How does candidate matching work?

Indeed’s candidate matching technology helps you get more quality candidates quickly. Instead of waiting for applications to roll in, this feature allows you to connect with candidates before they even apply for your job. How does it work? When you subscribe to Indeed Smart Sourcing, our matching technology automatically searches through the millions of CVs on Indeed to find candidates who match your job requirements. When you see a candidate you’re interested in, send them a personalised invitation to connect.

When you subscribe to Indeed Smart Sourcing, you can invite matched candidates to apply as soon as you post a job or any time thereafter from your Employer Dashboard.

Benefits of Indeed’s matching technology

One of the most significant obstacles employers face when recruiting people is attracting candidates who have the right qualifications, skills and experience. Indeed’s matching technology helps employers like you connect with quality candidates and hire quickly.

Here’s how our matching and hiring platform can improve your recruitment process:

• Find more quality candidates: we make it easy to find the right candidates. Our matching technology automatically searches through the 330M+ CVs on Indeed to find matches that fit your job criteria. 
• Connect and hire faster: when you subscribe to Indeed Smart Sourcing, you can quickly invite matched candidates to apply immediately after you post your job instead of waiting for them to find you. 
• Stand out to quality jobseekers: when you invite matched candidates to apply, you can send them a personalised email with your job information. Contacting candidates directly shows them you’ve noticed them and helps you create a positive candidate experience. This encourages them to apply. In fact, matched candidates you invite to apply are 24.8 times more likely to apply to your job than jobseekers who only see it in search results[2]
• Identify candidates who meet your job criteria up front: rather than waiting to see who applies and going through a large pool of applicants, you get immediate access to quality candidates who match your job requirements, and you can invite them to apply straight away. 

How Indeed’s matching technology works

Our recruitment and matching platform is quick and easy to use. Here’s how it works:

1. Share your job details

First, spend some time setting your criteria for quality candidates. This information is used to present your matched candidates, so make sure it’s accurate and complete. Write an informative job description, and consider including Screener Questions.

Indeed provides a number of pre-made Screener Questions to choose from based on your job title. You can also customise questions based on your specific requirements, such as licences, certifications or years of experience. Then mark any must-haves. This tells Indeed what you need from applicants to help you match with quality candidates.

Once you have all your job details together and you post your job, unlock our matching technology by subscribing to Indeed Smart Sourcing.

2. See matched candidates

View the list of candidates whose CVs on Indeed match your job requirements. If you don’t have time to review and invite your matched candidates straight away, that’s no problem. You can review your most recently matched candidates by going to ‘Match candidates by job’ under the ‘Find candidates’ tab in Smart Sourcing and invite them to apply at any time.

3. Invite candidates to connect

Click the ‘Message’ button next to the candidates you’re interested in. We’ll send these candidates a customisable email with your job information and a link to the job description.

When a matched candidate you invite confirms their interest, you’ll be notified and the candidate will appear in the ‘Projects’ tab. Matched candidates who replied to your message after receiving your invitation will appear under ‘New responses’.

4. Schedule interviews

Review your matched candidates and schedule interviews to learn more about their skills and experience. Note that you are under no obligation to interview or hire any invited matched candidate.

Tips for making the most of candidate matching

Here are some tips for successfully matching with quality candidates:

Optimise your job description to get great matches

Since our matching technology uses your job description to find matched candidates, make sure your job description accurately and completely describes who you’re looking for. Consider adding Screener Questions and marking any must-have criteria to help us present you with better matches.

It can also help to think like a jobseeker when creating your job posts so you don’t leave out any important details. Additionally, here are some quick tips for writing effective job titles and descriptions on Indeed.

Customise your invitations

Your invitation messages are important because they can influence a candidate’s decision whether or not to apply for your job and form their first impression of your company. You can quickly create customised contact templates and generate AI-powered messages based on the candidate‘s CV and your job description. 

Here’s an example of what a personalised invitation can look like:

Hi [Candidate name],

I have a [specific position] open that I think you would be a good fit for! There’s a brief overview and job description below. Please let me know if you are interested.

Job details

[Link to full job description]
[Specific details about the job, including job type and location]

Kind regards,

[Recruiter name]

[Company name]

Be intentional about whom you invite to apply

We recommend thoughtfully inviting candidates to apply based on their skills, experience and qualifications, instead of inviting all matched candidates to apply. By only inviting the candidates you think could truly be a good fit for your role, you improve your chances of finding the right person for the job while maintaining a great candidate experience.

FAQs about matched candidates

Where do the matched candidates come from?

We use the information you share as part of your job requirements to search through the millions of CVs on Indeed in order to show you a shortlist of candidates who match based on information collected from the jobseekers, such as their skills, experience and preferences and your job criteria.

How much does it cost to use the candidate matching technology?

The ability to access quality, matched candidates is one of many features you unlock when you subscribe to Indeed Smart Sourcing. Indeed Smart Sourcing streamlines the recruitment process by matching quality candidates to your job, offering faster candidate connections in one cohesive experience. For more about what’s included with Smart Sourcing subscriptions, take a look at our page.

Where will I see matched candidates?

When you subscribe to Indeed Smart Sourcing, you’ll initially see matched candidates directly after you post your job. After that, you can find these candidates in the ‘Find candidates’ tab under ‘Match candidates by job’.

When can I invite candidates to apply?

After you subscribe to Indeed Smart Sourcing, you can invite matched candidates to apply right when you post your job and any time thereafter.

Can I customise the invitation message to my matched candidates?

Yes. You can choose to send a jobseeker a pre-written, personalised message and create customised contact templates and generate AI-powered messages based on the candidate’s CV and your job description.

What if none of my matched candidates are qualified?

We use the job criteria listed in your posting to find your matched candidates. If you’re not getting quality matches, it may help to review and tweak the job posting. This article includes helpful tips on improving your job descriptions.

What candidate details can I see? Can I see the whole CV?

You may see the candidate’s recent experience or their full CV by clicking on their name. If you’re interested in a candidate, we recommend inviting them to apply. You can review their full qualifications after they apply, and there’s no obligation to hire them if you find a candidate who’s a better fit.

Here are some tips for reviewing applicant’s CVs to help you identify your top picks.

_________________________________________________________________________

1 Indeed data (worldwide), March 2025

2 Indeed data (UK), Q1 2025