10 Boolean Hacks to Find the Best Candidates

Introduction

Greetings, talent acquisition community! If you're in the business of sourcing talent, you're probably familiar with the term 'Boolean search'. This powerful tool can help you cut through the noise and find the best candidates for your roles. But are you using it to its full potential?

In this post, we're going to share 10 Boolean hacks that can supercharge your sourcing process. Whether you're a seasoned head hunter or a newbie in talent acquisition, these tips will help you leverage the power of Boolean search like never before.

What is Boolean Search?

Before we dive into the hacks, let's quickly recap what Boolean search is. Named after the 19th-century mathematician George Boole, Boolean search is a type of search that allows users to combine keywords with operators such as AND, NOT and OR to further refine the search results.

In the context of talent acquisition, Boolean search can help recruiters to find candidates with specific skills, experiences, and qualifications more efficiently.

10 Boolean Hacks for Talent Acquisition

1. Use OR to Expand Your Search

The OR operator is a great way to broaden your search. For example, if you're looking for a software developer, you might want to include synonyms or related titles like "software engineer" OR "programmer".

"software developer" OR "software engineer" OR programmer

2. Use AND to Narrow Your Search

On the other hand, the AND operator can help you narrow down your search. For example, if you're looking for a software developer with experience in Java, you could use:

"software developer" AND Java

3. Use NOT to Exclude Unwanted Results

The NOT operator allows you to exclude certain terms from your search. For example, if you're looking for a software developer, but not a .NET developer, you could use:

"software developer" NOT ".NET"

4. Use Quotation Marks for Exact Matches

If you're looking for a specific phrase, use quotation marks to get exact matches. For example, if you're looking for candidates with project management experience, you could use:

"project management"

5. Use Parentheses to Combine Operators

Parentheses allow you to combine operators in a more complex way. For example, if you're looking for a software developer with experience in either Java or Python, but not .NET, you could use:

("software developer" AND (Java OR Python)) NOT ".NET"

6. Use Asterisks for Wildcard Searches

The asterisk (*) can be used as a wildcard to search for variations of a word. For example, if you're looking for a developer, but want to include all possible variations (like developers, developed, developing), you could use:

develop*

7. Use Location to Target Specific Areas

If you're sourcing for a role that requires the candidate to be in a specific location, include the location in your search. For example:

"software developer" AND "New York"

8. Use Site: to Search Specific Websites

The site: operator allows you to search within a specific website. For example, if you want to find profiles on LinkedIn, you could use:

site:linkedin.com "software developer" AND Java

9. Use intitle: to Search for Specific Titles

The intitle: operator allows you to search for specific titles in profiles. For example:

intitle:"software developer" AND Java

10. Combine Hacks for Supercharged Searches

The real power of Boolean search comes when you start combining these hacks. For example:

site:linkedin.com intitle:("software developer" OR "software engineer") AND (Java OR Python) AND "New York" NOT ".NET"

This search will find profiles on LinkedIn with the title of software developer or software engineer, who have experience with Java or Python, are located in New York, and do not have .NET experience.

Conclusion

Boolean search is a powerful tool in the arsenal of any talent acquisition professional. By mastering these Boolean hacks, you can enhance your sourcing process and find the best candidates more efficiently.

Remember, the key to successful Boolean search is practice. So, why not start experimenting with these hacks today? Happy head hunting!