Tips & tricks for search

How Tahoe search works

You write a prompt, Tahoe parses it into filters, and you review those filters in the popup before the search runs. The first screen of matches comes back ranked, with the strongest fits first. You can edit any filter and run again — your edits are exactly what gets searched.

Two kinds of levers shape a search. Hard filters decide who is included or excluded — job title, country, US state, experience range, department, management level, company industry, and the yes/no toggles. Ranking levers only change the order — skills, keywords, and a city. Knowing which is which is the key to controlling your results.

Search finds people. It does not answer questions about people. Ask it for line cooks in Texas — not for how many line cooks are in Texas.

The filters you can use

These are the levers available in the filter popup, in plain terms. "Hard" filters include or exclude people; "Ranking" levers only reorder the results you already have.

A city sharpens the ranking; it does not fence the search in. To truly limit geography, name the country or the US state.

A few filters read from a fixed list of values, so it pays to use the names the platform recognises:

• Departments that match wellEngineering and Technical, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance & Accounting, Customer Service, Human Resources, Medical, Trades. For kitchen, restaurant, retail, nursing, or construction roles, lead with the job title instead of a department — those are carried far more reliably on the title than on the department tag.
• Management levels that match wellManager, Director, Senior, Specialist, Owner. If a level returns too little, drop it and rely on job title plus experience.
• Industries (use these exact names)Restaurants, Hospitality, Hospitals and Health Care, IT Services and IT Consulting, Software Development, Construction, Retail, Financial Services.

Anatomy of a strong prompt

A good prompt reads like a sentence you would say to a hiring manager. Name the role, then add only the constraints that truly matter.

1. Lead with the job titleUse the plain, common title — "line cook", "registered nurse", "account executive". Spell it out; avoid abbreviations and internal jargon.
2. Add a real geographic limitName a country or a US state to actually restrict the pool. A city only nudges the ranking.
3. Add one or two must-have skillsThese reorder results so the best fits surface first. Keep them few — every extra requirement shrinks the pool.
4. Set seniority only if it mattersUse a minimum experience in months, or a management level such as Manager or Director.
5. Review the popup, then runConfirm the parsed filters match your intent before searching. Your edits win.

One idea per requirement. "Senior line cooks who can also run a busy brunch service and do inventory" parses into far cleaner filters when written as "Line cooks in Texas with at least 3 years of experience."

Recipes: hospitality & food service

Kitchen, restaurant, hotel, and catering roles search best on the job title plus a real location, with the Restaurants or Hospitality industry added when you want to tighten the setting. Start simple and add constraints only if the pool is too large.

Line cooks in the United States

Servers in the United States

Bartenders in the United States

Baristas in the United States

Pastry chefs in the United States

Catering managers in the United States

Sous chefs in New York

Prep cooks in California

Restaurant managers in Texas with restaurant management experience

Executive chefs in the United States with fine dining experience in the restaurants industry

Kitchen managers in Florida with at least 3 years of experience in the restaurants industry

Hotel general managers in the United States in the hospitality industry at the manager level

Recipes: corporate & professional

Office and professional roles are well covered. Use the title, a location, and a skill or experience minimum to focus the pool.

Project managers in the United States

Executive assistants in the United States with calendar management experience

Operations managers in Illinois with at least 5 years of experience

Human resources managers in the United States with recruiting experience at the manager level

Recipes: engineering & technical

For technical roles, add the core technology as a skill to push the best matches to the top, and a seniority band when you need it.

Software engineers in the United States

Data scientists in California with Python experience

Backend engineers in the United States with Python experience at the senior level

Recipes: sales & marketing

Sales and marketing titles are common, so add a domain skill or a management level to find the right tier.

Account executives in the United States

Marketing managers in New York with at least 4 years of experience

Sales directors in the United States with SaaS experience at the director level

Recipes: finance & operations

Use the financial services industry and an experience minimum to separate seasoned candidates from early-career ones.

Accountants in the United States

Staff accountants in Texas with at least 2 years of experience

Financial analysts in the United States in the financial services industry with at least 3 years of experience

Recipes: healthcare & clinical

Healthcare searches the title strongly. To tighten the setting, add the "Hospitals and Health Care" industry rather than a department.

Registered nurses in the United States

Medical assistants in Texas

Registered nurses in California in the hospitals and health care industry with at least 2 years of experience

Recipes: skilled trades & field roles

Trade and field roles match cleanly on the job title. The Trades department works well as an extra constraint when a title is broad.

Electricians in the United States

Diesel mechanics in the United States

HVAC technicians in Texas

Welders in the United States in the trades department

Recipes: frontline, retail & logistics

High-volume frontline roles return large pools, so add a state, an industry, or a skill to focus them.

Warehouse associates in the United States

Truck drivers in the United States

Customer service representatives in the United States

Store managers in Florida in the retail industry

Forklift operators in the United States with warehouse experience

Using the General filters

The General tab carries the simple yes/no and range levers. They combine with any role family above.

Sales managers in the United States with at least 5 years of experience who are currently employed

General managers in the United States who are decision makers

Registered nurses in the United States with 2 to 10 years of experience

Fixing too few results

A small pool almost always means the hard filters are too tight. Relax them in this order — geography and experience first, then the title, then the optional tags.

Fixing too many results

A large pool is a good problem — there is plenty of talent to rank. The current filters do not support "NOT" or exclusions, so you narrow by adding the right positive constraints, not by removing people.

Fixing off-target results

If the right kind of person is not showing up, the cause is usually an ambiguous word or a missing limit. Work from the symptom.

Avoid analytical questions

Search retrieves people who match — it does not count, average, rank cities, or compare groups. Phrase every prompt as "find people who…".

• Don’t: "How many line cooks are in Texas?"Do: "Line cooks in Texas" — then read the result count on the screen.
• Don’t: "Average experience of nurses in California"Do: "Registered nurses in California with at least 2 years of experience".
• Don’t: "Which cities have the most welders?"Do: "Welders in the United States", then add a state to focus.
• Don’t: "Compare bartenders and servers"Do: run two searches — "Bartenders in the United States" and "Servers in the United States".

A quick checklist

• Named the job title in plain, common words?
• Set a country or US state for a real geographic limit (not just a city)?
• Added one or two must-have skills as keywords?
• Set a minimum experience in months if seniority matters?
• Reviewed the parsed filters in the popup before running?
• Kept it to "find people who…" — no counts, averages, or comparisons?