of 5— Prepare your job description

What you'll accomplish

By the end of this guide, you'll have a repeatable process for using Claude to do your first-pass resume screening — cutting through a stack of 30–100 applications in under an hour instead of a full afternoon. You'll still make the final call on every candidate; AI just does the initial ranking.

What you'll need

A free or Pro account at claude.ai (free works; Pro is better for large batches)
Your job description (copy from your HRIS or job posting)
Resumes exported as text or PDF (PDF text is copyable in most cases)
Time needed: 20 minutes to set up; then 30–60 min per hiring round
Cost: Free (Claude free tier) or $20/mo (Claude Pro for larger batches)

How-To Guide: Screen Resumes Faster with AI

Step 1: Prepare your job description

Before you screen resumes, have a clean version of the job description ready. You're going to paste this into Claude as your screening criteria.

Open your job description from your HRIS, Indeed posting, or a Word doc
Copy the full text — especially the required qualifications, nice-to-haves, and key responsibilities
If your JD is long, focus on the "Requirements" and "Responsibilities" sections

What you should see: A text copy of your JD ready to paste