  One key challenge in talent search is how to translate complex criteria of a
hiring position into a search query. This typically requires deep knowledge on
which skills are typically needed for the position, what are their
alternatives, which companies are likely to have such candidates, etc. However,
listing examples of suitable candidates for a given position is a relatively
easy job. Therefore, in order to help searchers overcome this challenge, we
design a next generation of talent search paradigm at LinkedIn: Search by Ideal
Candidates. This new system only needs the searcher to input one or several
examples of suitable candidates for the position. The system will generate a
query based on the input candidates and then retrieve and rank results based on
the query as well as the input candidates. The query is also shown to the
searcher to make the system transparent and to allow the searcher to interact
with it. As the searcher modifies the initial query and makes it deviate from
the ideal candidates, the search ranking function dynamically adjusts an
refreshes the ranking results balancing between the roles of query and ideal
candidates. As of writing this paper, the new system is being launched to our
customers.
