The document discusses Boolean logic and how it can be used for effective searching. It begins by explaining what Boolean logic is, naming its origins with George Boole. It then outlines the main Boolean operators - AND, OR, NOT, NEAR - and modifiers like quotation marks, parentheses, and wildcards. Examples are given to demonstrate how each operator works. The document emphasizes that Boolean logic allows recruiters to search more efficiently by combining terms and excluding unwanted results. It encourages readers to practice with sample searches to learn how Boolean works for optimizing online searches.

1. TOPICS
 Boolean Tactics
 What is Boolean Logic?
 Types of Boolean
 The Boolean Operators / The Boolean Modifiers
 The Boolean Operators
 The Boolean Modifiers
 Basic Boolean Operators/Modifiers Explained
 Boolean search works based on logic

3. As a recruiter it is paramount that we endeavor
(make an effort) to make our Web searches more
sophisticated, effective, and streamlined.
Effectively utilizing Boolean searching is the way
we accomplish this goal for both online web
searches and for archived resume/profile databases.
In this session, we'll talk about the origins of
Boolean terminology, how Boolean search really
works, and look at specific examples of this
incredibly easy to use and logical search system.

5. Boolean logic is named after George Boole (1815-1864),
an obscure nineteenth century English mathematician.
Boole invented a new form of algebra in which values
are either true or false. His binary logic is the
foundation of digital circuit design and a part of the
language of internet search engines. Don’t worry - you
don’t have to remember high school algebra to make
Boolean logic work.
Most online databases (Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice,
etc.) and search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.)
support Boolean searches. Boolean search techniques
can be used to carry out effective searches, cutting out
many unrelated documents and highlighting the
information you need.

7. AND
OR
() – Brackets/Parentheses
“” – Quotation Marks
* – Asterisk (Wildcard Symbol)
NOT – (sometimes AND NOT)
NEAR

9. BOOLEAN OPERATORS BOOLEAN MODIFIERS
 AND
 OR
 NOT
 NEAR
 “ “Quotation Marks
 ( ) Brackets/Parentheses
 * Asterisk (Wildcard Symbol)

11. BOOLEAN OPERATOR # 1: AND
AND is the simplest function to apply. Any search terms that follow an AND command must appear in the
result. For example:
Engineer AND “Senior Developer”
Will give results that include both the word engineer and the phrase “Senior Developer”. All search results will
include both, and any CVs that have either Engineer or “Senior Developer” (but not both) will not appear.
BOOLEAN OPERATOR # 2: OR
Use OR between terms to search for resumes that contain either word surrounding it.
Usage of the OR command allows you to create a list of possibilities for which only one match is important. For
example, the following search phrase would give you results that contain one or more of the stated words:
Engineer or “Senior Developer”
Boolean Operator # 3: NOT (sometimes AND NOT)
NOT is the command of exclusion. If there are closely related terms that mean very different things, then usage
of the NOT command is extremely valuable. An example could be as follows:
architect NOT “software architect”
This would give you results that contain the word architect, but leaving out any that use the phrase “software
architects”. Very useful if you are operating in the construction industry.
The one major limitation with the NOT command is that it isn’t recognized by Google.
Boolean Operator # 4: NEAR
Returns pages in your search string with both terms within close proximity to each other on the page. Usually
within ten words or less.
The "near" operator indicates that the search words you have entered must appear within a certain number of
words of each other (usually between one and 20).
For example, a search for " Sales near Management“ would turn up results in which the two words appear close
together.

13. Boolean Modifier # 1: “ “Quotation Marks
Use “ ” (quotation marks) around multiple terms to search for resumes that include
the term included in quotes. For example, “UNIX programmer” will return resumes
that include that specific term, rather than separate occurrences of the two words. As
You will have noticed that I have used the “” expression above in some examples
already, wrapped around particular keywords.
Boolean Modifier # 2: ( ) Brackets/Parentheses
Using brackets is essential for complex search strings, and it can be their application
that causes the most confusion. Essentially, a clause within brackets is given priority
over other elements around it. The most common place that brackets are applied by
recruiters is in the use of OR strings. Perhaps a good example would be company
names. 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. You might
initially construct a command like this:
IBM OR Oracle OR “Red Hat” OR Microsoft

14. These are all large companies though, so any search like this is likely to generate a
large number of results. If you wanted to find just individuals who have reached
Manager or Director level, then you might use the following command:
“Manager” OR “Director”
To combine both commands into one search, we use brackets to tell the search
engine that these are separate conditions. In order to tell the search engine that we
want to see results containing either Manager or Director and also one of IBM,
Oracle, Red Hat, or Microsoft, we group them like this:
(“Manager” OR “Director”) AND (IBM OR Oracle OR “Red Hat” OR Microsoft)
It makes no difference which order the two bracketed sections go; the same results
will result either way.
Boolean Modifier # 3: * wild card symbol
The asterisk can replace one or more letters at the end of a word. This might help you
search for something that can be phrased differently.
Example: Develop* (would retrieve pages with the words Developer, Developing,
Development etc.)

15. Although Boolean logic is a very effective tool to assist you with your searches.
There are other factors you must keep in mind. The search terms you use are just as
important as the Boolean logic. If a search is proving unproductive, maybe there
are synonyms to some of the search terms? Are there different job titles for this
position? Play with different combinations of search terms and see what results
you get. It is not uncommon to have to run four to six different search term
combinations to find the right resumes.
From my experience over the years I would say only about 50% - 60% of recruiters
are aware of Boolean Logic and use it when conducting searches. Boolean Logic
can increase your edge in terms of speed and efficiency of sourcing resumes online.
Use it and your already putting yourself ahead of half your recruiting competition.

17. Here I will try to explain how to use Boolean operators effectively to
extract most suitable profiles from resume database.
Here are two cases out of which I will take one and make an effective
search string using Boolean operators. You can take the other case or
think of a case on your own and try to use Boolean operators for it. This
will help you learn it better.

18. Case 1: We are searching for candidates with Core Java and
Multi Threading skills and Unix / Linux / Solaris platform
experience but he should not have worked in telecom or
networking domain.
Case 2: We are looking for Project Managers in insurance
domain but he should have retail experience not
institutional or corporate sales.

19. MAIN BOOLEAN OPERATORS:

20. RECAP
AND - is used when we want both skill sets such as X AND Y
OR - is used when we want any of the available options i.e.: X OR Y OR
Z
Bracket/parentheses () - is used when AND and OR functions are
used in same string. i.e.: X AND (Y OR Z). The above search means X is
mandatory and either of Y or Z will do.
Quotation mark”—“ is used when we are looking for exact phrases
i.e. “technical architect”. This search will find resumes with exact
phrase “technical architect” written in them.
NOT - NOT is used when we don’t want a specific word in a resume
i.e.: (X AND Y) AND NOT Z.

21. Here, I will take the 1st case:
1. If we put a search - Corejava AND multithreading, we will find profiles where all
these words are mentioned i.e.: all the candidates might have worked on corejava,
multithreading
2. Now the problem is - there may be many profiles where people would have written
corejava as core java and multithreading as multi threading or multi-threading.
We don’t want to miss any of them. So how do we accommodate them? Here OR
function comes handy. We can change our search string to - (Corejava OR “Core
java”) AND (multithreading OR “multi threading” OR “multi-threading”).
3. But we are looking for people who have worked either unix or linux or solaris
platform. So now the string becomes (Corejava OR “core java”) and
(multithreading OR “multi threading” OR “multi-threading”) and (unix OR linux
OR solaris).
4. Now we are looking for people who have worked in core java, multithreading in
unix/linux/solaris platform but he should not be from telecom or networking
background.

22. So the search string we can use is (CoreJava OR “core java”) AND
(multithreading OR “multi threading” OR “multi-threading”) AND
(Unix OR Linux OR Solaris) AND NOT (telecom OR networking)
Now this is a strong Boolean search string which covers all the aspects of the
case. Here the results will be lesser in number yet most relevant - exactly what
we want.
As I told you earlier, only reading will not do. Take an example and try using
the Boolean operators one by one. Look at the results and analyze them. You
will find out the pattern very soon.

23. SOME RECOMMENDATIONS
When ever searching for any skill try to put all the alternatives a candidate could have
used to mention that skills set i.e. (multithreading OR “multi threading” OR
“multi threading”). This will make your search more robust.
USE NOT OPERATOR CAREFULLY: For example: You have mentioned NOT X
where you don’t want people who have worked on X skill. Here the search will remove
every resume where X is mentioned even once . As a result you may miss some people
who have worked in your required skill sets and casually written X once or twice
somewhere in there resumes. So before putting NOT operator, think of all the
outcomes.
Boolean operators are not as complicated as they are thought to be. After all you have
to learn only 5 operators. Remember how many formulas we used to practice in math
class in school!
Portal or internal database have huge number of resume of all skill sets. So the key
lies in finding the right resume quickly. Strong Boolean skill will help you achieve
that.

24. Thank
You
Content Source : Google & Wiki