How to source candidates with Claude

Paste a job description into Claude and ask for candidates, and you get a search plan, a Boolean string, or a list of names Claude cannot stand behind. The model is not the problem. Claude has nothing to search.

Can Claude source candidates on its own?#

Only partly. Claude can read a job description, work out what a strong candidate looks like, write a Boolean string, and score any profile you paste into the chat. It can also search the public web: Anthropic describes its web search as a way to "search the internet to provide you with up-to-date information and insights."

What Claude does not have is a database of people. It cannot query a candidate database, it cannot look up a personal email or a mobile number, and it cannot sign in to your LinkedIn account. Anything it tells you about a named person comes from a public web page or from its training data, and neither is a sourcing tool.

What does Claude need to find real candidates?#

Claude needs a connector: a link between the assistant and an outside system that holds the data. Connectors are built on the Model Context Protocol.

hyreflow is a recruiting connector for Claude. Once hyreflow is connected, Claude can call the data, enrichment, outreach and ATS tools in the hyreflow catalog, and one credit balance covers all of them. You describe the outcome you want in plain language, and Claude chooses which tools to call.

How do you connect Claude to recruiting data?#

You add hyreflow as a custom connector in Claude. It takes a few minutes and nothing is installed on your computer. Anthropic states that custom connectors are available "for users on Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans" and that "free users are limited to one custom connector", so a paid Claude plan is not required.

1. Open the connector settings in Claude

   In Claude, go to Customize, then Connectors, and choose Add custom connector. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds it under Organization settings.

2. Paste the hyreflow server URL

   Name the connector hyreflow and paste the server URL from the hyreflow setup page. Leave the advanced OAuth fields empty.

3. Sign in and pick a workspace

   A browser window opens. Sign in to hyreflow and choose the workspace Claude may act on.

4. Approve the connection

   Claude now lists hyreflow among its connectors, and you can use it in any new chat.

The exact steps for ChatGPT and other clients are in the hyreflow setup guide.

What prompt builds a candidate shortlist in Claude?#

Paste the job description, then ask for the outcome and say how you want it run. A good sourcing prompt names the number of candidates, what disqualifies someone, and which contact details you want.

Behind that one prompt, Claude runs four stages in order.

1. Read the spectitles, must-haves, location
2. Searchseveral people databases
3. Scoreagainst the brief
4. Contact detailsfor those who made it
5. Shortlistranked, with reasons

The full version of this prompt, with each step and its cost, is in the job spec to shortlist playbook.

What else can Claude do for recruiters?#

Sourcing is the first use, not the only one. The same connection lets Claude run the business development side of a desk:

• Send a candidate to market: find the companies likely to hire a strong candidate and the hiring manager at each one. The full walk-through is in How to run an MPC or spec campaign with Claude.
• Find the hiring manager behind a job advert, with a verified email. See the hiring manager playbook.
• Build a target account list: the companies of a certain type in a region, with the people who run the function you recruit for. See the target account playbook.
• Re-engage people who moved: find contacts in your CRM who were promoted or changed jobs. See the job change playbook.

In-house talent acquisition teams use the same connection differently: they source for their own open roles and sync candidates into an ATS such as Ashby, Lever or SmartRecruiters.

All of the playbooks are listed in the hyreflow playbook library.

How much time does AI sourcing save a recruiter?#

Survey data points to about a day a week, though no survey measures Claude specifically. LinkedIn's Future of Recruiting 2025 report, based on a survey of 1,271 recruiting professionals, found that those using generative AI save "about 20% of their work week".

Staffing firms report the same direction. In Bullhorn's 2026 GRID Industry Trends Report, a survey of nearly 2,300 recruitment professionals published in February 2026, 46 percent of firms said AI cut their screening time in half or better. The same report found that only 10 percent of firms have implemented agentic AI across their full workflow, so most agencies have not yet connected an assistant to their tools at all.

Where does sourcing with Claude fall short?#

Questions recruiters ask about sourcing with Claude#