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As of 13 August 2026, AI can create a frequently asked questions guide for new starters.
Most people should do this themselves; the prompt is on this page.
Can you do it?
5 minutesto a draft.
30 minutesto something you’d act on.
Cost, all in£0
Skill needednone
Who has to check ita colleague
What the alternative costsThe supplied data does not provide a price for a human alternative.
If this goes wrong: a new starter receives an incorrect or incomplete answer, and you correct the guide before relying on it further.
What to actually do
Do it yourself
The route this page recommends
A chat interface, no skill needed, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.
How to actually do it
- Open the current staff handbook, onboarding checklist, relevant HR policies, benefits information and IT joining instructions.
- Gather the names or email addresses of the HR contact, line manager, IT helpdesk, payroll contact and any other team a new starter may need.
- Paste the source documents and contact details into a chatbot with the supplied prompt, keeping each source clearly labelled.
- Ask the chatbot to produce the FAQ and its separate "Items to confirm" list using only the supplied information.
- Compare every drafted answer with the current handbook, policies, joining instructions and system details, and replace any outdated contact or procedure.
- Ask an HR or people colleague to approve statements about pay, leave, benefits, sickness reporting and employment policies before publishing.
- Put the approved FAQ in the new starter area of your handbook or intranet and send the link with the joining instructions.
Prompt
Create a frequently asked questions guide for new starters at [organisation]. Use only the source information pasted below and do not invent policies, benefits, systems, contacts, deadlines or procedures. If the sources do not answer a question, write "Ask [named contact or team]" rather than guessing. Group the guide under practical headings such as before the first day, the first day, working arrangements, pay and benefits, leave and sickness, equipment and IT, expenses, and who to contact. Write in plain British English, with short answers suitable for someone who has just joined. Keep legal or policy wording accurate and flag any answer that needs confirmation by HR or a manager. End with a list titled "Items to confirm" containing every gap, contradiction or outdated-looking detail you find. Sources: [paste current handbook, onboarding instructions, policies, benefits information, IT instructions, office information and contact details here].
Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.
Use a tool built for this
Second choiceHand it to a person
The distant thirdA person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.
What it gets wrong
- AI cannot know which version of your policies, systems or contact details is current unless you provide them.
- AI cannot decide whether an unclear policy should be simplified, escalated or changed.
- AI cannot obtain approval from HR, a manager or the policy owner.
- AI cannot notice that an answer conflicts with an unpublished practice or a decision made for one particular team.
Even on a YES, the friction has a name: context depth and judgement under ambiguity.
How we scored this
Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.
| Axis | Score (0–2) |
|---|---|
| Output | 2 |
| Inputs | 2 |
| Verification | 2 |
| Liability | 2 |
| Effort delta | 2 |
| Total | 10 / 10 |
The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.
FAQ
- Can ChatGPT write an FAQ for new starters?
- Yes. Give it your current handbook, onboarding instructions, policies, contacts and system details, and ask it to use only those sources. A colleague should check the finished guide before you send it.
- What should be in a new starter FAQ?
- Cover the first day, working arrangements, pay and benefits, leave and sickness, equipment and IT, expenses, and who to contact. Include only procedures and information your organisation has confirmed.
- Can AI make up answers in an employee FAQ?
- Yes, especially when your source material leaves a gap or contains conflicting instructions. Tell it to flag unanswered questions and write a named contact instead of guessing, then compare every answer with the current source documents.
- Who should check a new starter FAQ?
- An HR or people colleague should approve answers about pay, leave, benefits, sickness and employment policies. Managers or system owners should also check team-specific procedures, equipment and access instructions.
Nearby answers
- Can AI create a role-specific onboarding plan?YES
- Can AI create an induction training schedule for a new employee?YES
- Can AI create an onboarding plan for a remote employee?YES
- Can AI create questions for a new employee's probation review?YES
- Can AI automate our employee onboarding workflow?PARTLY
- Can AI create a 30, 60 and 90-day onboarding plan?YES
Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.
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