What is Boolean Search in Recruitment?

Boolean search allows for quick search results in big databases and search engines like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Google search. The technique saves you time and gives you the exact profile of candidates that you require.

When selecting candidates the search terms must always include the skills necessary for the “ideal candidate”. Boolean search can be used to filter results by Boolean operators. Boolean search is also useful for finding people with a particular skill set, job title or experience related to the role you have in mind.

Boolean search helps narrow down your candidate pool and ensure that only the most qualified applicants are considered for the position.

The basic boolean search operators are:

– AND – searches for documents that contain the keywords before and after it.

– OR – searches for documents that contain either one of the two words or both.

– NOT – the not operator excludes documents containing the word following it from the search results.

– ( ) – allows grouping of Boolean operators

– Quotes “” – searches for an exact phrase.

By using basic boolean operators to refine your search, you can easily find the right people for the job and make sure that only relevant information is returned from a database or other source. A boolean search is an essential tool in recruitment, so it pays to know how.

Boolean search is used to narrow down large databases of potential candidates and identify the most suitable ones for a particular job opening. Boolean search helps recruiters quickly find the right people with the desired qualifications and skills, helping them save time in their recruitment process.

Boolean search is also useful for finding people who may not have applied directly but are still suitable candidates.

Boolean search is not just about using the Boolean operators -AND, OR and NOT- to refine your search terms. Boolean search can be used creatively in recruitment by combining Boolean operators with wildcards, parenthesis, proximity searches, and other advanced techniques.

Wildcard searches allow recruiters to find variations of a particular word or phrase without having to enter all the different variations. For example, a Boolean search with a wildcard can find all related words such as “administrator”, “administrative”, and “admin” with just one query.

Proximity searches are Boolean searches that allow recruiters to limit their results to documents where keywords appear within a certain number of words of each other. Boolean search can also be used to exclude irrelevant information from the search results, for example, job titles and keywords that are not related to the position being recruited for.

Alternatively, add the following operator to your search and you can quickly run down your search results. It’s important to keep track of results and grow your research. Additionally, with less searching in a platform for a resume, you’ll be able to do a quick move.

It is worth spending time putting together your search keywords to find a good person like the engineer you need for your specific requirements.

Boolean Search features allow you to modify or command your search results in a manner that matches the inputs you have. This process shows just what you’re looking for and therefore excludes unnecessary candidates’ profiles that aren’t compatible with your inputs. For example, to exclude a candidate whose profile indicates a skill set in Python, you could enter Boolean Search commands to exclude documents containing the word “Python”. This will help recruiters save time by quickly zeroing in on more relevant candidates.

Candidate search positions can be grouped using a combination of variables. Amongst many variables are: Using Boolean Logic Searches for candidates provides a way in which you are free to use these variables to perform a filtered search. Boolean searches enable recruiters to bring only in those candidates that fit all the variables they have specified previously. Boolean search makes it easy to combine variables and terms together in a logical manner so that you can get accurate results.

Search strings on the search engine will enhance your results and eventually bring you closer to your candidate potential. Boolean commands may be used in various ways to refine the results.

Boolean logical searches can help you define and filter through the search results more quickly and accurately. Boolean Search allows recruiters to combine keywords, phrases, and concepts into a single search query that will return only relevant candidates who match the criteria specified.

If you’re using the symbol (*), the asterisk will show a larger search. For instance account* gives you results in accounting as a whole.

You want a qualified business advisor who is knowledgeable on the subject of the investment process. The asterisk makes it easier to search for specific positions on LinkedIn. For example, you can type ‘administrative *’ to get moire results.

Once you’ll understand Boolean logic, it’s advisable to experiment. You can add a string to the search to improve the results you are looking for and the results you should be looking for.

You want a software engineer. In Google, a search for software engineers will quickly tell if your information is enough that’s needed.

Take a little longer to scan a Boolean search and verify the results. Often quick searches lead to negative results.

If you want marketing managers in Boston, you will most likely have experts who don’t even reside in Boston but could study there or have worked there. Using boolean search strategies will simplify the search and help improve the quality of job opportunities you get.

You should localize your search, for candidates who live within a certain region and zip code. The target zip code is 02210 in Boston, Massachusetts and you have access to the zip code tracking software within 20 miles. Use your zipcode range to narrow down your search from low to high.

When searching for candidates you have to think about how they consider themselves. If you only seek web development / development you’d likely miss most excellent profiles using a different term such as “developer” or “web developer / developers.”. You could use AND/OR command lines to search for various keywords.

Searching is also termed an x-ray scan. You can search through specialized websites for people with the skills and knowledge you need or for information that is of the most importance.

We must go where the candidates are and then we will find them on those sites. LinkedIn’s tools allow you to find a wide variety of professionals but you can also use the search tool. Once you have a good search list on LinkedIn then add it to this Campaign Outreach Software and supercharge your reach.

Why did we use the minus sign in the earlier example? It was simply a way of narrowing the results. If you’ve played around with Boolean, your results will be excluded. It can help when a candidate needs to be removed from the search results based on a qualification or indicator.

The majority name resume files with ’resumé’. When attempting a search on Google for the resumes of people who are seeking jobs, they should look for a page with a search term like this one.

Google gives a searchable option that is handy for locating resumes and portfolios on the internet.

After gaining confidence in your search abilities by executing basic search procedures in Boolean, improve on them with the following five advanced search functions. Notice the operator should not have a capital in the Search Strings if it is not in all caps.

Functionality: Look for 2 words within 1-10 words in search results. When to Use it: You can add a broad subject to a search result without limiting it to a single phrase.

Explained – If you want to have a web development background, use the near operator to provide results about web development that are not restricted to “web development“. The term “developmentation” is a complex subject. To include results as “web developer” or “developing more than one website,” use asterisk operators in develop*. Use brackets for the correct interpreted operator.

Function: Search the results on an internet page when using the tool – use URL or site operator to narrow down your search results to websites based on your target, such as Facebook or LinkedIn pages. No spaces should be left on the operator:goggle.

Because you are looking to find Software Engineers, you may narrow your results to only resumes from reputed websites such as GitHub. If you look through every online platform you will find someone who meets your specific requirements.

Function: Search synonyms for a word. Use the tilde (~) operator to expand your search results to include related keywords. When scouting a candidate for employment, they want to read resumes rather than job descriptions.

Ideally, candidates don’t need to be excluded if there are CVs. Add the tilde operation to your query string to include all of these application documents.

Functionality: Group search phrases and prioritize operations. How do I use bracket operators? The brackets hold the groups of the pieces together with prioritization for each. We are looking for software developers and designers.

Because engineers specialize in different fields — chemical, biological, and physics. Developers are commonly connected to building, so we should include software in our results. Without the bracket operators, the search string looks the same.

Use of phrases: Find exact phrases. Use quotation operators if the search results contain a phrase. It is probably your best search engine. We often use it as the reason that we have lost the information about an interesting quote we like.

When analyzing a Boolean candidate, however, only use the quotation operators when you are sure about the exact word you need. If not, you’re unintentionally excluded.

We can then add the operators for us and then work backwards to decode the search string from the search string.

The first two operators — software AND (Engineer or developer ) — describe the job that is needed: software engineer / developer. We need a person who is in compliance with this requirement and whose job would not exist: Job – Job – Jobs – Hire – Jobs.

Use of OPTION: Optimal operator for enhancing a search result. The developer’s job remains empty. You are familiar with the debate of software engineers vs. developers therefore expand your searches to include engineers OR developers. It will create results lists that can contain both “engineers” OR “developers”.

Boolean search is a great way to find relevant results from a database or other information repository. By using keywords combined with operators such as AND, OR, and NOT, you can narrow down the number of documents returned for your search.

In this blog post, we have provided an example of how Boolean search can be used in recruitment. We have also outlined the functionality of some of the most commonly used operators. To learn more about boolean and LinkedIn check out this article.

So, if you are looking for a specific type of candidate, Boolean search is the tool for you! When you are ready to take those awesome search results and add them to Outreach get up to speed with this Article on all things Outreach and Software.