Understand AI-powered search and ATS matching
Our system uses advanced AI to go beyond simple keyword searches, understanding the concepts and context within a job description and a candidate’s profile. Here’s how it works:- Automatic Analysis: When a job is created, the system analyzes the job description to understand the key requirements for the role, including skills, experience, location, and education.
- Smart Searching: It then searches your entire ATS candidate database to find profiles that are a strong fit. The AI looks for semantic similarities, meaning it can match “React developer” with “frontend engineer with React experience” and understand the relationship between different skills.
- Detailed Scoring: After finding potential candidates, an AI model evaluates each one against the specific job requirements. Each candidate receives a “Match Score” along with a detailed breakdown and reasoning for how they align with the job’s title, skills, experience, and location.
Supported ATS Integrations
Talent Match integrates with the following Applicant Tracking Systems:- Bullhorn
- JobDiva
- Salesforce
- Tracker RMS
- Greenhouse
Data Normalization
When you connect your ATS, candidate records and job postings are ingested. Our AI structures and normalizes this data into a unified format — regardless of how it’s stored in your ATS — to make your entire talent pool easily searchable. From Candidate Records:- Contact information and professional identity
- Location, relocation preferences, and remote work options
- Compensation expectations and work authorization
- Experience level, work history, and skills
- Education background and certifications
- Resume content and professional summary
- Job requirements and responsibilities
- Location and remote work policies
- Compensation ranges and benefits
- Required experience and education
- Must-have skills and nice-to-haves
Match Configuration Settings
You can fine-tune how the automatic Match feature works:- Location Radius: Set a default search radius (in miles) for location-based matching. If a job is marked as remote or has no location, this filter is not applied.
- Recency Filters: Filter candidates based on when their profile was last updated to prioritize recently active candidates.
- Status Rules: Define which candidate statuses to include or exclude, allowing you to filter out candidates who are already placed or unavailable.
- Title Matching: Choose between “strict” (exact job title) or “normal” (semantic match that understands similar titles).
- Requirement Filters: Configure which job requirements (years of experience, education level, salary expectations) are used as hard filters during matching.
Modes
Talent Match provides two powerful ways to find candidates: a precise match for a specific job and a general search for broader talent discovery. This flexibility allows you to either fill an immediate opening or build talent pipelines for future needs.General search vs. job-specific matching
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Job-Specific Matching
- This is the default mode, found on the Match tab of a specific job.
- It automatically finds and ranks candidates from your ATS who are the best fit for that particular role.
- You can refine the match at any time by editing the search criteria. This can be done through a visual editor or by providing simple, natural language instructions like, “Also include candidates from San Diego” or “Exclude candidates with less than 5 years of experience.”
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General Search
- This mode allows you to perform broad, exploratory searches across your entire candidate pool, independent of any single job.
- You can use natural language to define what you’re looking for, such as “senior backend engineers with Python and AWS experience in New York.”
- The system’s AI parses your query into structured criteria and finds the most relevant candidates in your ATS. This is ideal for building talent pipelines and understanding the talent you have available for future roles.
ATS Integration
Objects Created
When you take action on a matched candidate, the specific records created depend on your ATS:Automatic Field Updates
You can configure workflows to automatically update fields in your ATS at key milestones:- Invited: Update candidate or submission status, upload match score to a custom field, and add activity notes with match reasoning.
- Scheduled: Update submission status (e.g., “Interview Scheduled”) and add calendar events or notes.
- Completed: Update final status (e.g., “Interview Complete”), upload interview scores, and add completion notes with AI feedback.
Auto-Invitation
You can enable auto-invitations for matched candidates by defining a minimum and maximum match score range (e.g., 85-100). Candidates who fall within this range will be automatically invited to an interview. When a new job is created, the Match process runs. Any candidates who meet the score threshold are automatically added to the invitation queue.- Cooldown Period: To avoid contacting the same candidate too frequently, you can set a cooldown period (e.g., 24 hours). Candidates invited to any interview within this period will be skipped.
Limitations
Talent Match is designed to source candidates for open roles by creating new interviews and ATS submissions. The following actions are not supported:- Moving or re-linking an existing interview to a different job or requisition. Each interview in Alex is permanently tied to the job it was created for and cannot be transferred to another job.
- Re-pointing an existing ATS submission (e.g., a Bullhorn JobSubmission) to a different requisition. Alex only creates new ATS records through the invite flow; it does not edit or move existing submissions between jobs.
- Reusing a completed interview as a submission for a different job without inviting the candidate to that job. To consider a previously interviewed candidate for another role, invite them to the new role through Talent Match. This creates a new interview and ATS submission tied to the new job. If you need to submit a candidate to a different requisition without running a new interview, make that change directly in your ATS.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I search across multiple ATS instances? Talent Match works within a single ATS instance. If you have multiple instances, contact your Alex team about multi-instance support.
- How often is candidate data refreshed? Data refresh frequency is configured during setup based on your ATS and data volume. Typically, updates sync daily or in real-time depending on your plan.
- What if a candidate has an incomplete profile? The AI does its best to normalize and score candidates with incomplete data, but match scores may be lower. Missing key fields like location or experience can impact results.
- Can I customize match scoring weights? Match scoring is configured by the Alex team during setup. If you’d like to adjust how different factors are weighted, contact your account manager.
- Why don’t I see some candidates in results? Candidates may be excluded due to Do Not Contact flags, excluded statuses, falling outside the location radius, not meeting recency requirements, or failing minimum requirements.
- Can I move or re-link a candidate’s interview or ATS submission from one requisition to another? No. Each interview and the ATS submission it creates are tied to the specific job they were created for. Alex does not re-link, move, or re-assign existing interviews or submissions between jobs, and does not edit an existing JobSubmission to point at a different requisition. To consider a previously interviewed candidate for another role, invite them to the new role through Talent Match — this creates a new interview and a new ATS submission for that role. To create a submission on a different requisition without a new interview, do that directly in your ATS.