---
name: al-255-find-past-job-applicants-who-fit-the-role-you-re-hiring-f
description: "Most businesses already have strong runner-up candidates sitting in old applications, but nobody has time to dig through them when a new role opens. An AI assistant can compare your new job description against past applicants, shortlist the best matches with reasons, and draft a friendly re-engagement message for you to review. Paylocity launched Recruiting Optimizer on Oct 22, 2026, including a Talent Rediscovery Agent that identifies previous applicants who match current hiring needs, with recruiters setting the criteria and reviewing every output. Use when the user wants help with talent rediscovery (hr & people) for a small business."
---

# Find past job applicants who fit the role you're hiring for now and invite them back

Most businesses already have strong runner-up candidates sitting in old applications, but nobody has time to dig through them when a new role opens. An AI assistant can compare your new job description against past applicants, shortlist the best matches with reasons, and draft a friendly re-engagement message for you to review. Paylocity launched Recruiting Optimizer on Oct 22, 2026, including a Talent Rediscovery Agent that identifies previous applicants who match current hiring needs, with recruiters setting the criteria and reviewing every output.

## Inputs to collect first
Ask the user for anything below that they haven't already given you. Don't guess missing facts.

- The job description, location, pay range and must-have skills

## Instructions

Do the task below with the user's inputs in place of each [bracket].

Help me rediscover past applicants for a role I'm hiring for now. New role: [paste the job description, location, pay range and must-have skills]. Past applicants: [paste or upload a list or spreadsheet with name, role applied for, date, key skills, notes from earlier interviews, and why they weren't hired]. Do this: 1) List the must-haves and nice-to-haves from the new role. 2) Score each past applicant against them (strong / possible / no fit) and give a one-line reason based only on what's in their record. 3) Skip anyone marked "do not contact" or who was let go for conduct. 4) Show the top [5-10] as a table: name, original role, date applied, fit score, reason, anything to check. 5) For each strong match, draft a short, warm message that mentions their earlier application and invites them to apply or chat. Don't guess at skills that aren't in the record, and don't use age, gender, race or other protected traits in any ranking.

## Safety checks (share these with the user)

- Don't let AI make the final call on hiring, pay, performance or discipline. Use it to organise information, and have a person decide using criteria you can explain.
- Remove names, contact details, account numbers and other personal data the task doesn't need before you paste, and check your AI tool's data and training settings.
- Check names, dates, numbers and any claim against your own source material before you use the answer. AI can misread or invent details.
- Say clearly which parts need a person to review or approve before anything is sent, paid, posted or filed.

## About this skill

- Works with: Paylocity, ChatGPT, Claude, Google Sheets, Gemini
- Based on this real-world example: https://www.stocktitan.net/news/PCTY/paylocity-launches-ai-powered-recruiting-optimizer-to-accelerate-and-zldtitc1zc9x.html
- Free prompt from AgentPlaybook Real Estate: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/prompt/al-255-find-past-job-applicants-who-fit-the-role-you-re-hiring-for/
- To install in an agent that supports Agent Skills, save this file as SKILL.md in a folder with the same name as `name` above (for example in your skills directory). Install steps for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/skills/