Resume Screening and Shortlist with n8n + Gemini (free workflow)

What this workflow does

Stop reading 200 resumes to find the 5 worth calling. Candidates apply through an n8n form with a PDF resume. Gemini compares each resume with your job requirements, gives a 0 to 100 match score with the skills found and missing, and writes 3 interview questions. Every candidate is saved to Google Sheets with a link to the resume in Google Drive and gets a confirmation email, and the hiring manager gets an email only for top matches.

1. The Job Application Form collects name, email, phone, years of experience, a LinkedIn or portfolio link, a short "why me" and a PDF resume.
2. Read Resume Text pulls the text out of the PDF, and Save Resume to Google Drive stores the original file.
3. Score Candidate with AI (Gemini) checks the resume against the job requirements in Workflow Configuration and returns a match score, a recommendation (Shortlist, Maybe or Not a fit), the current role, matched and missing skills, strengths, concerns, a one-line summary and 3 interview questions.
4. Build Candidate Record cleans the data, and Save Candidate to Google Sheets adds a row with the resume link and the status "New".
5. Confirm Application to Candidate emails every applicant that the application arrived and when to expect a reply.
6. Top Candidate or Needs Review? sends an email to the hiring manager when the score is at or above your bar (default 70) and the AI did not say "Not a fit". The email has the score, summary, skills, interview questions and the resume link.
7. If Gemini fails, Mark for Manual Review still saves the candidate and emails the hiring manager to read that resume by hand. If a PDF can't be read (for example a scanned image), the AI scores from the form answers only, caps the score at 50 and says so in the concerns.

Who it is for

Small businesses, startups, agencies, HR teams and recruiters who post jobs and get more applications than they have time to read.

What you need

• n8n (Cloud or self-hosted)
• A Google account with Gmail, Google Drive and Google Sheets
• A Google Gemini API key (the free tier is enough for small volumes)

The workflow, step by step

Step 1 · Receive the application

Public form plus your job settings.

• Job Application Form (n8n Form)
• Workflow Configuration (Set)

Step 2 · Read and store the resume

Text for the AI, original PDF in Drive.

• Read Resume Text (Extract from File)
• Save Resume to Google Drive (Google Drive)

Step 3 · Score with Gemini

If AI fails, the candidate goes to manual review.

• Google Gemini Chat Model (Gemini model)
• Score Candidate with AI (Basic LLM Chain)
• Candidate Score Parser (Structured Output Parser)
• Mark for Manual Review (Set)

Step 4 · Log and confirm

Saves the candidate and emails a confirmation.

• Build Candidate Record (Set)
• Save Candidate to Google Sheets (Google Sheets)
• Confirm Application to Candidate (Gmail)

Step 5 · Alert on top candidates

Only strong matches and unscored resumes reach the hiring manager.

• Top Candidate or Needs Review? (IF)
• Alert Hiring Manager (Gmail)

Setup

1. Download the JSON below and import it in n8n (Create workflow > ⋯ > Import from File).
2. Create a Google Sheet with a tab named Candidates and these headers in row 1: Applied At, Job, Name, Email, Phone, Years, Profile Link, Resume, Score, Recommendation, Current Role, Matched Skills, Missing Skills, Strengths, Concerns, Summary, Interview Questions, AI Status, Status.
3. Add Google Drive OAuth2, Google Sheets OAuth2, Gmail OAuth2 and Google Gemini (PaLM) API credentials. Pick your spreadsheet and tab in Save Candidate to Google Sheets, and a folder in Save Resume to Google Drive.
4. Open Workflow Configuration and set the company name, job title, job requirements (must-haves and nice-to-haves), the shortlist score, the hiring manager's email, the sender name and how many days you take to reply.
5. Activate the workflow and paste the form's production URL into your job post on LinkedIn, Naukri, Indeed, WhatsApp or your careers page.
6. Test it: apply through the form's test URL with your own email and a PDF resume that fits the job. Expect a confirmation email, a scored row, the PDF in Drive and, for a score of 70+, an alert to the hiring manager.

How to customise

• The sample prompt and emails are a starting point, not a fixed format. Rewrite them for your business.
• Job Application Form: questions and fields
• Score Candidate with AI: scoring rules and interview questions
• Confirm Application to Candidate, Alert Hiring Manager: email text
• jobRequirements, shortlistMinScore: what a good fit looks like
• Hiring for several roles: duplicate the workflow per role, or add a "Role" dropdown to the form and keep a requirements list per role.
• Change the shortlist bar with shortlistMinScore.
• Add form questions such as notice period or expected salary, and add them to the AI prompt and the sheet.
• Swap the hiring manager email for Slack or Telegram, or add a Calendly link to the alert to book interviews faster.

Troubleshooting

• Credential errors after import: imported workflows never include credentials. Open each node marked red and select your own account.
• Nothing runs on its own: test runs only fire once. Activate the workflow so the trigger keeps running.
• Odd times or dates: set your timezone in Workflow Settings.