20 HR prompts that leave the decisions to you
An AI model will happily rank your candidates or decide who goes on a plan, and it should not. These prompts have it draft the email, the policy or the review, flag what it is unsure of, and list what employment counsel should check. You make the call.
Swap anything in [brackets] for your role, notes or policy.
01. Build boolean search strings for a hard to fill role
Sourcing on LinkedIn, a job board or Google when the obvious search returns noise.
I am sourcing for [role] in [location or remote]. Must haves: [skills, tools, certifications] Nice to haves: [list] Titles people in this job actually use: [list, or say you do not know] Write three boolean search strings: a narrow one, a medium one and a broad one. For each, list the title variants, the skill synonyms, and the terms you excluded and why. Then tell me which syntax each string assumes (LinkedIn Recruiter, a job board, a Google X-ray search with site:) and what to change if the platform does not support OR, NOT or quotes. Do not add filters on age, gender, school prestige or anything else that stands in for a protected trait.
02. Screen a pile of applications against your must haves
Eighty applications, one afternoon, and you decide who moves on.
I am hiring for [role]. Must haves, written as things I can see on an application: [list] Nice to haves: [list] Here are the applications, one per block, with names replaced by a number: [paste them] For each one, give me a table row: applicant number, each must have marked MET, NOT SHOWN or UNCLEAR with the line from the application that shows it, and any question I should ask them. Do not rank, score or recommend anyone. I decide who moves forward. Ignore names, photos, age, gaps explained by caregiving or illness, and anything else that is not on my list. Then tell me if any of my must haves could screen people out for reasons unrelated to the job.
03. Write rejection emails that are kind and fast
Candidates are waiting and silence is worse than a no.
Write rejection emails for [role] at three stages: after the application, after a first interview, and after a final round. Each one gives the decision in the first two sentences, thanks them for the time they put in at that stage, and says whether we would like to hear from them about future roles ([yes or no]). Keep the first under 90 words and the last under 130. No fake reasons, no "we went with a stronger candidate", and no specific feedback on why, since I decide that case by case. Then give me one personal line I can add for finalists, with [brackets] for what I fill in.
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- Write a first message a passive candidate answers
- Write reference check questions that get past the polite answer
- Draft an offer letter and flag what local law decides
- Build an onboarding checklist for one role, by owner
- Draft a remote work or PTO policy in plain language
- Rewrite a handbook section people will actually read
- Prepare a performance review from your notes, with evidence
- Write feedback that names the behavior, not the person
- Outline a PIP the employee has a fair chance to pass
- Write exit interview questions that get honest answers
- Find the themes across a stack of exit interviews
- Turn engagement survey comments into themes with counts
- Sanity check your pay bands against your own data
- Draft a reorg or layoff announcement that tells the truth
- Keep investigation interview notes factual
- Build a training plan from the skill gap, not a course list
- Have a second model review the first one's HR draft