How MeesterBaan saves 8 hours a week
Watermelon’s AI Agent Sanne answers job seekers’ questions 24/7, saving the team eight hours a week.
MeesterBaan has been the leading job board for the education sector since 1999 and ranks among the five largest job boards in the Netherlands. With just four employees, the team often struggled to keep up with recurring questions from job seekers.
By introducing Sanne, an AI agent built with Watermelon, MeesterBaan made it easier for candidates to get answers while reducing the time its team spends on routine inquiries. The company estimates that it now saves eight hours a week—the equivalent of a full working day.
A small team with a steady stream of questions
MeesterBaan works directly with schools and takes pride in its personal service. But providing the same level of attention to every job seeker was becoming difficult.
During busy spring periods, the small team received 20 to 30 emails a day from candidates asking about vacancies, applications, and careers in education. Questions also came in by phone, with some calls lasting up to half an hour. On busy days, answering candidate inquiries took around two hours of the team’s time.
Many of these questions covered the same topics. MeesterBaan wanted to give candidates faster answers without hiring additional staff.
100%
resolved automatically
8
hours saved per week
24/7
answers to all candidates
A solution the team could manage itself
MeesterBaan explored several AI providers, including large international chatbot platforms. Some offered more functionality than the team needed, at a higher cost.
Watermelon stood out for its personal support and the ability to build and manage an AI agent themselves. Rather than committing immediately, MeesterBaan started with a practical test.
Sanne soon proved useful in answering recurring questions. The team noticed fewer candidate emails and less time spent responding to routine inquiries, giving them the confidence to continue.
Easy to set up and refine
To get Sanne started, MeesterBaan added content from its website alongside supplementary documents about working in education. This gave the agent information to draw on when answering questions about vacancies, courses, and career opportunities. The team also adapted the chat widget to match MeesterBaan’s branding.
As conversations came in, the team refined Sanne’s responses. When an answer needed improvement, they could update the agent’s instructions directly. MeesterBaan now uses dozens of instructions to guide its answers.
Less time on routine inquiries
MeesterBaan reports a noticeable reduction in both email and phone inquiries from candidates.
During busy periods, the team previously received 20 to 30 candidate emails a day; it now reports receiving no more than five to ten. On busy days, time spent answering candidate questions has fallen from around two hours to approximately 15 minutes.
Based on the reduction in email and phone work, MeesterBaan estimates that Sanne saves the team eight hours a week.
Sanne handles approximately 110 chats a month, all through automated conversations. Candidates can ask about applications, vacancies, and working in education, including in languages other than Dutch.
“It did exactly what we were looking for. We never hesitated to switch.“
Ian den Besten, Marketing, Data & Account Management
Answers beyond office hours
Nearly half of Sanne’s conversations take place outside office hours. Job seekers browsing vacancies in the evening or at the weekend can get answers immediately, without waiting for the team to return.
For MeesterBaan, that means more time for personal contact with schools while continuing to support candidates throughout their job search.
The team also sees opportunities to develop Sanne further. Its ambition is to turn the agent into a digital career advisor that helps candidates explore suitable vacancies and make career choices.
For now, the value is practical: faster access to information for job seekers and fewer routine questions for a small, busy team.
