A first member of a social network service provides a set of desired attributes and a designation of the type of a candidate having the desired attributes that is desired as a recommendation. The attributes of the profiles of other members of the social networks are searched for entities having the set of desired attributes. At least one of the entities having the desired attributes that result from the search is presented to the first member as the recommendation of a candidate. The first member may provide a second set of desired attributes and a designation of the type of at least one second candidate having the second set of desired attributes. The attributes of the profiles of the other members of the social network may be searched for second entities having the second set of desired attributes. The first member is presented with at least one of the second entities as the recommendation of a second candidate.