Randall Reilly recruits drivers, technicians, and other candidates who are often working while recruiters are at their desks. Drivers are on the road. Technicians are under equipment. Many cannot step away for a screening call in the middle of a shift.

Ribbon gave those candidates another option: interview when their day is over. According to the team's internal review, 9 of Randall Reilly's 11 hires in the period they examined came from candidates who completed their Ribbon interview outside standard working hours.

"Ribbon helped us connect with candidates outside recruiter working hours, which reduced back-and-forth and improved submission volume."
Matt O'Donnell, Director at Randall Reilly

Phone tag was adding days to every screen

Before Ribbon, the first challenge was simply getting candidates on the phone. Recruiters worked across three time zones, often trying to reach people whose jobs made a daytime call impractical.

"Hiring before Ribbon involved a lot of back and forth, a lot of phone tag, a lot of continued re-engagement in hopes of connecting with the candidate," Matt said. "That back and forth was just a lot of work trying to find the right time for them that also worked for the recruiters."

About a quarter of the interviews Randall Reilly reviewed were completed outside normal working hours. Some happened at 10 p.m., 11 p.m., or midnight. Without an interview available around the clock, Matt estimated that reaching those candidates could add days, sometimes weeks, to the screen.

The change is visible at the start of the recruiter's day. "That allows the recruiters to come into four or five completed screens before eight o'clock when they start their day," he said.

Fifteen completed screens within 48 hours

The largest gains showed up on high-volume work. After an intake call, a recruiter could validate the applicant pool, send the Ribbon link, and return to completed interviews that were ready to review and share.

• 9 of 11 hires came from candidates who interviewed outside standard working hours during one review period.
• 15 completed screens were ready within 48 hours of an intake call.
• 30 interviews and eight offers followed in the first week after one recruiter took over a group of roles.

Matt estimated that roughly 20 minutes of recruiter setup could produce 10 to 15 completed screens. Recruiters could then spend their time with the candidates most likely to move forward.

It worked best where applicant volume already existed

Randall Reilly did not see the same result on every account. Ribbon had the clearest impact where a role already attracted meaningful candidate interest and recruiters could see how completed interviews would change their day.

Low-volume, sourcing-heavy roles were different. When a team was spending most of its time finding candidates in the first place, there were fewer interviews for Ribbon to accelerate. The constraint on those roles was the size of the applicant pool. Once interest existed, Ribbon helped the team work through it faster.

That distinction shaped the rollout. The team focused Ribbon on high-volume roles, including technician hiring, where slow follow-up and limited candidate availability were the real bottlenecks.

The interview moved closer to the application

Many Randall Reilly campaigns use a direct-to-consumer application flow that collects a name, phone number, email address, and sometimes a resume. For drivers and technicians applying on a phone, a resume may not be available at all.

The team began adding the interview link directly to job ads and sending it by text. Instead of starting with little more than contact details and a few yes-or-no questions, recruiters could review a real conversation before deciding what to do next.

That helped them see who looked right for the current role, who might fit elsewhere, and who was unlikely to move forward. As Matt put it, the goal was to "increase the speed to submit" while cutting wasted recruiter effort.

Calling it an online interview improved completion

The wording of the invitation mattered. Early outreach described the experience as an "AI interview." Some candidates did not complete it, especially in driver and technician populations where unfamiliar technology could create hesitation.

Randall Reilly changed the framing. The invitation now describes an online interview that can get a candidate in front of the hiring team faster. It also makes clear that a person still reviews the interview and makes the decision.

"Making sure the candidate knows that a human is still reviewing and still making that final decision at the end of the day has helped lead to more people doing it," Matt said.

The feedback was encouraging. When Matt followed up with a candidate who had never completed an AI interview before, the candidate said the conversation went smoothly and felt responsive. For a group that can be skeptical of a new process, that mattered.

Ribbon handles the repeatable part; recruiters keep the judgment

A year into the rollout, Randall Reilly is still working through the habit change that comes with a new screening process. Some recruiters review a completed Ribbon interview and then repeat nearly the entire screen by phone.

Matt expects the workflow to settle into two versions. In one, Ribbon completes the full initial screen and the next conversation is with the hiring team. In the other, Ribbon handles roughly 80% of the screen and the recruiter uses a shorter call for the final 20% with the strongest candidates.

In both versions, the recruiter stays responsible for the decision and the relationship. "Less time doing screens, more time just checking in, building those relationships," Matt said. "Maybe we'll see the number of hires continue to go up across the board without the teams necessarily feeling overwhelmed."

What Randall Reilly wants to improve next

Matt was candid about the remaining work. The team wants to keep testing the accounts where Ribbon has not yet worked as well and understand why. The issue may be how the interview was built, how candidates were prepared, or how the invitation was presented.

For now, Randall Reilly is concentrating Ribbon on the work where it has already earned a place, then using the weaker results to adjust the next test. Human judgment remains part of every hiring decision.

About Randall Reilly

Randall Reilly is a talent acquisition company with deep roots in trucking and other high-volume markets. Its recruiting services, data, media, and technology help employers reach and hire hard-to-find talent.