Doug Schade, a recruiter at Winter, Wyman Cos., has plenty of candidates to pick from when he is trying to fill a job. Actually he has too many: thousands for each position in the Waltham staffing firm’s massive database of job applicants.

But with a few keystrokes on his computer, Schade can narrow his search to almost exactly what an employer is looking for ­— say, a Java software developer who knows the computer languages jQuery, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS; lives within 20 miles of Framingham; and last earned a $75,000 salary. When the 10 best matches pop up, Schade can see the notes he’s taken on each job-seeker, e-mails they’ve ­exchanged, and companies they’ve interviewed with before — helping him decide which candidates to recommend.