You don’t need more applicants. You need better ones.

A worried recruiter going through irrelevant CVs

You’ve launched a job ad. The applications start flooding in. Your hiring manager’s inbox is full by the end of the day.

But instead of feeling excited, your team feels overwhelmed.

Because none of the CVs are right.

Across every sector, recruitment teams are buried in noise. Stacks of irrelevant applications from people who are unqualified, overqualified, in the wrong location or simply applying to everything in sight.

The question isn’t “how do we get more applicants?”

It’s “how do we get the right ones?”

Why quantity is crushing your hiring team

We hear it all the time: “We’re getting 300+ applications per role. But less than 5% are worth shortlisting.”

That stat isn’t surprising. Most job board traffic comes from active seekers who apply to every vaguely relevant post they find. It’s high-volume, low-intent activity.

That means your hiring team is stuck in triage mode. Manually screening irrelevant applications, trying to pick out gems from the noise.

Not only is that inefficient, it slows down time-to-hire, burns internal resource, and risks missing great candidates who drop out while you're still sorting through the mess.

The problem with traditional job ads

Job boards and aggregators cast the net wide. Too wide. Most of them are designed to generate clicks, not conversions. And certainly not quality.

What’s worse, they reward volume. The more traffic, the better...even if none of those people are a good fit. That leaves you paying for noise.

Plus, (and this builds on what we covered in our Why job ads aren't converting, and how to fix it blog post) there’s no control over who sees your ads. No way to prioritise the right profiles. And no ability to stop the same person applying to every role in your company.

In short: you’re not filtering up front, so you’re firefighting at the back.

Why better applicants matter more than bigger pipelines

It’s easy to feel good about a full ATS. But full doesn’t mean fruitful.

Here’s what happens when you focus on quality over quantity:

  • Your hiring team gets time back. Fewer CVs to sift through means more time spent engaging top candidates.
  • Time-to-hire drops. You move faster when you’re not wading through noise.
  • Your candidate experience improves. Because your team has time to communicate, follow up, and nurture the right people.
  • Your cost-per-hire goes down. Fewer wasted ads. Fewer ghosted interviews. More hires per pound spent.

It’s not just about saving time. It’s about building a hiring engine that delivers better outcomes.

The Gaia fix: smarter targeting, better fit

Gaia was built to solve this exact problem. We help teams move from “anyone can apply” to “only the right people do.”

Here’s how:

🎯 Precision targeting

Our AI learns from 100M+ data points and seven years of hiring signals to match your roles with people most likely to convert, based on behaviour, context, and intent. Not just job titles.

📣 Cross-channel reach

We get your roles in front of the right people across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit and more, with smart sequencing and messaging tailored to each platform.

🔁 Cookie-free retargeting

If someone sees your ad but doesn’t apply, we don’t let the opportunity go cold. We re-engage them with fresh creative, later in the funnel. This improves conversion and drives up quality.

📱 Optimised apply experience

GaiaPages turn interest into action. With 45-second, mobile-first apply journeys, we minimise bounce and maximise qualified completions.

📊 Built-in campaign insights

See what’s working in real time. Adjust by platform, audience, and geography. Know where your best applicants come from, and invest with confidence.

What customers say

“Gaia’s AI-driven strategy helped us reach the right talent faster, overcoming location and skills shortages while strengthening our employer brand. Their precision targeting and data-driven approach made a real difference in how we attract and engage candidates.”

Babcock case study

Who this helps most

  • TA teams drowning in unqualified applications
  • HR leaders under pressure to do more with less
  • Organisations with limited recruiter resource
  • Anyone chasing speed, quality and performance

Want fewer CVs and better candidates?

Don’t waste another day filtering junk applications.  See how Gaia helps teams like yours cut through the noise.

Ready to find out how we can

help you?