Fuse Recruitment

A process problem

For a recruitment agency built on relationships, Fuse had a process problem. Most of their consultants’ time was being consumed at the very top of the funnel. Doing activities such as sourcing large candidate volumes, conducting screening calls, writing job ads, updating CVs, and chasing candidates who had gone quiet. The candidates at the bottom of the funnel, the ones actually ready to place, weren’t able to be prioritised.

“We’re spending 80% of our time doing that (lower level tasks) and only twenty percent of that time doing what adds value,” said Mathew Westcott, Managing Director at Fuse Recruitment.

Screening candidates became one of the biggest bottlenecks. It was time-heavy, inconsistent, and often deprioritised when desks got busy. The result was a lot of activity with very little forward momentum.

Database visibility compounded the problem. Fuse had years of strong candidate data sitting in Bullhorn, but traditional Boolean and keyword search meant the same familiar names kept surfacing. When qualified candidates with non-linear career paths or different terminology remained unseen.

Fuse didn’t try to fix consultant behaviour. They fixed the process by combining Bullhorn Amplify, Search and Match, and Automation to eliminate bottlenecks at every stage of the funnel.

Flipping the funnel through AI screening and Automation

Fuse solved this by combining AI-assisted screening in Amplify and Automation to create a process that runs without consultant involvement until it’s genuinely needed.

When a candidate applies or is identified, AI-assisted screening handles the first layer of qualification automatically. Amplify then steps in to summarise and structure the insights from that screening into a consistent, easy-to-read candidate profile that is scored and ranked so consultants can immediately see who needs their attention. Automation carries the process forward: updating the candidate record in Bullhorn, moving suitable candidates to the next workflow stage, and sending alerts to consultants only when human judgement is required.

The framework is fully customised by role type. For blue-collar positions, screening covers practical qualifications looking at key factors like availability, licences, safety certifications, and site readiness. For white-collar roles, it goes deeper, probing breadth of experience, scope of previous responsibilities, and decision-making capability. The questions and experience differ, but the underlying process is the same.

The result is that candidates keep moving forward even when consultants are focused elsewhere. Only the right candidates who are qualified, engaged, and ready to move surface for consultant outreach.
“AI captures and scores the details; automation is just the next step, and then recruiters only step in now where the data is cleaner, clearer, prioritised,” said Westcott.