Boolean Sourcing with LinkedIn

1. BOOLEAN SOURCING WITH
LINKEDIN
ByTonie Snell, Diversity JobMingler

2. SOURCINGVS. RECRUITING
 SOURCING is the act of identifying prospect candidates who fit a target profile. It involves a
distinct process of researching and discovering talent online using things like boolean strings
and x-ray searches, alongside new technologies and creative techniques. A true expert at
sourcing is generally more comfortable (and productive) researching and pre-qualifying than
interviewing and closing. And even with the most leading-edge technology and tools, it can be
an incredibly time-consuming process.
 RECRUITING is the act of selecting and closing a candidate. It involves more one-to-one
contact with a candidate. The full process of ‘recruiting’ is often shared between many people
in an organization, both internal and external. For example, while one person (say an internal
recruiter of HR Manager) will do intial screening and phone interview, a different person (the
hiring manager) might run longer interviews and make the final decision. they’re all doing
‘recruiting’ in some way.

3. X-RAY SEARCH STRINGVIA LINKEDIN
Building an X-ray search string can often look like lines of coding. The more
detailed, the better the results.
Please check tools at the end of this presentation to assist you in sourcing better.

4. WHAT IS BOOLEAN
Boolean has been around forever for one reason. Developed by the English mathematician and computer
pioneer George Boole, a Boolean or bool consists of operators such as AND, OR, NOT, Quotations.
Parentheses Plus sign (+), Minus sign (-) and dates. Boolean operators help you find results more closely
related to profiles or resumes you are looking for.

5. QUOTES
 Boolean Operators “Quotes” Tell your string exactly what to look for in the search “Network Engineer”

6. AND
 Boolean Operators AND - Tells your string to join different concepts or aspects of the search. Separate
terms using upper-case AND Network Engineer AND CCNP.

7. OR
 Boolean Operators OR Tells your string to connect similar concepts, terms that mean the same
thing. Separate terms using upper-case OR “Network Engineer” OR “Security Engineer”:
 site:linkedin.com “Network Engineer” OR “Security Engineer” + "Switching OR Routing" -jobs

8. NOT
 Boolean Operators NOT Tells your string to exclude a particular terms from your search, use a uppercase
NOT before the term “Software Engineer” NOT “Systems Engineer”:
site:linkedin.com “Software Engineer” AND "Java OR Node.js" NOT "Systems Engineer" -jobs

9. PARENTHESES
 Boolean Operators Parentheses – For more complex searches allows you to nest terms and modifiers ( )
site:linkedin.com (“Sales Engineer” OR “Technical Sales Engineer”): “location * San Jose” –jobs -Senior

10. MINUS SIGN
 The minus sign is crucial when performing an X-ray search on LinkedIn. It is my
default to remove all job related results.
 -jobs
 -recruiters
 -Senior
 -Sr

11. PLUS SIGN
 Plus signs are great for adding locations or searching for talent actively seeking
employment when performing an X-ray search! I use them in conjunction with
AND to narrow down results further.
 +United States
 +Ohio
 +Seeking
 +Looking

12. DATES - LOCATIONS
Searching graduation dates & locations is imperative in University Recruiting.
Below is a search string you can use as example:
 site:linkedin.com -dir (java | j2ee) -recruiter (engineer | intern | developer)
“location * San Jose” “(“BA” | ” B.A.” | “BS” | “B.S.” | “Bachelor” | “Bachelors”) * *
* * * * 2016″
Cut and paste the above search string and see what you find… change out dates,
role titles, degrees and skill set per your requirements.

13. DIVERSITY
Mix up your search string a bit by adding the following:
Woman | Girl | Lady
You can add:
 Sororities, fraternities
 Military: ARMY OR Navy OR Marines OR Airforce
 Organizations catering to diversity:
(“Society ofWomen Engineers OR Lesbians WhoTech”), (“National Society of Black
Engineers OR NSBE”), (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers OR SHPE”)
 Try adding HBCU’s or HSI’s to your search string as well!

14. NOWYOUTRY IT… SEARCH FOR A SWE:
 SWE
 Java OR NODE.js OR JS
 NOT Senior SWE
 Location: North Carolina
 Graduation Dates: 2016-2017
 National Society of Black Engineers OR NSBE
 Women OR Girl OR Lady

15. MUST HAVE CHROME EXTENSIONS FOR
SOURCING
 Prophet: an extension that allows you to discover more information about a candidate from their social
media profile.
 CrystalKnows: shows you the best way to communicate with any prospect, customer, or coworker
based on their unique personality.
 Social Talent: Free Boolean Builder
 Rapportive: shows you everything about your contacts right inside your inbox. (Gmail)
 FB UID Scraper: is a Chrome Extension optimized for recruiters to pull user data from Facebook
Graph Search. Facebook Graph Search, is a search engine that allowed people to search using regular
language. For example, rather than creating elaborate boolean searches, you can create a search to find
people who are not my friends and went to work at [Company] in [Year].
 Lusha: is the easiest way to find email addresses & phone numbers from anywhere on the web, with just
one click
 Aevy: a sourcing tool that helps you find, qualify and engage with talent.

16. NEED ASSISTANCE
 I would be happy to assist you with building a search string that yield you better
results.
Diversity JobMingler
360HR
Happy Hunting!