Smarter Search Is Here: Introducing AI People Search
Finding the right candidate often comes down to finding the right words. But what happens when great candidates describe their experience differently than the terms you’re searching for?
Matthew Deutsch
That’s the challenge AI People Search is designed to solve.
This month, TE Recruit is introducing AI People Search, a major enhancement to candidate search that uses artificial intelligence to understand the meaning behind your search and not just the exact words you type.
(TE Recruit, of course, is Top Echelon’s top-rated, all-in-one ATS and CRM for growing recruiting agencies. If you’re not using TE Recruit to streamline your recruiting process and save time, then you should strongly consider doing so. All the cool recruiters are doing it.)
Search Beyond Keywords
Traditional keyword and Boolean searches rely heavily on exact matches. While effective, they can sometimes miss strong candidates whose skills, experience, or job titles are described using different terminology.
AI People Search takes a different approach. Using semantic search technology, it understands concepts and context, allowing TE Recruit to identify candidates who are relevant even when their profiles don’t contain the precise keywords you entered.
Traditional keyword and Boolean searches rely heavily on exact matches. While effective, they can sometimes miss strong candidates whose skills, experience, or job titles are described using different terminology.
AI People Search takes a different approach. Using semantic search technology, it understands concepts and context, allowing TE Recruit to identify candidates who are relevant even when their profiles don’t contain the precise keywords you entered.
One key thing to keep in mind is that AI People Search is designed to complement, not replace, traditional keyword and Boolean searching. Recruiters can continue using Boolean search when they want precise control over search criteria, while AI People Search offers an alternative approach that helps uncover relevant candidates based on meaning and context. Together, they provide recruiters with greater flexibility in how they search for talent.
For TE Recruit users, that means less time refining search strings and more time engaging with qualified talent.
Better Results, Better Ranking
AI People Search expands what you find, but it also improves how results are prioritized.
By evaluating semantic relevance, the platform can surface stronger matches higher in search results, helping TE Recruit users identify top candidates more quickly. Instead of relying solely on exact keyword matches, search results are based based on how closely a candidate’s experience aligns with the meaning of your search.
The result is a more intelligent search experience that helps uncover talent that may have otherwise been overlooked.
Real-World Examples
Imagine searching for candidates with experience in pipeline generation. Traditional search may only return profiles containing that exact phrase. AI People Search can also identify candidates with relevant experience in areas such as lead generation, prospecting, or demand generation.
Similarly, a search for data visualization may surface professionals with experience building dashboards, reporting systems, or using tools like Tableau and Power BI.
The same applies to position titles. A search for Account Executive may reveal candidates whose titles include Sales Representative or Business Development Manager. Searching for Customer Success Manager could uncover qualified professionals with titles such as Client Success Manager, Account Manager, or Customer Experience Manager.
How This Overcomes Challenges
Recruiting teams face an increasingly complex talent landscape where skills, responsibilities, and job titles vary significantly across organizations and industries.
AI People Search helps address several common challenges:
- Reduces missed candidates caused by exact keyword dependency
- Recognizes relevant experience across different terminology and role descriptions
- Improves the order of results by emphasizing semantic relevance
- Minimizes the need for complex Boolean searches and repeated query refinements
- Accelerates candidate discovery and recruiter productivity
What’s Next
AI People Search is the first of several AI-powered search enhancements planned for TE Recruit this year.
As part of our broader AI Search strategy, this release focuses on helping recruiters find candidates based on meaning and relevance. Future enhancements will continue expanding how recruiters search, discover, and match talent more effectively.
Looking ahead, we plan to continue expanding our AI Search capabilities in ways that make candidate discovery even more intuitive and effective.
One area of focus is Natural Language Search, which will allow recruiters to describe what they’re looking for in plain language. Rather than building a complex search query, recruiters will be able to communicate their intent, and the system will help translate that request into an advanced people search.
We’re also exploring additional matching and scoring capabilities designed to help surface the best-fit candidates for a job. By evaluating relevance and fit across multiple factors, these capabilities have the potential to help recruiters prioritize results and make faster, more informed decisions.
As these AI-powered capabilities continue to evolve, our goal remains the same: helping recruiters spend less time searching and more time connecting with the right people.
In the meantime, with AI People Search, finding great candidates becomes less about guessing the right keywords and more about discovering the right people.
And discovering the right people is how you make more placements!