Not seeing results? Optimization checklist
Not getting the results you expected? Here’s the one thing to remember: the data is there. With 850M+ profiles, the candidates you want almost certainly exist. Empty or weak results are nearly always about how you’re asking, not whether the people are in the database. This checklist walks the extraction, in order.
PUBLIC · Optimization checklist
1. Start with the prompt. Better input, better output.
Section titled “1. Start with the prompt. Better input, better output.”Most weak searches start with a weak prompt. Before touching anything else, read your prompt the way the system will.
- Is it specific, or is it vague and open to interpretation? “Senior dev in Belgium” leaves too much room. “Senior backend developer, Python and Django, fintech, Antwerp area, fluent Dutch” gives the system something real to work with.
- Is it susceptible to assumptions? If a human could read it two ways, the system can too, and you’ll get results that drift from what you meant.
- Break it down. List what you actually need: role, skills, location, language, industry, seniority. If a must-have isn’t in the prompt, the results can’t reflect it.
Fix the prompt first. Everything downstream is built on it.
2. Double-check the auto-filled filters
Section titled “2. Double-check the auto-filled filters”From your prompt, the system fills the filters automatically. Read them.
- Job titles. Decide what you actually want. Are you looking for people currently holding that title? If so, tell the system that explicitly in your search, rather than assuming it will infer it. A search that treats current and past titles the same returns a very different pool than one scoped to current roles.
- Location. The radius is yours to play with. Widen it for more reach, tighten it for precision. This is the single fastest lever on result count.
- Industry, seniority, language. Confirm each one matches your intent. A wrong industry tag quietly removes good candidates.
3. Handle skills carefully (and lean on keywords)
Section titled “3. Handle skills carefully (and lean on keywords)”Skills are tricky because they’re matched against the structured skill data on a profile. If a candidate has the skill but it isn’t listed as structured data on their profile, a skills filter can miss them entirely.
When that happens, keywords are a strong alternative. A keyword search looks across the profile text, not just the structured skills field, so it catches skills mentioned in a job description, summary, or project that the skills filter would skip.
4. For niche, specific searches, reach for Boolean
Section titled “4. For niche, specific searches, reach for Boolean”When you’re hunting something rare and precise, a Boolean keyword query gives you control the standard filters can’t. Combine must-haves, exclude noise, and match exact phrases. See Boolean search syntax and operators.
5. Let the AI Co-pilot handle what filters can’t
Section titled “5. Let the AI Co-pilot handle what filters can’t”Some criteria aren’t really search problems, they’re screening problems, and the Co-pilot does them better.
Things like “at least 5 years in a consultancy firm,” “managed a team in their current company,” or “worked in fintech specifically, not just finance” are hard to express as a filter and easy to ask the Co-pilot once candidates are in a project. Search broad, then let the Co-pilot do the precise qualifying. See The AI Co-pilot explained.
6. Use AI suggestions to surface hidden A-tier candidates
Section titled “6. Use AI suggestions to surface hidden A-tier candidates”Don’t stop at the job titles, skills, and industries you thought of. The AI suggestions expand your search with adjacent titles, related skills, and neighbouring industries you might not have considered. This is often where the strongest, least-contacted candidates hide, the A-tier profiles your competitors miss because they only searched the obvious terms.
Accept the suggestions, see who shows up, and refine from there.
Still stuck?
Section titled “Still stuck?”If you’ve sharpened the prompt, checked the filters, swapped skills for keywords, tried Boolean for the niche cases, handed the precise criteria to the Co-pilot, and accepted the AI suggestions, and the profiles genuinely aren’t surfacing, contact Wiggli support with your exact search. The team can check coverage for that profile type and region.
Related articles
Section titled “Related articles”Still stuck?
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