Searching Techniques Training

Presented to: Recruiting / Sourcing Team

Training Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:

Understand the purpose of the different Boolean operators.

Use Boolean operators.

Create search strings using Boolean logic.

Understand the principles of resume search.

The Meaning of Search

True search is finding the right resource at the right time for the
right position.
Search can not be limited to keywords, Boolean, or Job
Boards. Be it through any Job Boards, User Groups / Forums,
Search Agents, or Referrals, one of the important tool to do a
searches is logic and permutations and combinations.

Boolean Algebra
Was developed by George Boole in the 19th century.
Is used for searching data.
Consists of Boolean operators that connect search words forming a
search string.
Allows you to use different Boolean operators to either broaden or
narrow down your search.
NOTE: If you understand Boolean algebra, you will be able to
penetrate effectively and with incredible speed and accuracy into
the resume databases.

Boolean Operators
Are similar to the conjunctions in English language.
There are three Boolean operators:
1. AND
2. OR
3. AND NOT
There are two modifiers:
1. Quotes
2. Brackets ( )
There is a wild card:
1. *

Keywords
Words, phrases, or terms that you can enter to describe
technical and professional experience, locations, and company
names.
Help you maximize the chances of retrieving those resumes that
most accurately match your search.
Are highlighted in the resumes that are returned by a search
string.
Examples :
Project Manager | Project Manager | Certified Project Manager
California, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut

The AND Operator

When used between keywords, AND connects multiple
keywords. For example: Project AND Manager AND PMP
Use AND when you are looking specifically for results that
have both terms. Project Manager AND PMP
Using AND narrows your search results.
If you do not use a keyword, AND is implied by default. For
Example - Project, Manager, PMP is same as Project AND
Manager AND PMP .
All keywords connected using the AND operator are returned
in the search result. For Example Project AND Manager
AND PMP will return results with all the three search
words.

The OR Operator
When used between keywords, OR retrieves results that
contain either word surrounding it.
Use OR when there is more than one word that describes
the same term. For example Developer OR
Programmer OR Software Engineer
Using OR widens your search results.
At least one keyword connected using the OR operator is
returned in the search result. For example Project
Manager OR Project Management Professional OR PMP
will return results with at least one search parameter.

The AND NOT Operator

When used between keywords, AND NOT excludes the
keyword or keyword phrase following it.
Use AND NOT to eliminate certain resumes from your
search results.
The keyword connected using the NOT operator is excluded
in the search result.
For Example Project Manager AND PMP AND NOT
Architect AND NOT Designer will return results with only
the keywords Project Manager and PMP without the
keywords Architect and Designer.

Modifiers Quotes
When used around keywords, quotes define an exact phrase.
Use quotes around a phrase when you want to search for a specific
phrase.
Using quotes narrows your search results.
For example if we want the words Project and Manager to be next to
each other in the string - Project Manager.
For example if we want the words Web and Services to be next to
each other in the string Web Services.
The same would be true for a persons name George Washington
or George Washington, PMP or George Washington Jr.

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Modifiers - (Parentheses)
Denote a subset (Similar Logic / Meaning / Preferred Meaning)
of a Boolean equation.
When used around keywords, parenthesis separate keyword
phrases. (Project Manager OR PM) AND Web
Services AND PMP.
Are used when searching for multiple phrases at the same time
and it narrows the search results. For example - (Project
Manager OR PM) AND (PMP OR Project
Management Professional) AND (Web Services OR
Web Technologies)
Note: Over a period of time you will notice that ( ) is used for ORs.

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Modifiers - (Parentheses)
THE ROLE OF PARENTHESES IN BOOLEAN SEARCHES
1 PLUS 2 MULTIPLIED BY 2 IS EQUAL TO 5 0R 6: It makes a
difference how you group the numbers below by putting in
parentheses:
1+2x2= 5 or 6
1+(2x2)=5 Here we did the multiply first, and then
the add..Multiply is similar to and
(1+2)x2=6 Here we did the add first, and then the
multiply. Addition is similar to or
Ex #1:
Ex #2:
16
Ex #3:

1 x (3 + 2) = 1 x 5 = 5
1 x (3 + 2) x (1 + 2) + 1 = 1 x 5 x 3 + 1 = 15 + 1 =
(1 x (3 + 2) x (1 + 2) + 1) x 2 = 16 x 2 = 32

Parentheses group search terms for effective searches.

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Boolean Search - Examples

Your mother sends you to the store to get ingredients for a cake.
She asks you to get following ingredients for the cake:
whole wheat flour or refined wheat flour and sugar or honey and
butter or oil and soda, but no Chilly Powder and Talcum Powder
(whole wheat flour OR refined wheat flour ) AND (sugar or
honey) AND (butter or oil) AND soda AND NOT Chilly
powder AND NOT Talcum Powder

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Basics Concepts for Resume Search

Understanding the Requirement:
1. Read the given requirement carefully and highlight ALL of the
following points in the given requirement:

Major skill sets

Optional skill sets
Designation OR Title
Total experience
Relevant experience in the desired skill set
Location
Desired bill rate
Salary range for contract to hire position
Duration

2. Develop a basic understanding of the given technical skill sets

or research if unfamiliar.

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Basics Concepts for Resume Search

Building the Keywords:
1. Use the highlighted words in the requirement to build the
keywords.
2. Use all the keywords in the major skills sets and any of the
words in the optional skill sets depending on the number of
search results returned.
3. If using Boolean operators use AND for the MUST HAVE skills
and OR for the OPTIONAL skills.

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Basics Concepts for Resume Search

Searching and Selecting:
1. Match the number of years of experience with what the position
requires.
2. Select ONLY those candidates who have had RECENT EXPERIENCE
(till past 1 year) in the skill sets given in the requirement.
3. To have a better understanding of the requirement and skill sets, go
through at least five resumes that contain the keywords.
4. Prefer local candidates (located in commuting distance of the
work/client site) because they can easily commute to the client site
for an interview. Local candidates usually do not fallout when the
offer is made.
5. Select the candidates who have worked in the same industry or is an
ex-employee.

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Boolean Search - Examples

Project Manager or PMP and Web Services - without
parentheses or a rule that says do and first & then or, or vice versa
PMP or (Project Manager and Web Services) - resume must
have PMP or either Project Manager and Web Services
(PMP or Project Manager) and Web Services - resume must
have PMP or Project Manager and Web Services
Project Manager or PMP and Web Services is the same if as
(Project Manager) AND (PMP) AND (Web Services)
Sometimes resumes will have Project Manager or Web Services as one
word ProjectManager. To make sure we dont miss these resumes, we
change the search string to: (Project Manager OR
ProjectManager) AND PMP AND (Web Services OR
WebServices)

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Boolean Search String Searches

Project Manager:
Experience with reconciliation, accounting, banking, capacity planning
preferred.
Must have experience with Sarbanes Oxley
Need to coordinate and work with Offshore and Onsite team.

Possible Search Strings:

"project manage*" and (account* or reconcil* or bank* or "capacity plan*" or
remote or offshore) and (sox or sarbane*)
"project manage*" AND (remote or offshore) AND (accounting OR
reconciliation OR bank* OR "capacity planning" OR sox OR sarbanes)

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Boolean Search String Searches (contd)

Database Administrator:
1. Must have hands on experience with data modeling or design of a
database.
2. Must have experience in Microsoft SQL Server 7.0.
3. Strongly prefer working knowledge in either C++ and/or Java.
4. Database experience with back-up, tuning, stored procedures, and
security.
5. 1 year experience with XML

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Boolean Search String Searches

(contd)
Possible Search Strings:
1. (Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 AND modeling AND design AND backup AND tuning AND stored procedures AND security)
It would find the perfect candidate, but will display a few results.
A candidate who may have all the required skills, but has not mentioned
ANY ONE of them assuming that the recruiter would know that the
candidate had the skills by looking at the resume, his/her resume WOULD
NOT be surfaced out of the database. For example a Database
Administrator might have back-up and tuning in their background, but
just didnt put it on the resume.
We can solve this by Oring together the requirements in bullet #1 above.
We can also drop Microsoft from the above equation.
2. (SQL Server 7.0 AND modeling AND design) AND (back-up OR
tuning OR stored procedures OR security)
Not everybody is going to put modeling AND design in their resume.
So lets OR those together in the next Option.

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Boolean Search String Searches

(contd)
3. SQL Server 7.0 AND (modeling OR design) AND (back-up
OR tuning OR stored procedures OR security)
After running several searches using the above Boolean search
string, we find that many of the resumes are those of Java and
C++ programmers, and they only dabbled at one point in their
career in the world of databases.
These people never had the title of Database Administrator. Our
client is looking for a strong, databases-are-all-Im-interested-in
kind of person, so we need to add Database Administrator.
Some resumes may have Database Administrator on them and
not DBA and vice versa, so we need to include BOTH by ORing
these two terms together.

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Boolean Search String Searches

(contd)
4. (Database Administrator or DBA) and SQL Server 7.0 and
(modeling or design) and (back-up or tuning or stored
procedures or security)
This is a good search string, but displays only a few results
because SQL Server 7.0 has only been out for 1 year.
There are plenty of SQL Server 6.5 candidates, but the client
only wants those who have SQL Server 7.0.
There are several alternative ways we can find these people:
1. SQL Server some resumes will leave off the 7.0 even
though they have it.
2. SQL 7 some resumes will shorten the phrase by leaving
out the word server (remember a search engine is looking
for a very specific string of characters in a specific order).
3. SQL Server 6.5/7.0 DBAs who have had both 6.5 and 7.0
experience will frequently list their experience in this /
format.
4. 5/7 - Monster does not recognize non-letters or numbers,
and so 6.5/7.0 looks like 5/7 to Monster, so if we find the
string, 5/7, we have got a pretty good shot at finding the
right person.

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Boolean Search String Searches

(contd)
5. (Database Administrator or DBA) and (SQL Server 7.0 or
SQL 7 or SQL Server 6.5/7.0 or 5/7) and (modeling or
design) and (back-up or tuning or stored procedures or
security)

There can be lot of other ways to approach this search, but it

gives you a good start.
Find these resumes and start prioritizing those which have C++
or Java (7/10) and those that have XML (5/10).

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Boolean Search String Searches

(contd)
Windows Applications Programmer:
Windows AND c++ AND (vb OR "Visual Basic" or basic) AND sql AND
(crystal OR c# OR debug* OR bank*)
Windows AND c++ AND (vb OR "Visual Basic" or basic) AND (sql OR
crystal OR c# OR debug* OR bank*)
Mainframe Programmer/Analyst:
cobol AND cics AND (idms OR db2) AND (jcl OR bank* OR "general
ledger" or "GL")

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Growth Path for a Technical Profile

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Generic Search Strings

Title: Oracle DBA
oracle AND (8* OR 9* OR 10*) AND (dba OR "database administrator") AND
(production OR install* OR backup OR recovery OR troubleshoot* OR cluster OR
rac OR rman OR "performance tuning" OR "database design" OR modeling)
====================================================
Title: Sql Server DBA
("sql server" OR sql*server OR ms*sql) AND (dba OR "database administrator")
AND (production OR install* OR backup OR recovery OR troubleshoot* OR
"performance tuning" OR "database design" OR modeling OR dts OR "enterprise
manager")
====================================================
SQL Server Developers
("sql server" OR sql*server OR ms*sql) AND (sql OR t*sql) AND ("stored
procedure" OR stored procedures OR trigger* OR function* OR view* OR query
OR package* OR index OR join OR table OR "sql developer" OR 2000 OR 2005
OR dts)

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Generic Search Strings

Cognos
cognos AND (powerplay OR impromptu OR reportnet OR transformer OR upfront
OR iwr OR "metrics manager" OR scheduler OR "access manager" OR "balanced
scorecard" or dashboard)
====================================================
Title : C++ developer
(c++ OR vc++ OR "visual c++" OR "borland c++") AND (unix or linux or solaris
or bsd or windows) AND (multithreading OR multi*threading OR ooad OR "object
oriented" OR oops OR polymorphism OR overload* OR gui OR com OR dcom OR
corba OR orbix )
====================================================
Title : C++ / Unix / shell scripting
c++ AND (unix or linux or solaris or bsd) AND (c AND korn OR ksh OR bourne OR
c*sh OR csh OR shell OR perl OR sed OR awk)

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Generic Search Strings

Title : Informatica
informatica AND (powermart OR powercenter) OR ("business objects" OR cognos
OR reportnet OR bo) AND (sql OR pl*sql OR etl)
=====================================================
=====
Title : pl sql developer
pl*sql AND oracle AND ("stored procedures" OR stored procedure OR triggers
OR functions OR views OR synonyms OR sequence OR query OR index OR join OR
table OR packages OR "sql developer" )
=====================================================
=====
Title : BIZTALK
biztalk AND .net AND ("biztalk mapp*" OR "biztalk designer" OR "messaging
manager" OR "biztalk server" OR "biztalk server administration" OR "biztalk
editor" OR orchestration OR xml OR xslt OR webservices OR c#)

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Generic Search Strings

Title: AB-INITIO
ab*initio AND ("data mapping") AND (etl OR datawarehouse OR unix or "star
schema" OR (snow*flake AND schema) OR teradata OR (shell AND script*) OR sql
OR pl*sql OR etl OR kimball OR extract* OR analyz* OR ods OR "data model" OR
erwin OR oltp OR olap)
=====================================================
====
.NET Web development
.net AND asp.net AND (c# OR vb.net) AND webforms AND sql*server
=====================================================
=====
.NET Client/Server development
.net AND (c# OR vb.net) AND winforms AND sql*server
=====================================================
=====
.NET c# development
.net AND c# AND (ado OR winforms OR webforms OR remoting) AND (sql OR
sql*server OR oracle)

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Generic Search Strings

Title :QA TESTER
qa OR "quality assurance" OR tester OR testing AND (mercury OR stress
testing OR stress test OR "performance*" OR "load*" OR "winrunner" OR silk
OR qa OR function* OR regression OR "test director" OR "requirement testing"
OR "quick test pro" OR qtp OR win* OR "white box" OR "black box" OR
automat*)
====================================================
======
.NET Architect
.net AND (c# OR vb.net) AND (design OR uml) AND (analysis OR architect OR
lead) AND pattern* AND (winforms OR webforms) AND sql*server
====================================================
======
Title : weblogic admin
admin* AND weblogic AND java AND (mq*series OR monitor OR performance
OR backup OR restore OR troubleshoot* OR unix OR solaris OR availability AND
scalability OR roles or policies) AND (oracle OR sql*server OR db2 OR sybase)

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Generic Search Strings

Title : Java Architect
(java OR jdk) AND j2ee AND (struts OR jsf OR hibernate OR toplink OR
patterns) AND (weblogic OR websphere OR jboss) AND (sql OR oracle OR
"sql server" OR db2) AND (xml OR xslt)
====================================================
Title : java developer
java AND (j2ee OR ejb OR jdk OR jsp OR swing OR awt) AND (websphere OR
weblogic OR tomcat OR jboss OR "sun one" OR hibernate OR xml OR xslt) AND
(oracle OR "sql server" OR sql OR db2)

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The Best Way to Find Candidates

Try, try, and try again but with the right Searching
Techniques.

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Hope you would not need to scramble like this!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

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