email, skills, career history) using OCR (optical character recognition) technology.

     3. Use Azure OpenAI to:
         – Match resumes to job descriptions
         – Score alignment with ideal candidate profiles
         – Identify better-fit roles based on skills
         – Suggest custom screening questions
         – Search for public insights like LinkedIn profiles

     4. Store all materials in a SharePoint Recruitment Tracker, including: 
         – Resume and cover letter
         – Extracted data
         – AI-generated summary and candidate score
         – Status (e.g., new, phone screen, interview)

       5. Automatically alert hiring managers with a triaged summary and interview suggestions.

Important note: No candidates are auto-rejected. The AI supports decision-making but never replaces it.

Why these tools?

• Power Automate + SharePoint: Seamlessly integrates with our Microsoft 365 environment
• Rewst: Gives us orchestration flexibility
• Azure OpenAI: Keeps AI use private, secure, and compliant

What we learned (and what changed)

Team feedback: more than saved time—reduced mental overload

There was early skepticism — “Will this actually help?”
But once the system was up and running, feedback changed:

“It saved hours every week.”
“I had more time to prepare meaningful interview questions.”
“The review process felt more consistent.”
“No more hunting for resumes or losing track.” 

It wasn’t just about time saved—it was about reclaiming mental space.

Before automation, hiring created a constant low-level distraction (the fear of missing a great candidate if we didn’t act fast enough). Even reviewing a single resume took only a few minutes, but the ongoing mental effort was draining. We were juggling inbox monitoring, resume reviews, and getting decision fatigue—all while wondering if we were falling behind.

Automation didn’t just streamline our process. It gave us structure, clarity, and peace of mind.

Transparency is one of our core values. In line with Ontario’s Working for Workers Act, 2023, we’ve added a disclosure outlining how we use AI in our hiring process. You’ll find the full statement at the end of this article.

Measurable impact

• Processed over 1,300 candidates across multiple roles
• Successfully hired six team members (BDR, Service Desk, Automation, Co-op)
• Reduced review time from hours per candidate to minutes
• Improved internal alignment and collaboration

One unexpected success?
A candidate applied for a Service Desk role. The AI flagged them as a better match for Sales.
We reached out, interviewed them, and made the hire.

Automation helped us uncover fit in ways we hadn’t anticipated.

Automation helped us enhance, not replace, the candidate experience

Here’s how our process stayed human-centered:

• Every candidate received a thoughtful review
• Follow-ups became faster and more consistent
• Internal accountability improved — no dropped threads
• Our professionalism stood out, even in rejections

We made sure AI remained an assistant, not a gatekeeper.

From hiring to operations: Where else are we using automation

After seeing the success in hiring, we’ve extended this mindset to other internal workflows:

• Ticket triage: AI now helps prioritize support tickets based on sentiment
• Content workflows: Even this blog flowed through our marketing automation pipeline
• Strategic planning: We’re consolidating siloed data into a central lakehouse to forecast trends and resourcing needs better

We’re also helping clients do the same through our Automation & Optimization (A&O) Practice, where we apply AI and automation to reduce manual work and improve value.

Final takeaway

This started as a hiring challenge.
It became a business mindset.

If you’re looking at a repeatable workflow—whether it’s resume screening, ticket triage, or report prep—ask yourself:

• Can this be automated?

• Could AI help us make faster, more informed decisions?

• How can we scale without sacrificing the human touch?

We ask those questions daily—and help others do the same.

Ready to explore how automation could transform your workflow?

We help teams find and fix high-friction processes—and build automation that works with people, not around them.

Let’s talk. Schedule a free call to discuss how you can streamline your processes with automation or visit our automation and optimization page to learn more.

AI Disclosure: At Third Octet, we utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to support, not replace, our team members throughout the hiring process. AI tools help streamline certain steps, such as organizing applications or surfacing relevant insights, but real humans ultimately make every decision. Our goal is to use AI to amplify our team’s ability to thoughtfully and fairly evaluate every candidate.