Propel vs ChatGPT
ChatGPT can read a few resumes. Propel ranks the whole pile.
Lots of people screen applicants by pasting resumes into a chatbot. It works for three. Here's where it stops working, and what Propel does differently.
To be fair
What a chatbot is great at.
General AI chatbots are excellent writing partners. Use one for the words around hiring.
- Writing and polishing the job ad
- Drafting interview questions for a shortlisted candidate
- Wording a kind rejection email
- A quick second opinion on one or two resumes
The real difference
A chat box versus a screening workflow.
A chatbot can do anything, so it leaves the process to you. Propel does one job, so the process is built in.
A workflow built for screening
Job description, must-haves, secondary criteria, resumes, rank, download. Every position follows the same steps, and its status always tells you what's next.
A place to come back to
Positions are saved with their criteria, weights, resumes and ranking. Open one next month to add resumes, tweak a criterion or re-rank, without rebuilding anything.
Made for the job, so nothing to learn
Criteria as a list you can edit, candidates as a ranked list you can filter, a rating on every criterion a tap away. No prompts to write, no transcript to dig through.
Side by side
Where a chatbot breaks down on a resume pile.
Screening is less about reading one resume well and more about judging a hundred the same way.
| A general AI chatbot | Propel Resume Screener | |
|---|---|---|
| The process | A blank chat box. You work out the steps, and remember them, every time. | A guided workflow: job description, must-haves, secondary criteria, resumes, rank, download. Each position shows where it is and what's next. |
| Coming back later | Scroll through old chats and hope you find the right one, with the right prompt. | Every position keeps its job description, criteria, weights, resumes and ranking, ready to open next week or next month. |
| The yardstick | Whatever you typed in the prompt this time. Each batch can be judged a little differently. | Criteria drafted from your job description, edited by you in plain language and saved with the position. Every resume is rated on the same 0 to 4 rubric, one criterion at a time. |
| A pile of 100 | Limits on how many files you can attach mean working in batches, and long conversations get harder for the model to keep straight. | Up to 100 resumes per position, 30 per upload, scored several at a time. |
| Changing your mind | Ask again, and the scores can come back different. | Change the must-have and secondary split or mute a criterion, and the ranking updates on the spot with nothing scored again. |
| Must-haves | Ask it to apply them, and check that it did for every resume. | One switch shows only the candidates rated at least “partially met” on every must-have. |
| Seeing why | A paragraph per resume, worded differently each time. | A rating for each criterion, so you can see which must-have a candidate missed at a glance. |
| What you take away | A chat transcript. | A ranked list saved with the position, a summary document and a ZIP of the top resumes. |
| Your candidates' data | Depends on your plan and settings. On some consumer plans, chats can be used to improve models unless you switch that off. | Never used to train AI models, by Propel or its AI providers, under a published data processing addendum. |
See what the app does on the features page, or compare Propel with applicant tracking systems and other AI screeners.
Questions
Propel and chatbots.
No. Each criterion is a separate question put to a scoring model, which rates the resume from 0 to 4. Propel then works out the weights, totals and ranking itself. Nothing is written as free text and nothing is left to a model to add up.
Yes, and it's a good pairing. Write the job ad with a chatbot, paste it into Propel to rank the applicants, then use the chatbot to prepare questions for the people at the top.
Propel is pay per use: $9.99 screens 250 resumes and the credits never expire, so you don't need a subscription at all. If you screen every month, Pro is $9.99 a month for 350 resumes.
Rank the whole pile, the same way every time.
Join early access and try one position free when the app launches. No contract, no sales call.
Launching soon on iPhone and Android. We'll tell you when it's live.