Google boolean search strings how to#
Google boolean search strings series#

If you wanted to find just individuals who have reached Manager or Director level, then you might use the following command: These are all large companies though, so any search like this is likely to generate a large number of results. You might initially construct a command like this: You have a list of target companies from where you wish to find your talent, and a candidate can have worked at any one (or ideally several) of them. Perhaps a good example would be company names. The most common place that brackets are applied by recruiters is in the use of OR strings. Essentially, a clause within brackets is given priority over other elements around it. Using brackets is essential for complex search strings, and it can be their application that causes the most confusion. Would give results that only contain the phrase ‘ pork sandwich‘ () – Brackets Would give results that contain ‘ pork‘ and ‘ sandwich‘, but not necessarily in the same sentence or paragraph! Not using “” around a phrase will mean that each word is treated separately, usually with an assumed AND in between each one. These quotation marks are used to capture a phrase that is to be kept intact, in the precise word order stated. You will have noticed that I have used the “” expression above in some examples already, wrapped around particular keywords. The one major limitation with the NOT command is that it isn’t recognized by Google. Very useful if you are operating in the construction industry. This would give you results that contain the word architect, but leaving out any that use the phrase “software architects”. If there are closely related terms that mean very different things, then usage of the NOT command is extremely valuable. For example, the following search phrase would give you results that contain one or more of the stated words: Usage of the OR command allows you to create a list of possibilities for which only one match is important. All search results will include both, and any CVs that have either engineer or “senior developer” (but not both) will not appear. Will give results that include both the word engineer and the phrase “senior developer”. Any search terms that follow an AND command must appear in the result. ANDĪND is the simplest function to apply. There is no limit to how often you can use any of these elements in a search, so you can create very specific search strings, which will save you a lot of time in filtering the results. These are:īy applying these appropriately, along with the keywords you wish to consider, you can create a huge range of search operations.

Google boolean search strings how to#

Therefore, in less than 1,000 words, let’s see if I can explain how to do it!įully constructed Boolean search strings can look both confusing and complex, but don’t worry, because they aren’t! The first important thing to appreciate is that there are only five elements of syntax to understand.

SearchOnTheGo won’t help you with these platforms, so if you want to get the most from them you need to know the basics of Boolean searching directly. This includes LinkedIn, Monster, and quite probably your internal ATS. This is a great simplifier for many, but Boolean search writing is a skill that top recruiters need to know directly in order to get meaningful candidate search results from a wide range of software.īeyond Google, many other systems we use on a daily basis accept Boolean searches. While it is a handy tool for completing CV searches on Google, the essence of the program is that it creates ‘complex’ searches through a point-and-click interface.

Google boolean search strings series#

This article is part of a series called News & Trends.Ĭarmen Hudson recently highlighted SearchOnTheGo as an iPhone application with real value for recruiters.