Boolean Operators

Presented by Bayu Temadja

Objectives
 Learning how to write search strings
 Creating your own search strings based on your job
specs
 Once we have the basics down for how to build search
strings, the goal is for you to independently select
from a wide variety of tools for passive candidate
search providing access to:
 a bigger candidate pool (high volume, low complexity sourcing)
 Targeted prospects in certain companies and/or countries and with
specific skill sets (low volume, high complexity sourcing)
The language of search Engines
 English:
Please bring me a large or medium coffee. I’d like to
have sugar, but no milk.

 Boolean:
Coffee AND (large OR medium) AND sugar NOT milk
What is “Boolean” Anyway?
 Meet George Boole
 Nineteenth Century inventor of Boolean Algebra
 Introduced the theory of symbolic logic
 Utilization of “and”, “or” and “not” to signify relationship of one
value to another. These terms are referred to as “Boolean
Operators”

 What does this have to do with recruiting?

 We utilize Boole’s symbolic logic to define search criteria
 It allows us to build our search criteria using multiple values and
defines the relationship of those values to each other and the
results we are looking for
 Boolean logic allows us to increase our search efficiency
 It creates a language common to multiple search engines (kind of)
AND or +

AND =you want both terms to appear in results.

dog AND cat

All results will contain the word dog and the word cat
OR or |

OR = you want either term to appear in results.

dog OR cat

All results will contain the word dog or the word cat
NOT or -

NOT = you want to return results that do not contain a

term.

dog NOT cat

All results returned will contain the word dog. But all
results containing the word cat as well will be
excluded.
Boolean Modifiers
 Quotation Marks “ “

 Parenthesis ( )

 Wildcard *

 Tilde ~
Use of Quotation Marks
 Putting a term in quotes allows you to search terms as
if they are one word.

 For example: “peanut butter”

 All results returned will include the phrase “peanut

butter”. If a page contains the word peanut and the
word butter but they are not together (consecutively),
the page will not be included in results.
Use of Parenthesis
In search strings where more than one operator is used, it
groups the individual elements of the search

For example: “Visual basic” AND (CV OR resume)

This search will return results that meet the following

criteria:
-All search results will include the phrase “visual basic”
-Of those results, only those that contain either “CV” or
“resume” will be included.
Use of Wildcard
The wildcard (or asterisk) modifier is used to perform a search for variations on a
word, or a word segment. It tells the search engine to match the characters
around the asterisk

For example: develop*

Search results will include pages that contain any of the following words:
“develop”, “developer”, “development”

Where can you use the asterisk?

-end of a word (truncation)
-beginning of a word
-within a word (minimum 3 characters before *) (alternative spellings)

Can you think of examples of using a wildcard in these 3 ways?

Use of Tilde
The tilde is use to search for synonyms of keywords.

For example: ~cv

Will return results that contain “CV” “curriculum vitae”

or “resume”.

Note> This operator is only available on Google at this

time
Questions?
 Before we move on to building search strings, do you
have any questions on operators or modifiers?
Building the search string
Tip> Put your most important keywords first in the string

EXAMPLE: sales AND engineer AND electrical

When results are returned, click on the links and use the find command
(control+F) to identify your keyword on the page.

 Based on results, evaluate your keywords:

 Are they too general (high number of unrelated results)?
 Are they too specific (low number of results)?
 Are they just wrong (unrelated results)?

 Tweak your searches

 Play with your keywords. Look for synonyms and other words your target
will likely include on their resume
 Check your Boolean
Use of multiple operators and modifiers

Everyone now go to LinkedIn

In search box type: “sales engineer AND (electrical OR

automation) AND (“medium voltage” OR “low voltage” OR
transformer)
Adding the NOT Operator to eliminate
Job Postings

Everyone now go to LinkedIn

In search box type: “sales engineer” AND (electrical OR

automation) AND (“medium voltage” OR “low voltage” OR
transformer) –ABB –siemens –alstom

Tip: NOT and the minus sign used

above mean the same thing
Exercise : Can You Spot the Boolean Errors?
 Profile – we are seeking to find an MV/LV sales manager who has focused on
selling to the industry sector.

(sales engineer OR sales manager OR sales rep OR sales

representative OR account manager OR solution sales
OR “solution selling” AND (“medium voltage” OR “low
voltage” OR panel OR “MCSet" OR “PIX" OR
switchgear OR “mini circuit breaker” OR “air circuit
breaker” OR “MCB”) AND (industry OR factory OR
manufacturing OR plant)
Exercise – can you spot the Boolean errors?

ERRORS:
 (sales executive OR account executive OR sales rep OR sales representative OR account manger OR
solution sales OR “solution selling” AND (“office groove” OR “groove server” OR groove OR "office
2007" OR "IW" OR "information worker" OR “professional plus” OR “MOUS” OR “knowledge worker”
OR “office professional”) AND (education OR “public sector” OR federal OR SLG)

CORRECTED:
 ("sales executive" OR "account executive" OR "sales rep" OR "sales representative" OR “account
manager” OR “solution sales” OR “solution selling”) AND (“office groove” OR “groove server” OR
groove OR "office 2007" OR "IW" OR "information worker" OR “professional plus” OR “MOUS” OR
“knowledge worker” OR “office professional”) AND (“higher education” OR “education sales” OR
“public sector” OR federal OR SLG)
Searching for a Specific Nationality or
Region?
 An easy way to find specific nationalities without using
the country or region restriction, is by entering the
country into the search string (China, India, France,
etc.) Using city/province names is another alternative
(Medan, Batam, North Sumatera). Also try using
educational background/degree names.
Exercise
 Take your search string from our last search and use
location specific keywords. Substitute different
location-focused keywords and see what results you
get

 Example:
 “sales engineer” AND (“electrical OR automation) AND (“medium voltage” OR “low
voltage” OR transformer) (medan OR “north sumatera”) –ABB –siemens –alstom
Using Search Strings outside Search
Engines
 Once you have created a search string that works for you, you can use that
string – mostly in a modified and slimmed down version – on popular search
tools, such as Social Networks (LinkedIn and Facebook). For instance the
substitutions for AND OR NOT (+, pipebar |, -) work on LinkedIn.
 Also the classical search strings (with AND OR NOT) work on Monster &
Jobstreet. However, be careful how you use the wildcard *, as the wildcard on
Monster only appears to be working at the END of a word, not in the
BEGINNING (for instance if you’re searching for varieties on the term “SQL”,
you can use SQL* but you cannot use *SQL (you have then to enter the terms
such as MySQL manually).
 Search strings work in internal databases, such as XpTen and eRecruit
Practice Exercise
 Build a search string from the Job Description you
brought with you today
Any additional tips?

Questions?