This guide explains how to extract criteria from the job description, adjust mandatory, preferred, and neutral requirements, and prepare the role so candidates can be evaluated consistently against the needs of the position.

In this video, you’ll learn how to define the evaluation criteria, and customize candidate insights before starting the analysis.

Remember that you requirements will be analyzed against the information in both the Resume and the Application Questions.

How to Define Requirements and Candidate Insights

This guide will show you how to search jobs from your ATS.

This tutorial is designed for ATS users and provides a step-by-step guide on searching jobs from the ATS in Brainner.

How to search Jobs from the ATS: Step-by-Step Guide

, the process starts with the Job Posting.

*Note: Under 'Evaluating Jobs' you will only find jobs that are currently importing candidates automatically. If a job is not receiving candidates automatically, you will find them by clicking 'Search jobs'.

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3. Enter the name of the job you are looking.

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5. You will be redirected to the “Details” tab of the job in Brainner, where you will find the job description for that role.

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6. If you have already worked on this job before, you will find the information you previously added. If you are starting with this job now, go to the 

 tab and customize the criteria by clicking 

For a complete step by step guide, please refer to the following tutorial video: 

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If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our team at 

Search Job from your ATS

This tutorial provides best practices for defining effective resume screening criteria using Brainner’s AI-powered tool. By following these guidelines, recruiters can enhance the accuracy, efficiency, and fairness of their candidate evaluations, ensuring that top talent is identified quickly and objectively.

Defining resume screening criteria in Brainner is a crucial part of the process, as our AI will follow your instructions precisely to evaluate candidates' resumes based on the specified requirements.

Our AI can perform semantic searches, meaning it understands context, synonyms, and jargon. Unlike typical keyword matching, you don't need to be overly specific with every word, but you do need to be accurate in explaining, detailing, and quantifying what you truly need from candidates.

 1. When in doubt, include the requirement anyway.

If you're unsure whether a requirement should be part of the screening, add it as a neutral criterion. Neutral criteria don't impact the candidate's score, but they give you the flexibility to filter, sort, or analyze candidates by that requirement later when navigating the results.

This way, you avoid losing relevant information up front and keep the option open to use the criterion later if needed, without having to re-evaluate candidates.

🔍 2. The more specific the criteria, the more accurate the results.

"Experience working at Google" – The criteria will be met if the candidate has worked at Google.

"Experience working at companies like Google" – The criteria will be met if the candidate has worked at companies similar to Google, but this is still somewhat vague, and the analysis may be subjective.

"Experience working at global tech companies like Google with operations in the USA" – This is a more specific criterion that allows our AI model to conduct an objective analysis.

"5+ years of experience as a Purchasing Manager in the retail industry" – This is a clear and specific criterion. Our AI model will award the full score only if the candidate meets all aspects of the criterion. If only some are met, the score will be reduced to half.

You can also choose to break this down into two separate criteria with different weights:

"5+ years of experience as a Purchasing Manager" – Full score if the candidate meets all conditions; a partial score if, for example, they have only 2 years of experience.

"Experience in the retail industry" – Full score if the candidate has worked in the retail industry, even if not as a Purchasing Manager.

❓ 3. Write criteria that answer the question: "What requirement should the candidate meet?"

"5+ years of experience with TypeScript" (Correct)

🔤 4. Write clear criteria, avoiding abbreviations.

"Holds a degree in Business Computer Science" (Correct)

✅ 5. Quantify work experience and skills.

AI works best with clarity. Instead of saying "strong experience," define what that means (e.g., "3+ years using Python", "managed teams of 5+"). When you quantify, Brainner can score resumes more accurately and surface the best matches faster.

"Experience as a Back-End Developer" – This could result in a full score for just 1 year of experience (Not specific).

"5+ years of experience as a Back-End Developer" – Full score only if the candidate meets the 5-year requirement. Partial score if they meet the experience but not the years (Correct).

"Experience with Python" – Full score could be awarded even if the experience was 10 years ago (Not specific).

"Experience with Python in the last 2 jobs" (Correct)

"2 years of experience with SAP" (Incorrect. It might imply that the candidate should have only 2 years of experience)

"2 or more years of experience with SAP" (Correct)

🧩 6. Break down complex criteria into separate signals.

When a requirement combines multiple signals, split it into individual criteria. This improves filtering, lets you navigate the candidate pool by each signal, and avoids penalizing strong candidates who only meet some of the requirements.

Instead of: "Experience in AI and product management, preferably in B2B SaaS", use three separate criteria:

Breaking criteria down keeps recruiters in control of the AI, not the other way around.

🔄 7. Use Boolean strings (AND, OR, NOT) for skills or work experience criteria.

Hiring managers often say things like "We want React OR Angular experience" or "They need to know SQL AND Python AND AWS." Defining the right logic ensures candidates are scored correctly and avoids penalizing strong profiles unfairly.

When the candidate must meet all skills requirements:

"5+ years of experience with Adobe Premiere AND Adobe Illustrator AND Adobe Photoshop."

When the candidate must meet at least one of the skills requirements:

"Experience with Adobe Premiere OR Final Cut Pro in the last two positions."

When you want to exclude specific experiences:

"Experience in sales BUT NOT as a Customer Success Representative."

📍 8. Always include location as a criterion.

Whether the role is remote, hybrid, or in-office, location should always be one of the criteria. Brainner uses this signal to:

-Help detect fake applicants (mismatched location data feeds Identity Check).

-Align candidate filtering with your remote/in-office policy.

Option A: Include location in the candidate profile information to filter candidates without affecting the scoring.

Option B: Include location as a criterion. In this case, location will impact the final score.

If you're looking for candidates from different locations or regions, use OR logic:

"Must be based in California OR New York OR Miami."

"Must be based in South America OR Central America."

🎯 9. Add target companies and criteria not listed in the job description.

Hiring managers often have implicit preferences that don't make it into the formal job description, such as target companies, industries, or specific tools. Adding these as criteria sharpens the analysis without making them mandatory, and lets you filter candidates by those signals later.

If a hiring manager says, "I love people coming from Stripe, Revolut, or Adyen," add those companies to your target list:

"Previous experience at Stripe OR Revolut OR Adyen."

"2+ years of experience at McDonald's, Burger King, or KFC."

Criteria Definition Best Practices

By following these three steps—searching your job, customizing criteria, and shortlisting candidates—you can start using Brainner immediately and focus on reviewing the candidates that matter most.

Getting Started with Brainner: A Step-by-Step Guide

This guide explains how to add new members to your team in Brainner. It outlines the steps to log in, navigate to the Members tab in Settings, and invite new members by entering their name and email.

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How to add New Members to my Team

In this guide you will know how to fully configure your Workable integration with Brainner.

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Setting up the Workable integration

In this guide you will know how to fully configure your Recruitee integration with Brainner.

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Setting up the Recruitee integration

In this guide you will know how to fully configure your Lever integration with Brainner.

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Setting up the Lever integration

In this guide you will know how to fully configure your Greenhouse integration with Brainner.

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1) Job Search & Requirements Definition

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