TE Recruit’s AI-Powered Natural Language Search

Recruiters usually know exactly what they’re looking for in a candidate. The challenge can be translating that idea into the right combination of search fields, filters, and criteria.

Matthew Deutsch

The Professional Tier of TE Recruit now makes that process easier with Natural Language Search, a new AI-powered capability designed to help recruiters build searches faster and more intuitively.

Natural Language Search allows recruiters to describe what they are looking for using everyday language in a single text field. TE Recruit then uses AI to interpret the request and translate it into structured Advanced Search criteria.

The result is a faster path from knowing the type of candidate you want to actually finding that candidate in your database.

Describe What You Want and Let AI Build the Search

Traditionally, searching a recruiting database requires recruiters to think in terms of fields and filters. You might know that you need a software engineering manager in Chicago, for example, but you still have to determine which search criteria will produce the right results.

Natural Language Search changes the starting point. Instead of beginning with fields and filters, you can begin with what you already know: the type of person you want to find.

For example, you could enter:

“Show me candidates in Washington, D.C. with 5+ years of Software Development experience.”

Natural Language Search interprets the request, identifies the important information, maps those details to available search fields, and creates an Advanced Search based on your intent. That can eliminate some of the trial and error involved in figuring out which criteria to select and how to structure a search.

And Natural Language Search is not limited to finding candidates with certain job titles or skills. Recruiters can use plain-language requests for a variety of search needs, including:

• “All records modified in the last week.”
• “I’d like to find all candidates willing to relocate.”
• “Locate all candidates added after May 6, 2026.”
• “Find Software Engineering Managers within 50 miles of Chicago.”
• “I’m looking for a software developer in the Akron, Ohio area with at least 2 years experience who went to Ohio State University.”

You provide the recruiting objective. TE Recruit helps translate it into a search.

A Faster Starting Point for Advanced Search

Advanced Search provides recruiters with powerful tools for finding people and information within their database. However, that power also means there can be numerous fields, filters, and criteria available.

For experienced users, creating a detailed Advanced Search may already be second nature. For other recruiters, determining exactly which fields and filters to use can take additional time.

Natural Language Search is designed to reduce that barrier.

Recruiters may know what they want, but not necessarily know how to translate that need into the available search criteria. Instead of requiring users to understand every available search field before they begin, Natural Language Search gives them an easier entry point.

That can be especially useful when you’re trying to build an unfamiliar search, create a list based upon specific criteria, or simply get results quickly without constructing everything manually.

The benefit is not that AI is taking control of the search process. Rather, AI is helping recruiters get to a usable starting point more quickly.

Natural Language Search Does Not Replace Advanced Search

An important distinction is that Natural Language Search is not a chatbot, nor is it designed to replace TE Recruit’s existing Advanced Search functionality. Think of it as another way to build an Advanced Search.

Once Natural Language Search interprets your request and creates the search criteria, you remain in control. You can review the resulting criteria and continue editing and refining the search just as you would with a standard or Advanced Search today. That combination provides both convenience and flexibility.

You can start with plain language when that’s the fastest approach, then use TE Recruit’s existing search functionality to make the search more precise. For example, you might begin by asking TE Recruit to find software engineering managers within 50 miles of Chicago. Once those criteria have been created, you can adjust or add criteria to narrow the results based upon the requirements of your search assignment.

Natural Language Search gets you started. Advanced Search lets you take it from there.

Spend Less Time Building Searches From Scratch

For agency recruiters, time matters. Every minute spent figuring out how to construct a search is a minute that could potentially be spent identifying candidates, making calls, communicating with clients, and working toward placements. Natural Language Search is designed to reduce some of that manual setup.

Instead of selecting every field and filter from scratch, recruiters can explain what they need in much the same way they might explain it to another person. This can provide several advantages, which I’ve listed below.

• Easier search creation: Describe what you need using normal, everyday language.
• A faster starting point: Move from an idea to usable search criteria more quickly.
• Less manual setup: Reduce the need to select every field and filter individually at the beginning of a search.
• More accessible Advanced Search: Take advantage of structured search capabilities without needing to know every available field upfront.
• Greater flexibility: Review, edit, and refine the AI-generated criteria after the search has been created.

The feature can also help recruiters experiment with searches they might not otherwise know how to construct. If you know the outcome you want, you can describe it and see how TE Recruit translates that request into search criteria.

Over time, that may even help users become more familiar with the possibilities available through Advanced Search.

Putting AI to Work in the Recruiting Workflow

Artificial intelligence is most valuable to recruiters when it helps them work more efficiently while allowing them to remain in control of important decisions. Natural Language Search follows that approach.

The recruiter still determines who they want to find, they still review the results, and they still modify the criteria. Ultimately, the recruiter decides which candidates deserve further consideration. AI simply helps shorten the distance between the initial idea and the search itself.

That’s particularly important in agency recruiting, where speed can create a competitive advantage. When a client gives you a new search assignment, being able to quickly identify potential candidates in your existing database can help you start outreach sooner.

It also helps recruiters get more value from the information they’ve already accumulated in TE Recruit. Your database can contain years of candidate records, professional histories, notes, locations, education, and other information. Finding the right people within that data depends on being able to search it effectively.

Natural Language Search provides another way to unlock that information.

Start Searching With Natural Language

Natural Language Search is now available in the Professional Tier of TE Recruit, adding another AI-powered capability to recruiters’ workflows.

The concept is simple: tell TE Recruit what you’re looking for in plain language and let AI help create the Advanced Search criteria.

There is no need to know every field or filter before you begin, and there is no requirement to accept the initial search exactly as it was created. Natural Language Search provides the starting point, while you retain the ability to refine the criteria and determine where the search goes next.

The next time you’re searching your database and know exactly who or what you want to find, try describing it.

You know what you’re looking for. Now TE Recruit can help you turn that idea into a search more quickly.