Why Candidate Intent Is a Missing Layer in Recruitment Data

This article is part of the Skills-Short Market Intelligence guide.

Recruitment data has traditionally been supply-side in a narrow sense: what candidates have done. Job titles, employers, qualifications, years of experience. This tells you whether a candidate can do the role. It tells you almost nothing about whether they will — and on what terms.

What intent data adds

Candidate intent captures the decision-making layer that sits above the profile: what would make this candidate consider a move? What would make them accept an offer? What would make them stay?

This data includes structured responses on salary expectations, travel tolerance, working hour preferences, training priorities, progression goals, culture preferences and relocation willingness. Together, these form a picture of what it would actually take to attract a candidate — not just whether they are technically suitable.

Why intent data is so rarely captured

Intent data is hard to collect at scale. It requires candidates to volunteer information — which means the collection platform needs to be trustworthy, candidate-controlled and genuinely useful to the candidate.

Most recruitment platforms are not designed this way. They are designed for employer convenience, not candidate empowerment. The result is that intent data is either absent or of very poor quality — too vague or too outdated to be actionable.

Optio is built specifically around the collection, structuring and application of candidate intent data — making it the foundation of every matching and intelligence function on the platform.

Book a Talent Strategy Call | Back to Skills-Short Market Intelligence