How do I write Boolean search strings for sourcing candidates?

Boolean search strings for sourcing candidates combine keywords with the operators AND, OR and NOT, plus quotes and parentheses, to narrow or widen results. Put synonyms inside OR groups in parentheses, join groups with AND, and exclude noise with NOT. Operator support differs by platform, so test each string.

At a glance

Operators in capitals. Google search treats the minus sign (-term) as NOT.

What is the basic pattern?

(title synonyms) AND (must-have skills) AND (location or industry) NOT (noise terms)

Copy-paste strings (edit the [brackets])

Backend software engineer

("software engineer" OR "backend engineer" OR "backend developer") AND (python OR java OR golang OR "node.js") AND (aws OR gcp OR azure) NOT (intern OR student OR recruiter)

Registered nurse, ICU

("registered nurse" OR RN) AND (ICU OR "intensive care" OR "critical care") AND (BLS OR ACLS) NOT (student OR "nursing assistant")

Accounts payable specialist

("accounts payable" OR "AP specialist" OR "AP analyst") AND (NetSuite OR SAP OR QuickBooks) AND ("invoice processing" OR reconciliation)

Sales development rep

("sales development" OR SDR OR BDR OR "business development representative") AND (outbound OR "cold calling" OR salesforce) AND (SaaS OR software)

How do I find people on LinkedIn?

Paste a string into the search box and apply filters (location, current company). Use exact quotes for titles. LinkedIn's Boolean support has limits (for example string length); confirm in their help page.

What is an X-ray search?

An X-ray search uses a general search engine to search inside one website. Example (Google):

site:linkedin.com/in ("data engineer") ("Spark" OR "Databricks") "[city]" -recruiter -intern

Replace linkedin.com/in with another public site such as github.com. Only use public information, respect each site's terms of use, and follow privacy and anti-spam rules when you contact people.

How do I improve a string that returns too few or too many results?

• Too many: add a must-have skill with AND, add NOT terms, use exact phrases.
• Too few: add title synonyms in OR, remove the location, drop one skill.
• Irrelevant: look at five profiles, copy the words they use, and add them.

Mistakes to avoid

• Stacking dozens of OR terms: results get noisy.
• Forgetting parentheses: "a OR b AND c" is read differently by different tools.
• Searching for job titles only: people use different titles for the same work.

What do the platforms say about operators?

Google's search help documents quotes for exact phrases, a minus sign directly before a word to exclude it, and site: to limit results to one site or domain, with no space after the colon. It also documents before:, after: and filetype:, which help when you X-ray for public CVs or old pages.

LinkedIn's help page says to type AND, OR and NOT in capital letters, wrap phrases in quotes and use parentheses to group terms. It lists braces, square brackets, angle brackets and asterisk wildcards as unsupported, and says the plus and minus symbols are not officially supported, so use AND and NOT there. That means the develop* wildcard in the table above works in some tools but not in LinkedIn's search.

Step by step: build a string from a job description

1. List the title and its synonyms.
2. List three to five must-have skills, and put alternative names for the same skill in an OR group.
3. Add one location or industry term only if the role needs it.
4. Add NOT terms for noise you saw in a first test.
5. Run the string, open five profiles, and note the words they use.
6. Edit, save the final string with the job in your notes, and reuse it next time.

Common mistakes with search operators

• Typing a space after site: so Google ignores it.
• Using a wildcard on LinkedIn, where it is not supported.
• Typing operators in lowercase on LinkedIn.
• Copying one long string between platforms without testing.

FAQ

Is Boolean search still useful with AI tools? It is precise and repeatable, and you can see why someone matched. AI search can complement it.

Are Boolean strings the same on every site? No. Test on each.

Can I contact anyone I find? Check consent rules for the country and the platform's terms first.

Does Google use AND, OR and NOT? Google documents quotes, the minus sign and site:. Test OR and other operators before you rely on them, and check the live help page.

Sources

• Google Search help, refine web searches: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433
• LinkedIn Help, Boolean search: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a524335