How to Fine-Tune AI Screening for Better Results
The Ideal Candidate feature allows you to define what “great” looks like for a specific role. It helps Megan score and prioritize applicants more accurately based on how you actually evaluate candidates; not just what’s written in the job description.
What Is the Ideal Candidate?
By default, Mega uses your job description to determine how candidates are scored.
The Ideal Candidate section lets you go further by adding:
Internal hiring preferences
Non-negotiable requirements
Cultural or team-specific attributes
Location or eligibility constraints
Skill prioritization beyond the JD
Think of it as adding recruiter context that isn’t always publicly stated.
Why It Matters
Without Ideal Candidate guidance, Megan evaluates applicants based only on the job description.
If there are criteria your team uses that are not explicitly written in the JD (for example: “Must be located in Canada” or “Prior startup experience required”), those candidates may score higher than expected.
Updating the Ideal Candidate ensures:
More accurate scoring
Cleaner shortlists
Fewer false positives
Greater hiring manager trust
When Should You Update It?
You should review and refine the Ideal Candidate section when:
A high-scoring candidate doesn’t meet a known internal requirement
Hiring managers reject shortlisted candidates for similar reasons
You want to prioritize certain skills more heavily
You need to enforce geographic or eligibility rules
You adjust expectations mid-search
How to Edit the Ideal Candidate
1) Go to the specific Job inside Mega
2) Click into the job settings
3) Locate the Ideal Candidate section
5) Add or edit the criteria
6)Save your changes
If needed, you can rescore candidates after updating criteria to reflect the new definition.
What Should You Include?
Good examples of Ideal Candidate criteria:
Minimum 5 years of B2B SaaS experience
Prior experience in fast-growing startups
Must have direct people management experience
Experience selling into enterprise accounts
Avoid overly vague criteria such as:
“Good communicator”
“Strong cultural fit”
The more specific and measurable, the better the results.
Ideal Candidate vs. AI Guidance
Ideal Candidate = Job-level definition of what makes someone qualified (used throughout the lifecycle)
AI Guidance = Stage-specific instructions for screening behavior
If the rule applies broadly to how you evaluate the role, use Ideal Candidate.
If it only applies to one stage (like application review), use AI Guidance.
Best Practice
Start simple.
Run screening on a role, review the first batch of scored candidates, and refine the Ideal Candidate based on real-world results. Most teams improve shortlist accuracy significantly after one or two iterations.