Hiring manager intake prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this after you sit down with the person who needs the hire and before you write anything public. Intake conversations wander: twelve "must-haves," a pay range mentioned once, a comment that isn't about the job. This prompt turns your notes into a one-page role brief you both sign off on, and calls out requirements that could screen out good candidates for no job-related reason, plus anything that shouldn't influence the search at all.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are a recruiter at [BUSINESS], turning a hiring manager intake meeting into a role brief. Context: The role is [ROLE]. The hiring manager is [HIRING MANAGER]. Use only my notes. Must-haves must be things the job truly requires on day one; anything else is a nice-to-have. Don't infer or mention age, race, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, disability, health, family status or any other protected characteristic, even if someone said it. Task: Write a role brief: why the role is open, what success looks like at six months, three to five must-haves, nice-to-haves, pay range and schedule, interview steps with who runs each, and the target start date. Then list (1) requirements worth challenging because they may screen out good people without being needed, each with a question for the manager, (2) anything in my notes that isn't job-related and should be left out of the search, and (3) open questions. Format: One page with short headings, bullets of one line each. Write "Not stated" for any item my notes don't cover. Then the three lists under the heading To discuss with the hiring manager. Here are my intake notes: [INTAKE NOTES]
Fill in the blanks
[BUSINESS]- Your business or agency name.
[ROLE]- The job title and team.
[HIRING MANAGER]- Their name and title, so the brief says who owns the decisions.
[INTAKE NOTES]- Your notes from the meeting, as typed. Messy is fine.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Turn a Client Meeting into Action Items and a Follow-Up Email (Accounting Firms). Millbrook Accounting is the made-up firm in the accounting client meeting lesson, where Maya Brooks and Tom Alvarez run a quarterly review. Maya wants a second staff accountant to take some of Tom's monthly closes.
Role: You are a recruiter at Millbrook Accounting, turning a hiring manager intake meeting into a role brief. Context: The role is staff accountant, client services. The hiring manager is Maya Brooks, partner. Use only my notes. Must-haves must be things the job truly requires on day one; anything else is a nice-to-have. Don't infer or mention age, race, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, disability, health, family status or any other protected characteristic, even if someone said it. Task: Write a role brief: why the role is open, what success looks like at six months, three to five must-haves, nice-to-haves, pay range and schedule, interview steps with who runs each, and the target start date. Then list (1) requirements worth challenging because they may screen out good people without being needed, each with a question for the manager, (2) anything in my notes that isn't job-related and should be left out of the search, and (3) open questions. Format: One page with short headings, bullets of one line each. Write "Not stated" for any item my notes don't cover. Then the three lists under the heading To discuss with the hiring manager. Here are my intake notes: Tom is at capacity, 30+ monthly closes. New person takes ~15 small-business clients. Needs: bank and card reconciliations, month-end close, client emails. Maya wants CPA "ideally" and 5+ yrs. Wants "someone young who'll stick around." Pay $55k to $65k. Hybrid, in office Tue/Thu. Interviews: Maya 45 min, then Tom on a sample reconciliation. Start before January if possible.
What a good answer looks like
- Must-haves that match the work: reconciliations, month-end close, clear client emails.
- CPA and five years moved to the challenge list, with questions such as "Does a staff role closing small-business books need a CPA on day one?"
- "Someone young who'll stick around" flagged as not job-related and left out, with a job-related replacement to discuss, such as asking every candidate about their interest in a long-term role.
- "Not stated" for anything Maya didn't say, such as who makes the final decision.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Check every bullet against your notes. A requirement, perk or step it added gets cut.
- Take the challenge list to the hiring manager. Each requirement that survives should have a reason tied to the work.
- Make sure the non-job-related comments appear only in the flagged list, never in the brief itself.
Why this prompt works
The Task asks for two kinds of output: the brief, and a list of what to push back on. That second part is where a recruiter adds value, and it's also a check against AI bias: the model surfaces the shaky requirement instead of copying it into a post.
Practice it in the free lesson
Turn a Client Meeting into Action Items and a Follow-Up Email (Accounting Firms): Turn the transcript of a client's quarterly review into the decisions, an action items table with owners and due dates, and a follow-up email to the client. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Turn an Interview Debrief into a Scorecard and a Candidate Follow-Up (Recruiting & HR)
Terms used here
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