Find candidates you'll never find with keyword search strings

An open role is still just a few clicks away from being filled, but for many teams, the biggest challenge is knowing which candidates already in your system deserve a second look. Candidate keyword search — when done right — can broaden your talent pool beyond what a typical Boolean string would surface.

The limits of keyword-only search

Traditional keyword searching on resumes and profiles is narrow by design. It rewards candidates who know to use the exact terminology that shows up in job descriptions, and it misses everyone who describes their experience differently. The result: a filtered pool that reflects vocabulary patterns, not talent.

Attribute-based search: a better approach

Attribute-based candidate search goes deeper. Instead of matching on surface-level keywords, it uses AI to understand what a candidate has actually accomplished, what kinds of organizations they’ve worked in, and what their trajectory suggests about their future potential.

For example, rather than searching for “recruiter with ATS experience,” an attribute-based search might surface candidates who have hired at scale, worked through periods of rapid growth, or have built recruiting programs from scratch — qualities that are often more predictive of success than resume keywords.

Practical tips for smarter candidate search

• Start with the outcome you need, not just the job title
• Think about adjacent experience that transfers to this role
• Look for patterns in career trajectory, not just current title
• Include diversity-expanding criteria to broaden your pool intentionally

The right search approach surfaces candidates you’d otherwise miss, and surfaces them faster. That’s the difference between filling a role in 30 days and filling it in 90.