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How to search candidates on OfferZen

Optimise your searches to find your best matches on OfferZen

Robyn Luyt avatar
Written by Robyn Luyt
Updated over 2 weeks ago

The search filters when searching for candidates are split into two sections:

Standard and Advanced

Standard filters are the basic filters you need to find strong matches quickly and include:

  • Roles

  • Skills

  • Overall experience

  • Remote policy and location

  • Salary

Advanced filters are regarded as “niche filters” that are useful for tweaking your search based on specific role requirements. They ensure you can refine your search without overlooking great matches. They include:

  • Candidate location

  • Work authorisation

  • Keywords
    ​


Setting up your standard search criteria

Search by 'Roles'

Use the primary areas of work to find and select the roles that are relevant to your hiring needs. You can find the complete list of roles we support here.

Your results will include candidates that match any of the roles you specify.

Search by 'Skills'

Search for candidates according to your ‘must-have’ and ‘nice-to-have’ skills. Skills include languages, databases, frameworks, tools, processes and methodologies.

Candidates will only be included in the results if they match at least 1 of the ‘must-have’ skills. We recommend limiting your ‘must have’ skills to a maximum of 3 to avoid hyper-specific searches that may limit your results.

Candidates matching ‘nice-to-have’ skills will appear higher on the list.

Search by 'Overall experience'

Set your experience range based on the overall years of work experience you would like the candidate to have. Your Account Manager can help you determine an appropriate range for your needs.

Candidates will be included as “partial matches” if they are close to the specified range. Who knows, maybe the perfect candidate has only slightly less experience than what you think you need.

Search by 'Remote policy and location'

Search for candidates according to where they would like to work and their preferred remote policy.

Select your company’s remote policy, then cities in which you’re looking to hire candidates for that policy. Typically this will be the location of the office that you need employees to work from.

When you select 100% remote, we assume it doesn’t matter where the candidate is located, so you won’t be able to specify a location. If you need candidates to be located in a specific location (for tax or other reasons), use the Candidate location filter in the advanced section.

Search by 'Salary'

Set a salary range that best matches your budget. Your Account Manager can also help you benchmark competitive salaries for the roles you’re hiring for.

Candidates that are close to, but outside your range will be included in your results as “partial matches”.


Setting up Advanced search criteria

Search by 'Located in'

Search for candidates according to where they are based.

In some scenarios, you might need candidates to be located in a specific area. For example, search for candidates within:

  • A specific country if you work remotely, but want to fly them in twice a year for planning sessions or functions.

  • A specific province or city if you’re looking for candidates to work in a hybrid or in office setup, but you can’t relocate them

Search by 'Work authorisation'

Search for candidates based on their citizenship or work authorisation. Choose which countries and work authorisation statuses you’re looking for.

For example, if you're looking for candidates who are authorised to work in the EU, you could search for citizens, permanent residents, and work permit holders across all EU countries.

Search by 'Keywords'

The keyword search looks for matching terms across the entire candidate profile, including the skills in candidates' work experience entries.

The keyword search will include only candidates that match any of the keywords you enter.

Note: The keyword filter uses exact phrasing and is not case-sensitive.

Tip: You can use this to search for anything. Many of our customers use it to search for candidates:

  • By name

  • That have worked at a particular company

  • With a specific degree or with qualifications from a particular institution

  • That are available immediately

  • Unique skills that are not available in the skills filter


Further filtering & sorting the candidate list

Filtering by new this week

Select the 'New candidates only' filter to focus on the newest candidates on the platform each week.

Sorting the list

You can sort the list using the following options to make it easier for you to find the right candidate:

  • Relevance

  • Salary (high to low)

  • Salary (low to high)

  • Experience (most to least)

  • Experience (least to most)

By default, the sort is set to 'Relevance' ensuring that candidates who best match your search criteria are at the top of the list.

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