What do other staffing agencies use to search and rediscover candidates in their database?

Most staffing agencies with an established ATS or CRM first rely on that system's native search tools. Once those tools are no longer sufficient, they connect a dedicated rediscovery tool through the same platform's API. For example, Bullhorn users often start with Advanced Search, Fast Find, and redeployment search before adding automated rediscovery.

Native ATS search tools work well for simple lookups. However, they struggle when a database grows beyond a few thousand candidates or includes years of accumulated history. Bullhorn's built-in tools, for instance, require recruiters to manually trigger every search. They also do not score candidates based on a job order's specific requirements or automatically scan the entire database when a new order comes in.

Agencies that outgrow native search usually connect a dedicated tool through their existing platform's API instead of replacing their ATS entirely. A tool like Skima AI integrates with staffing platforms such as Bullhorn, JobDiva, Ceipal, Crelate, and Avionté. It scans an agency's full bench against every new job order automatically and returns a ranked, scored shortlist, eliminating the need for a manual search each time.

The decision to rely solely on native search or to add a dedicated rediscovery tool often depends on database size and how frequently job orders have similar requirements. An agency with a newer or smaller database may find native search sufficient for now.

In contrast, an agency with years of history across multiple desks typically discovers that native tools alone leave measurable value untapped in the database.