September is peak hiring season. With 87% of employers planning to recruit full-time staff and interns this fall, competition for talent is fierce. But when thousands of candidates apply for a single role, how can hiring teams possibly keep up?
That was the challenge facing Woofz by nove8, the leading dog training app, when the company advertised for a content creator to review dog-friendly hotels. The response was overwhelming: more than 3,000 applications for one position.
The Traditional Approach: 423 Hours of Screening
Manually reviewing every CV and cover letter would have consumed over 423 hours of staff time – nearly half a month of nonstop work. For a fast-growing tech company like Woofz, this wasn’t just inefficient; it was unsustainable.
The AI Solution: Pragmata.io
Instead of slogging through piles of resumes, Woofz turned to Pragmata.io, an AI-powered screening platform designed to streamline the early hiring process.
Pragmata’s approach is different: candidates answer a few structured questions via voice. Their responses are then evaluated using a custom scoring model, with rankings based on clarity, creativity, and project fit. The format encourages authentic answers without lengthy preparation or over-rehearsed scripts.
From Skepticism to Success
“We were skeptical at first,” admits Natalia Shahmetova, CEO of Woofz. “It didn’t seem like the kind of thing AI could help with. But we were wrong.”
Far from stifling creativity, the structured format highlighted it. Shahmetova explains:
“Pragmata didn’t just save us months of work – it surfaced candidates we would’ve missed. The algorithm was shockingly accurate. We actually had debates about who to choose, which isn’t typical. Usually, you’re lucky to have even one strong option.”
Smarter Hiring at Scale
For Pragmata’s founders, the case study demonstrates the platform’s core mission.
“We built Pragmata to take the pressure off hiring teams, especially when they’re overwhelmed by volume,” says Alex Rudy, co-founder of Pragmata. “The goal is to make early screening faster, but also more consistent – so strong candidates don’t slip through just because there are too many to review.”
The Bigger Picture
As hiring volumes spike in September, Woofz’s experience illustrates how AI can reshape recruitment. What once took weeks of manual effort can now be handled in a matter of days – all while ensuring better-quality shortlists and fairer candidate evaluations.
For businesses facing an avalanche of applications this fall, AI tools like Pragmata may prove less of a luxury and more of a necessity.