A Recruiters’ Cheat Sheet

In this document the discussion is about Boolean Strings and Boolean Operators. Also about Social Media Recruiting.
Daily we hear so many times about Boolean and Social Media Recruiting, in this document the topics covered are
Boolean Strings and their usage, social media sourcing, also various google chrome extensions.

Boolean search: Boolean search is a structured search process that allows the user to insert words or phrases such as
AND, OR, NOT to limit, broaden and define the search results. By using Boolean search, employers can narrow down
the pool of candidates they are presented with by specifically looking for what is required in that role.

Where Does the Term Boolean Originate?

George Boole, an English mathematician from the 19th century, developed an algebraic method that he first described
in his 1847 book, The Mathematical Analysis of Logic and expounded upon in his An Investigation of the Laws of
Thought (1854). Boolean algebra is fundamental to modern computing, and all major programming languages include
it. It also figures heavily in statistical methods and set theory.

Today's database searches are largely based on Boolean logic, which allows us to specify parameters in detail — for
example, combining terms to include while excluding others. Given that the internet is akin to a vast collection of
information databases, Boolean concepts apply here as well.

How to perform a Boolean search

Boolean searches can be done on any search engine across the Internet using certain symbols and there is no
restriction on how many you use in one search string.

Major elements of Boolean search:

 AND: placing AND between search keywords will allow user's results to include both (or all) of the keywords. The
search terms that follow the AND must appear in the search results.
 Plus +: A leading plus sign indicates that this word must be present in each row that is returned.
 Minus –: A leading minus sign before a word indicates this word must not be present in search results
 Tilde ~: A leading tilde acts as a negation operator, causing the word's contribution to the row's relevance to be
negative. This is useful for marking "noise" words. A row containing such a word is rated lower than others, but is
not excluded altogether, as it would be with the - operator.
 OR: user writes OR when he/she wants to search for something that has the possibility of including either set of
search terms. All combination possibilities will come up.
 NOT: when a user dos not want a specific search term to appear in the results, he/she writes NOT after the
preferred search term. This will prevent the terms from coming up.
 Quotation marks “”: when users want to search for an exact phrase, they use quotation marks around that phrase.
 Parentheses (): placing parentheses allows separation of the terms and preference to be given to specified ones.
 Asterisk *: The asterisk serves as the truncation (or wildcard) operator.

Boolean Search Strings Basics

Based on some mathematical theory in which all variables are either ‘true’ or ‘false’, Boolean search on Google is one
of the best sourcing tools for recruiters. The definition of Boolean search is that it’s a type of search that allows users
to combine keywords with operators such as AND, NOT and OR to produce more relevant results.

Here are the basic operators for Boolean search strings for recruiters:

AND
When you want to include two (or more) criteria in your search, the operator AND narrows down your search. For
example, a Boolean search string for recruiting Android developers should include ‘developer AND android’. This will
produce results that include both keywords.

Venn diagram of the Boolean AND operator

A AND B | A ∩ B

Plus
The Boolean search operator + (plus) symbol is equal to the and
Tilde ~: The ~ is a synonym operator which searches for all synonymous words or phrases. This operator is incredibly
valuable for a number of reasons the first being bandwidth. Google, as with all search engines, has its limitations. But
one of the coolest thing you can do is search for words or phrases easily and quickly through the ~ function.

Example:
~CV = Curriculum Vitae, Curriculum Vitaes, CV, C.V., Resume, Resumes, Portfolio, Portfolios and so forth.

OR
The OR operator, on the other hand, allows us to expand our Boolean search results. People might use different words
to say the same thing. OR is particularly useful for synonyms, like ‘bank OR finance OR financial.’

Venn diagram of the Boolean OR operator

A OR B | A ∪ B

NOT
The NOT operator excludes unwanted terms from your Google sourcing search. Instead of NOT, you could also use
the minus symbol followed by your unwanted term without leaving a space (e.g. ‘NOT recruiter’ or ‘-recruiter.’)

Venn diagram of the Boolean NOT operator

A NOT B | A – B

Minus
The Boolean search operator not is equal to the - (minus) symbol.

Brackets ()
You can use brackets to group multiple search strings and set your priorities. This will come in handy, as most
candidate searches are complex and combine different keywords. For example, ‘(developer OR designer) AND Java’
indicates that Java knowledge is a must-have both for developers and designers. But, in a ‘designer OR (developer
AND Java)’ search, Java knowledge is important only for the developers you’re looking for – not the designers.

Venn diagram of Boolean search examples: Brackets to group multiple search strings
(A OR B) AND C | (A∪B) ∩ C

Quotation marks “”
If you want Google to consider the phrase you’re searching for as a complete phrase, you should put it in quotation
marks. For example, leaving a blank space between ‘customer’ and ‘service’ will provide pages that contain both of
the words ‘customer’ and ‘service,’ but not necessarily together. You should type “customer service” to get more
relevant results when sourcing passive candidates.

Asterisk *:
The asterisk can be used on most resume databases and non-Internet search engines as a root word/stem/truncation
search. In other words, the search engine will return and highlight any word that begins with the root/stem of the
word truncated by the asterisk.

LinkedIn does not support the asterisk, so you will have to construct large OR statements to search for all of the various
ways someone could mention each term you’re searching for. For example: (configure OR configuring OR configured
OR configures)

Where to find the Right Candidate?

As a successful Internet Recruiter goes through various sourcing avenues and try to source the Right Talent for
available requirements. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s difficult to find the right talent. However we never
stop searching for the right talent. There are multiple areas where we can find the right talent, they are….

Job Boards: All most all the job boards go with same Boolean Logic to fetch the candidates. When using job boards,
one should thoroughly know the usage of Boolean Operators or else it will be difficult to source the right talent.
Chrome Extensions: Nowadays chrome extensions have gained and attracting the large pool of recruiters who are
working on some niche skills, most of the extensions work around LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, your emails, your
spelling corrections what not so much of the stuff is being done through the chrome extensions. However one should
know how to use a particular chrome extension.

Example: Chrome Extensions are discussed below.

X-Ray Search: At present very popular and most attracting word in the new age recruiting and recruitment firms. One
of the very useful technique to source a resume even without a job board. However one should be aware how to use
X-Ray search to fetch the candidate details.

A search engine X-ray whether Google or Bing effectively allows you to search web pages for specific keyword
combinations and information. A Google X-Ray is the most basic of Boolean logic. By using Boolean, you can target
your results without having to comb through thousands of pages of search results. It is an effective way to source for
candidates who have specialized skills and keywords listed on social networks, websites and online databases.

Now let us see how to write X-Ray String.

Example-1: site: linkedin.com -pub/dir “Bengaluru” java hibernate struts angular (we restricted to only Bengaluru)
Result: Click Here

Example-2: site: linkedin.com -pub/dir “india” java hibernate struts angular (We expanded our search to India)
Result: Click Here

Note:
☞ As always most of the Recruitment Professionals say Sourcing is not a Technology, it’s a pure skills that one
individual uses differently from others. So, it is one individual’s interest to fetch the right candidate by tweaking
the available string.
☞ X-Ray fetches the results accurately when the candidate or the skill you are looking which is properly updated in
his/her social media profile like LinkedIn, Twitter, MeetUp, GitHub, StackOverflow etc.

Helpful URLs for X-Ray Search

http://tiny.cc/56678y (this is exclusively for LinkedIn Indian Profiles of various technologies)
https://recruitin.net/ (It will generate a custom X-Ray String for LinkedIn, GitHub, Stack Overflow, Twitter etc)

GitHub Sourcing: GitHub is purely for the IT Technical People only and most of the profiles you find are developers of
various platforms. Each and every developer using GitHub, has to set up an account – a profile that is visible to the
public. And on it you can find all sorts of fantastic information about that person, including: Username, Current
employer, Location, Email address, Websites they have chosen to display. If you would like to assess the candidate’s
capability you should know the number of followers he has, 2-10 followers is good, 11-25 is great, 26-75 is exceptional
(and probably means that person is very respected within the industry), and anyone with 75+ followers is super-hot,
and will be nigh on impossible to recruit.

Step-by-Step Process of GitHub Sourcing:

Create a GitHub account: Non-logged in users are very restricted as to what they can and can’t search for in GitHub.
Search: Use the search bar on the top to search candidate using Language (Coding Language), Location and followers.

Example: language:angular location:bangalore followers:2..50

Result: Click here

Helpful URLs for GitHub Sourcing:

http://tiny.cc/2l978y (this is exclusively for GitHub Profiles of various technologies you need to mention india in search
bar while searching for the candidate)
https://recruitin.net/ (It will generate a custom X-Ray String for LinkedIn, GitHub, Stack Overflow, Twitter etc)
Social Recruiting Tools: Recruiting and Sourcing Chrome Extensions
Source: Proactive Talent (www.proactivetalent.com)
MightySourcer: Provides you with access to your candidates contact information, like email address and phone
number. Look up candidates on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or GitHub and MightySourcer will provide you with the
information you’re looking for quickly and easily.

Prophet: Lets you uncover emails, phone numbers, social media profiles, and more. Then it goes on to provide
advanced email generation for you to contact candidates.

Hunter: Searches for email addresses from any website, and verifies those email addresses as well. You can also save
potential candidates on and search for email addresses on LinkedIn.

Discoverly: allows Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to work together. See mutual Facebook friends and tweets
on LinkedIn profiles. On Facebook, you can view work experience on LinkedIn as well as recent tweets and mutual
connections.

Evernote: Pulls LinkedIn profiles in as you interview candidates and allows you to take notes. You can then search for
your notes with tags and keywords.

Clearbit Connect: Finds employee emails at any company with just a few clicks, all within Gmail. It also shows you data
when someone emails you, so you see who you're talking to, their role, and company information.

Aeroleads Prospect Finder: Finds candidates from Google, LinkedIn, and AngelList, etc., and allows you to add them
to your Aeroleads list with their contact information.

SourceHub: It is a powerful Boolean builder. Type in the job title keywords, skills, and the location, and SourceHub
will generate a Boolean search. You can also open your Boolean results in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and more to
help find the right candidates.

BOOL: Boolean Search Assistant 3.2: BOOL was designed to enable you to plan and execute smarter searches online.
Whether you are searching for people or concepts, this tool will allow you to locate your target with the precision of
a marksman.

E-Reveal - Free LinkedIn Email Finder: Reveal email addresses on LinkedIn Profiles. When you visit a LinkedIn profile,
the chrome extension will pull the person's name and company from the page.

Lusha: Lusha is the easiest way to find B2B contact information with just one click. Lusha is compatible with: Gmail,
Salesforce and LinkedIn.

SignalHire - find email or phone number: SignalHire is a great way to find contact information in a couple of clicks.
It finds up-to-date phone numbers, personal emails, and social media on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and GitHub.

Various LinkedIn Tools (Chrome Extensions) & few hacks

Source: Sandeep Dhara (My Colleague)
PS: Below tools works best in Google Chrome and signing up via your work email address.
Glossary Tech: Helps you to learn tech terms while sourcing in LinkedIn and reading resumes.
Features: Quick Brief Information of the Tech Words as Glossary
Availability: Free

Grammarly: Helps to enhance your written communication everywhere you type! By the way, this email is edited by
Grammarly
Features: Contextual spelling checker & Grammar checker
Availability: Free & Premium Version

HIRETUAL: Helps you to get contacts information on LinkedIn, Benefits you source and search profiles based on JD,
Skills & Designation and AI Sourcing.
Availability: Free (10 contacts per week) & Premium Version
Improver: Helps you find personal emails and phone numbers from social networks
Availability: Free (10 contacts per month), Essential, Professional, Premium (https://improver.io/subscription)

People Finder: Prospecting tool to find leads, get emails, phone numbers and other contact data.
Availability: Free & Premium Version

AmazingHiring: Helps you easily find someone’s account on different social networks.
Availability: Free and Premium version (https://amazinghiring.com/pricing/)
OctoHR: A tool helps recruiters to get more information about developers. Simplifies search for the new candidates
in GitHub. Availability: Free

Kendo: An Email finder extension

Availability: Free (7 credits per week) and Premium version

RocketBolt: Email Lead Tracking for Gmail

Yesware: Email Tracking

Availability: Free and Paid version (https://www.yesware.com/plans-and-pricing/)

Ceev: LinkedIn Resume creator (looks professional at least)

Feature: Turn the LinkedIn profile into an attractive resume and you can download it as PDF/Print.

Black Menu from Google: A Utility tool (The easiest way to access the Google universe/various Google products like
eg: Maps, Spreadsheets, Ad Sense, Search Engine, Drive, Calendar etc)

Sources:
Tilde ~: https://rossrecruit.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/using-the-tilde-in-boolean-search-strings-in-google/
Boolean Originate: https://www.lifewire.com/what-does-boolean-search-3481475