Picnic recruits at high volume, where speed matters. Candidates often apply for several jobs at once, making fast engagement critical, while the experience still needs to feel accessible and personal.
A significant part of the early recruitment journey involves screening calls and answering recurring candidate questions. Picnic saw an opportunity to make this stage more efficient and flexible, giving candidates greater choice in how and when they engage while preserving human interaction where it adds the most value.
Picnic and VONQ worked together to design and pilot an AI-powered screening call as part of the early recruitment journey. Candidates could choose between speaking with a recruiter or completing a screening call with an AI agent. The AI-supported conversation gathered relevant information including availability, motivation, language skills and location, while allowing candidates to engage outside regular recruiter working hours.
Throughout the pilot, Picnic and VONQ used applicant feedback, recruiter feedback and recruitment data to continuously refine the experience. The approach reflected Picnic’s philosophy: test quickly, learn from real interactions and adapt based on what works.
AI-supported screening gives candidates an additional way to complete an early stage of the recruitment process, including outside regular recruiter working hours.
In the first pilot, Picnic tested the approach across around 400 calls.
Approximately 20% of candidates selected the AI-call option. Picnic reported that conversion was approximately the same, while time to hire was shorter.
One candidate applied at approximately 11:30 PM, progressed through the process while recruiters were offline, attended a recruitment event the following morning and signed a contract at 10:30 AM.
The pilot also showed Picnic where further improvements were needed, particularly around setting clear expectations for candidates about what an AI call is and how they can interact with it.
EQO brings together specialist AI agents that screen, engage, and respond — creating more efficient, personalised, and reliable interactions across channels.
Screen and engage users continuously, reducing drop-offs and administrative burden.
Deliver clear, unbiased evaluations and actionable outcomes.
Integrate seamlessly with existing systems to support measurable results.
Explore EQO here →
"*" indicates required fields
Register below for the VONQ Newsletter and get the latest global recruitment marketing insights.
Please be aware that websites may be impersonating VONQ.
Learn more here.
"*" indicates required fields
