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Candidate search in Denmark: where to look

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Candidate search is the work of finding candidates for a role: both the people who are looking for a job and the people who aren't. Here's how to do it in Denmark, from the requirements to the six places you can search, and on to the first contact.

Start with the requirements

A good search starts before you search. Write down what the role needs:

  • Function: what the person will do, such as finance, sales or engineering.
  • Seniority: junior, experienced, manager or director.
  • Location: the city, and how far people can commute.
  • Years of experience: a minimum, but not a maximum that rules out the experienced.
  • Must-haves and nice-to-haves: what has to be met, and what would be good to have.

The more precise the job ad, the better the search. Read How to write a job ad a search can use, or paste your ad into the free Requirements profile tool and see the requirements as a search reads them.

  1. Your own job ad. An ad on Jobindex, Jobnet or LinkedIn, for example, finds the people looking right now.
  2. CV databases. The Jobindex CV database has more than 445,000 searchable candidates who've asked to be contacted, and Jobnet for Employers, the Danish public job portal, has about 150,000 active CVs you can search for free.
  3. LinkedIn. LinkedIn had about 3.8 million members in Denmark at the end of 2025, according to DataReportal. You can search yourself or with Recruiter Lite or Recruiter. Read LinkedIn Recruiter alternatives.
  4. Google. With site:linkedin.com/in and the title in quotes, Google finds public profiles, such as site:linkedin.com/in "finance manager" "Odense".
  5. Your network and past applicants. Colleagues, referrals, and the people who came close last time, in your own ATS.
  6. AI sourcing. A tool that reads the job ad, searches a database of professional profiles and ranks the candidates. Read AI sourcing in Denmark and the Nordics.

The first two mainly find active job seekers. The last four also find the passive ones, the people who aren't looking but might say yes to the right job. Read Passive candidates: how to find and reach them.

Search the titles people use

Roles in Denmark often have titles in both Danish and English. A finance manager may appear as økonomichef, regnskabschef, finance manager or head of finance, and the candidate atlas shows 3,330 database records in Denmark with one of the four in the current title, observed on 4 October 2026. Jobindex itself advises widening a search of its CV database with synonyms, abbreviations and English terms. Search every variant, and only use the filters you're sure of, because a filter on a field people haven't filled in screens them out. Read Boolean search for recruiters hiring in Denmark.

Review the results requirement by requirement

Go through the list with the requirements beside you. Look at the career: titles, employers and how long. What you can't see, such as languages or a particular certification, is a question for the candidate, not a no. Decide yes or no quickly, and write a short reason, so you can explain the choice. Read From longlist to shortlist, quickly and fairly.

The first contact

Write short, concrete and personal, and say why you're writing to this person. When you contact someone who hasn't applied, you owe them the information in Article 14 of the GDPR, at the latest in your first message. Keep a list of the people who said no thanks, so nobody is contacted again. Read The first message to a passive candidate and GDPR and sourcing passive candidates.

You paste the job ad, and Navigent reads the requirements and sets filters with Danish and English title variants. The free preview shows how many match. One search fetches about 1,000 unique candidates, the best 200 or so make the longlist, and up to about 50 recommended are assessed requirement by requirement, with evidence from their jobs. You decide who goes on the shortlist. See How it works.

Frequently asked questions

In recruiting, candidate search is the work of finding candidates for a role, in job ads, CV databases, on LinkedIn, in your network and with AI tools, and judging who fits.

Where can I search for candidates for free?

Jobnet for Employers is free, with about 150,000 active CVs, and the Jobindex CV database is free for companies until a contact leads to a hire. You can also search for public LinkedIn profiles with Google, and try Navigent free: 2 free searches, 1 more per colleague, up to 5, no card.

How do I find candidates who aren't looking for a job?

Search professional profiles rather than CV databases: on LinkedIn, with Google, or with an AI tool that searches a database of professional profiles. Write a short and personal first message.

Should I search Danish or English titles?

Both. Many roles in Denmark have a Danish and an English title, and people write their titles differently. Search only one and you miss the people who use the other.

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