Use cases
Here is what it looks like on a real open position.
The three searches
Tech
Go backend developer
Walead, for a payments software client · Lyon
“I’m looking for a Go backend developer in Lyon, at least four years of experience, who has already worked in payments or banking. No juniors, no full-stack who does Go on weekends.”
What the agent saw and a query cannot: three of the nine approved never write “Go” anywhere in their title. They practise it. It is written in the body of their career history.
“A search used to mean whole mornings opening profiles one by one. Now I write up the role the way I’d explain it to my client, go grab a coffee, and when I’m back the list is there. Honestly, I finally spend my time calling candidates instead of hunting for them.”
Who are you looking for?
Describe the ideal candidate, in one sentence.
Go backend dev in Lyon, four years minimum, with a background in payments or banking.
Ran the payments service for three years.
ApprovedGo since 2019, migrated a Java monolith.
ApprovedWrites “backend” without naming Go: it is in her projects.
ApprovedBanking is there, Go is still recent.
To assessTwelve years of experience: above the stated budget.
DeclinedLeadership
Chief financial officer
SmartGarant, for itself · Paris
“A CFO for a sixty-person fintech in Paris. She must have already been through a funding round and be able to run the finance function alone, with no team under her.”
On a pool this size, what matters is not the number of profiles but the sentence that comes with each one. A sentence can be challenged; a percentage cannot.
“I’m not a recruiter, and yet I recruit. I had nothing to learn: I write what I’m looking for in plain language, and the agent asks the questions I had forgotten.”
Who are you looking for?
Describe the ideal candidate, in one sentence.
A CFO for a sixty-person fintech in Paris, who has already been through a funding round.
Ran finance through a Series B.
ApprovedFinance function run alone, 70 people.
ApprovedFunding round led on the company side, not the fund side.
ApprovedThe background fits, but never in a small team.
To assessAdvisory, not in-house financial leadership.
DeclinedField
Three factory deployment specialists
Mercateam, for itself · Eastern France
“Three factory deployment specialists across eastern France, comfortable working alone at an industrial client’s site, able to train operators on the floor.”
Three positions of the same kind are searched in one go: the agent keeps the brief, the list is replayed by sector.
“We look for people who know the factory floor, not just the software. Those people don’t hang around on job boards. Proxima goes to find them where they are, and I come back with profiles I would never have crossed paths with.”
Who are you looking for?
Describe the ideal candidate, in one sentence.
Three factory deployment specialists, eastern France, comfortable working alone at an industrial client’s site.
Six years deploying in factories, on the client’s site.
ApprovedTitled “technician”: the career history tells the real job.
ApprovedTrained production teams across three sites.
ApprovedThe field is there, the software remains to be learned.
To assessDesk-based role: has never worked on a client’s site.
DeclinedThe difference
The same search, done the old way.
Not the method in general: this very position, with what had to be written, and what it cost.
What you had to write
("Golang" OR "Go developer" OR "développeur Go") AND ("backend" OR "back-end") AND ("Lyon" OR "Villeurbanne") NOT ("stage" OR "alternance" OR "junior")
Two hours of Boolean queries, some sixty profiles opened one by one, and half of them ruled out by the second line.
What you wrote
“I’m looking for a Go backend developer in Lyon, at least four years of experience, who has already worked in payments or banking. No juniors, no full-stack who does Go on weekends.”
Is remote work possible?Two days a week.
Kubernetes: required or nice to have?Nice to have.
The brief typed in one sentence, two questions, the scored list forty seconds later. The sorting is done; what remains is choosing.
The same search, done the old way.
Not the method in general: this very position, with what had to be written, and what it cost.
What you had to write
("DAF" OR "directeur financier" OR "directrice financière") AND ("Clermont" OR "Puy-de-Dôme") AND ("PME" OR "industrie") NOT ("cabinet" OR "audit")
A pool too small for a query: in Clermont, for this profile, a keyword search returns twelve people, always the same ones, already contacted three times.
What you wrote
“A CFO for an industrial SME near Clermont. She must have already lived through a business transfer or a change of shareholder, and be able to run a finance function alone.”
Has the transfer been announced to the teams?Not yet.
Accounting degree required?The track record is enough.
The agent reads careers instead of looking for words. A business transfer is almost never written in a job title: it shows in the sequence of the lines.
The same search, done the old way.
Not the method in general: this very position, with what had to be written, and what it cost.
What you had to write
("technicien de maintenance" OR "technicien itinérant") AND ("habilitation électrique") AND ("Rennes" OR "Nantes" OR "Angers" OR "Le Mans")
This trade is not described online the way a tech job is. Titles change from one company to the next, and half of the good profiles have no usable title.
What you wrote
“Three travelling maintenance technicians across western France, electrical certification up to date, comfortable working alone at the client’s site.”
Vehicle and licence provided?Company vehicle.
Weekend on-call duty?One in four.
The second pass reads careers one by one and recognises the trade behind the title. This is exactly where a keyword search misses.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us before trying.
If yours isn’t here, we want to hear it: write to us, someone will answer.
Talk to someoneThat is where the gap is widest. Titles change from one company to the next, and a keyword search misses. The second pass reads careers and recognises the trade behind the title.
A keyword search returns a frozen list with a score. Proxima explains each score in one sentence, and accepts your corrections in plain language: the list rebuilds without starting over. We deliberately stop before sending messages. The first contact stays yours.
Yes, and without talking to us: the free plan opens 20 searches, no credit card. Describe the position you are working on and you will have your scored list within a minute. If you would rather do it together, the fifteen-minute slot is there for that.
About forty seconds between the end of the brief and the scored list. The tenfold gain is measured over the whole search, reading and decision included.
Try it on your next search.
One sentence is enough to see what Proxima gives back.
20 free searches, no credit card.