Boolean Strings Made Simple

Knowing how to use a correct boolean string for internet searching is a great way to find talent no one else is looking at.  Using this tool for sourcing talent will give you an opportunity to find candidates no one else is looking at, and in most cases the contact information will come right along with the profile. I am not referring to your typical boolean search on your job boards, but a boolean search within the search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc).

Including this in your sourcing strategy is a powerful way to find new talent.  For this example, I will only be scratching the surface of this tools full capabilities.  If you are intrigued to learn more, I would encourage you to search the internet for more tips and techniques.

To get started you want to figure out what you are looking for. I am going to assume most recruiters are in search of resumes, yes? In many cases when a resume is published online, it will have the word resume directly in the URL or title of the page.  To sort through this you can use the following indicators;

intitle:
inurl:

It is important to use these together, as it will capture profiles with both the key word in the title as well as the URL.

(intitle:resume | inurl:resume)

      * | = OR (the | symbol is above the return key and is the       
        same key as the \. Press Shift \ to get | )

Next you will want to have the search leave out any unwanted terms.  As you get more experience, you will have a better idea of what these terms are.  In our example, we will want to exclude any job descriptions, or job postings.

(intitle:resume | inurl:resume) -apply -eoe -submit

      * -  = NOT (You should also use this for titles or   
        technical skills you are wanting to exclude)
      * While searching within a search engine, the AND is
        automatically assumed.  It is not necessary to use AND           while searching on these sources. 

You can get even more specific with file types, knowing most resumes will be posted on the internet as PDF, DOC, or TXT files (you can play around with this a bit as well. At times you will have candidates who do not use any of these formats). Another common form for resumes is SlideShare format. 

(intitle:resume | inurl:resume) -apply -eoe -submit (filetype:pdf | filetype:doc | filetype:txt)

This will get you a good foundation to start your basic resume search.  Now you are ready to put in your specific skills search criteria.  For this example, lets say we are looking for a front end web developer in the Phoenix, AZ area.

(intitle:resume | inurl:resume) -apply -eoe -submit (filetype:pdf | filetype:doc | filetype:txt) (phoenix | glendale | tempe | mesa | chandler) (ui | "user interface") java html css javascript jquery

When Searching on Google, I was able to Yield 205 search results.  Not all of these results will be relevant, and it will be up to you to go through and scrub the search a bit.  You will also find most search engines will take out the duplicate results, and you will not need to spend time looking at all 205 results.

**Quick Reference
AND: Not normally used for online search engines
OR: |
NOT: -
intitle: searches internet for word of phrase in the title of the website
inurl: searches internet for word of phrase in url of website
filetype: searches for specific file types on the internet