IDEAL CANDIDATE SEARCH RANKING

1 . A computer implemented method, comprising:

obtaining one or more ideal candidate member profiles in a social networking service;

performing a search on member profiles in the social networking service using a search query, returning one or more result member profiles;

producing one or more query-based features from the one or more result member profiles using the search query;

producing one or more ideal candidate-based features from the one or more result member profiles using the one or more ideal candidate member profiles;

inputting the one or more query-based features and the one or more ideal candidate-based features to a combined ranking model, the combined ranking model trained by a machine learning algorithm to output a ranking score for each of the one or more result member profiles;

ranking the one or more result member profiles based on the ranking scores; and

causing display of one or more top ranked result member profiles on a computer display.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising training the combined ranking model by:

producing one or more query-based features from one or more sample result member profiles and one or more sample search queries;

producing one or more ideal candidate-based features from the one or more sample result member profiles and one or more sample ideal candidate member profiles;

inputting the one or more query-based features to a query-based ranking model to output scores to the machine learning algorithm based on the query-based features; and

inputting the one or more ideal candidate-based features to the machine learning algorithm along with labels for each of the one or more sample ideal candidate member profiles, causing the machine learning algorithm to train the combined ranking model based on the scores from the query-based ranking model, the ideal candidate-based features, and the labels.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the combined ranking model includes weights assigned to each of the one or more query-based features and each of the one or more ideal candidate-based features.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes skill similarity, wherein skill similarity is a measure of similarity of a skill set of an ideal candidate member profile and a skill set of a result member profile.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes headline matching, wherein headline matching is a measure of similarity between a search query and a headline of a snippet formed from a result member profile.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes headline similarity, wherein headline similarity is a measure of similarity between a headline of a snippet formed from an ideal candidate member profile and a snippet formed from a search result member profile.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes browse map similarity, wherein browse map similarity is a measure of how many browsing sessions on the social networking service involved viewing both an ideal candidate member profile and a result member profile.

8 . A system comprising:

a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause the system to:

obtain one or more ideal candidate member profiles in a social networking service;

perform a search on member profiles in the social networking service using a search query, returning one or more result member profiles;

produce one or more query-based features from the one or more result member profiles using the search query;

produce one or more ideal candidate-based features from the one or more result member profiles using the one or more ideal candidate member profiles;

input the one or more query-based features and the one or more ideal candidate-based features to a combined ranking model, the combined ranking model trained by a machine learning algorithm to output a ranking score for each of the one or more result member profiles;

rank the one or more result member profiles based on the ranking scores; and

cause display of one or more top ranked result member profiles on a computer display.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to train the combined ranking model by:

producing one or more query-based features from one or more sample result member profiles and one or more sample search queries;

producing one or more ideal candidate-based features from the one or more sample result member profiles and one or more sample ideal candidate member profiles;

inputting the one or more query-based features to a query-based ranking model to output scores to the machine learning algorithm based on the query-based features; and

inputting the one or more ideal candidate-based features to the machine learning algorithm along with labels for each of the one or more sample ideal candidate member profiles, causing the machine learning algorithm to train the combined ranking model based on the scores from the query-based ranking model, the ideal candidate-based features, and the labels.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the combined ranking model includes weights assigned to each of the one or more query-based features and each of the one or more ideal candidate-based features.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes skill similarity, wherein skill similarity is a measure of similarity of a skill set of an ideal candidate member profile and a skill set of a result member profile.

12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes headline matching, wherein headline matching is a measure of similarity between a search query and a headline of a snippet formed from a result member profile.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes headline similarity, wherein headline similarity is a measure of similarity between a headline of a snippet formed from an ideal candidate member profile and a snippet formed from a search result member profile.

14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes browse map similarity, wherein browse map similarity is a measure of how many browsing sessions on the social networking service involved viewing both an ideal candidate member profile and a result member profile.

15 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when implemented by one or more machines, cause the one or more machines to perform operations comprising:

obtaining one or more ideal candidate member profiles in a social networking service;

performing a search on member profiles in the social networking service using a search query, returning one or more result member profiles;

producing one or more query-based features from the one or more result member profiles using the search query;

producing one or more ideal candidate-based features from the one or more result member profiles using the one or more ideal candidate member profiles;

inputting the one or more query-based features and the one or more ideal candidate-based features to a combined ranking model, the combined ranking model trained by a machine learning algorithm to output a ranking score for each of the one or more result member profiles;

ranking the one or more result member profiles based on the ranking scores; and

causing display of one or more top ranked result member profiles on a computer display.

16 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise training the combined ranking model by:

producing one or more query-based features from one or more sample result member profiles and one or more sample search queries;

producing one or more ideal candidate-based features from the one or more sample result member profiles and one or more sample ideal candidate member profiles;

inputting the one or more query-based features to a query-based ranking model to output scores to the machine learning algorithm based on the query-based features; and

inputting the one or more ideal candidate-based features to the machine learning algorithm along with labels for each of the one or more sample ideal candidate member profiles, causing the machine learning algorithm to train the combined ranking model based on the scores from the query-based ranking model, the ideal candidate-based features, and the labels.

17 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the combined ranking model includes weights assigned to each of the one or more query-based features and each of the one or more ideal candidate-based features.

18 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes skill similarity, wherein skill similarity is a measure of similarity of a skill set of an ideal candidate member profile and a skill set of a result member profile.

19 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes headline matching, wherein headline matching is a measure of similarity between a search query and a headline of a snippet formed from a result member profile.

20 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more ideal candidate-based features includes headline similarity, wherein headline similarity is a measure of similarity between a headline of a snippet formed from an ideal candidate member profile and a snippet formed from a search result member profile.