This document discusses 5 common mistakes made when conducting boolean searches: 1) Not understanding the notation used for AND, OR, and NOT across different databases, 2) Using limited keywords that may miss candidates who describe themselves differently, 3) Attempting to write the "perfect" search string without starting broad and iteratively refining, 4) Not cross-referencing search results across different databases and platforms to find additional candidates, 5) Failing to save searches so they can be easily updated and replicated. The document provides tips on how to address each mistake to improve search effectiveness.

1. TOP 5 BOOLEAN
SEARCH
MISTAKES
KATHARINE ROBINSON
@THESOURCERESS
21ST MAY 2015

2. 1. THE NOTATION
Logical statements constructed with AND, OR and
NOT should be understood by all databases. They
don’t all use the same language to describe this
though.
AND
OR
NOT

3. 1. THE NOTATION
“Quote Marks”
(Brackets)
Remember:
• Use Brackets when searching LinkedIn
• Check the ‘help’ documentation for your CV databases
• Capital letters for your ORs

4. 2. LIMITED
KEYWORDS
Do you search like this?
What if someone described themselves differently?
• Talent Acquisition
Specialist
• Recruiter
• Executive Search
Consultant
• Head of Resourcing
• Resourcer
• Resourcing Manager
• Recruitment Lead
• Recruitment Partner
• Talent Partner…

5. 2. LIMITED
KEYWORDS
What about something like this?
recruiter OR recruitment OR recruiting OR
“executive search” OR talent OR resourcing
OR resourcer
In the ‘Title’ field of a LinkedIn Advanced Search.
Tools like Social Talent’s Source Hub can help you generate
additional keywords for your search.

6. 3. TRYING TO WRITE
THE PERFECT STRING
It’s impossible!
• Start your searches broad
• Don’t exclude terms before you know they’re a problem
• Your first search should never be your last

7. 4. NOT CROSS
REFERENCING
Can you find out more about that great candidate you just found on
LinkedIn?
Where might it lead you?
1. One great candidate on LinkedIn
2. Was mentioned on an Industry news site
3. 8 new names also mentioned on that site
4. Back to LinkedIn – not all of them are there…
5. One of them has a profile on their company website
6. 5 more relevant people profiled on company website– not all on
LinkedIn!

10. 5. NOT SAVING
SEARCHES
You might want to consider:
• Saved Searches on LinkedIn (You have 3 with a free account)
• Creating Search Alerts on Job Board CV databases
• Using Google Alerts
• Creating bookmarks
• Saving searches in a notepad file (don’t use Word!)

11. ANY
QUESTIONS?
Katharine Robinson
Sourcing Hat Ltd
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/katharinerobinson
Join the UK Sourcers group
Twitter: @SourcingHat
@UKSourcers
Email: kathairne@sourceress.co.uk
Call: 07779 716 147

12. FURTHER READING /
RESOURCES
138 Job Titles for In-house Recruiters:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140702150937-1337630-
the-137-names-you-can-call-an-in-house-recruitment-
professional-well-if-you-re-playing-nicely
Glen Cathey on hidden profiles:
http://booleanblackbelt.com/2011/03/linkedins-dark-matter-
undiscovered-profiles/
Social Talent’s free Source Hub tool:
https://source.socialtalent.co/
Katharine’s LinkedIn profile search tool:
http://uksourcers.co.uk/useful-tools/uk-linkedin-profile-cse/