AI-powered applicant scoring

Overview

AI-Powered Applicant Scoring uses OpenAI to evaluate applicants using your specific hiring criteria. Each applicant receives a score from 0-100, helping you prioritize which candidates to review first.

Key Benefits:

• Save time by automatically scoring large volumes of applicants
• Define custom scoring criteria tailored to each role
• Quickly identify top candidates with visual score indicators
• Maintain full control over costs using your own OpenAI API key

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Getting started

Before using applicant scoring, you’ll need to sync to OpenAI and configure your settings:

Step 1: Configure your AI Socring API key

1. Navigate to Settings > Integrations https://app.dover.com/settings/company/integrations
2. Enter your AI API key (often starts with sk-)
3. Click Save API Key

Your key is encrypted and stored securely. You’ll be charged by the company based on usage - Dover does not mark up these costs.

Don’t have an AI API key? Get one at platform.openai.com

Step 2: Configure AI API permissions

To ensure your API key works properly with AI Scoring, you need to configure the correct permissions in your AI account.

OpenAI API permissions

Follow the instructions at https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8867743-assign-api-key-permissions

We recommend selecting All to make your OpenAI API key compatible with future Dover improvements.

If you choose to select Restricted, your OpenAI API key needs access to the following capabilities:

• Chat Completions API - To analyze applicants and generate scores
• Files API - To upload and process resume files
• Models API - To get models and validate your API key

Step 3: Define scoring criteria

Once your API key is configured, you can set up scoring for specific jobs:

1. Navigate to the Applicants tab for your job
2. Click the Scoring button in the toolbar
3. Enter your custom scoring criteria in the text field
4. Click Save

Example scoring prompt:

Look for candidates with:

• 3+ years of Python experience
• Familiarity with machine learning frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch)
• Strong communication skills demonstrated in application answers
• Experience at a high-growth startup (preferred)

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Scoring applicants

Bulk scoring

Option 1: From “Scoring” configuration

1. Navigate to the Applicants tab
2. Click Scoring in the applicants toolbar
3. Enter or update your scoring criteria
4. Click either Save and Score All to score all current applicants or Save and Score Current Page to score applicants on the current page

Option 2: From the multi-select tool:

1. Navigate to the Applicants tab
2. Click Multi-select
3. Click select all or select which candidates to score
4. Click Score Applicants

The AI will start scoring all applicants in the background and it may take a couple minutes until applicants are scored. Refresh your applicant list to see updated scores.

Individual scoring

1. Navigate to the Applicants tab
2. Click on applicant’s profile
3. Click the Score button

Re-scoring applicants

Changes to scoring criteria do not automatically update existing scores. To re-score with new criteria, run the bulk scoring action again.

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Understanding scores

Scores range from 0 to 100:

• 90-100 (Green): Exceptional candidate, immediate interview
• 60-89 (Yellow): Strong candidate, likely good fit
• 0-59 (Gray): Does not meet minimum requirements

Scores appear as colored badges next to each applicant’s name in the applicant list, making it easy to spot top candidates at a glance. If a candidate is still being scored, it will say “Scoring…”.

What information is used for scoring?

The AI evaluates applicants based on:

• Resume: Professional experience and qualifications
• Application Answers: Responses to your job-specific questions

The AI compares this information against your custom scoring criteria to generate a score. Before you add a prompt, scoring will be based on your job description.

Best Practices

• Write Specific Criteria: Be clear about required skills, experience levels, and deal-breakers. The more specific your criteria, the more accurate the scoring.
• Include Deal-Breakers: Explicitly state what disqualifies a candidate (e.g., “Less than 3 years of experience” or “No Python experience”)
• Balance Requirements: Include both required skills and preferred qualifications to get nuanced scoring.
• Review Scores Manually: AI scoring is a tool to help prioritize - always review applicants personally before making hiring decisions.

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Sort applicants by score

1. Navigate to the Applicants tab
2. Click the Sort icon
3. Click Best

Applicants will be sorted by highest score first, making it easy to review your top applicants.

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Managing your OpenAI API key

Updating your key

To change your API key:

1. Navigate to Settings & Members > Applicant Scoring in Dover https://app.dover.com/settings/company/applicant-scoring
2. Enter your OpenAI API key (starts with sk-)
3. Click Update API Key

Removing your key

To stop using AI scoring:

1. Navigate to Settings & Members > Applicant Scoring in Dover https://app.dover.com/settings/company/applicant-scoring
2. Click Remove API Key
3. Confirm the removal

Once removed, you’ll need to add a new key to resume using applicant scoring.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why don’t I see scores immediately after scoring?

Scoring happens in the background and may take a few minutes to complete. Refresh your applicant list to see updated scores.

How much does AI scoring cost?

You’ll be charged by based on API usage. Dover does not mark up these costs. For OpenAI, for example, scoring commonly lands around 800-1,200 tokens processed per application. Very long prompts, long Q&A, and large resumes can push it higher. Typical costs are approximately $0.004 per applicant scored (about $4 per 1,000 applicants), though this varies based on resume length, your scoring prompt length, and application answers.

Can I use different criteria for different jobs?

Yes! Each job can have its own unique scoring criteria. Set the criteria when you click the Scoring button for each specific job.

What happens if scoring fails for some applicants?

The system will continue scoring other applicants and will say “Scoring…” when scoring fails. You can retry scoring for individual applicants using the Score button.

Can I see why an applicant received a specific score?

Currently, the system displays the numerical score. Hover over the score to see why the candidate may/may not be a match.

Will applicants know they’re being scored?

No. AI scoring happens in the background and is only visible to you and your hiring team.

Can I disable scoring for a job?

Simply don’t click the Scoring button for that job. Scoring is opt-in and only runs when you trigger it.

What if I don’t have an AI API key?

You’ll need to create an account with one companies like OpenAI and Anthropic and generate an API key to use this feature.

Can I choose which AI API model to use?

Yes! You can select which AI model to use from the dropdown options.