five easy steps to building winning boolean search strings

5 EASY STEPS TO WRITING WINNING BOOLEAN SEARCH STRINGS

PREFACE• My first job as a recruiter 20+ years ago

• 100% semiconductor recruiting

• Phone and IEEE Directory pass around

• 3 years of 100% cold calling and networking

• In approximately 1998 discovery of a new database called Monster

• Excitement, elation, relief!!! ……… I want you to experience this!!!

• Passionate about teaching others

•Boolean has become the way to crack the code for sourcing. This book is a sourcing playbook or roadmap. A toolbox. A way to hit a home run in sourcing!

• From 1998 to 2013 (15 years), 99% of hires came from Monster then LinkedIn Recruiter (paid databases).

• No more cold calling.

• No more using directories, IEEE or otherwise.

•If searching for passive candidates using Google and (inURL:resume OR inTitle:resume) etc, for example, you're still using Boolean whether or not it is realized as such or not.

Where did this name Boolean come from?

•George Boole, math professor in England in late 1800's

•Boole > Boolean

•Smithson > Smithsonean Smithsonian: National Museum in Washington, D.C.

•Donald Duck > Duckean Huey, Dewey, and Louie

Things I’ve heard…..

• "No recruiter really understands Boolean“

• "It takes a math genius to figure out this stuff“

• "It seems to me that all you do is throw a jumble of words at it and hope you get some good resumes.”

No more! Today is a new day!

• YOU ARE GOING TO GET THIS!

• YOU ARE GOING TO NEED HELP TO NOT UNDERSTAND IT!

• "You mean to tell me that is all there is to it?….And all this time I thought it was so hard“

• YOUR BEST SOURCING AND RECRUITING DAYS ARE YET TO COME!!!

IntroductionGoing over AND's & OR's:

Eyes roll as I hear my audience say, "yeah, yeah, we've seen all this before and we know all about AND's & OR's".

Yawn

But show a job description slide and ask them how to write the Boolean search string to find candidates.

Like pulling down a window shade = glaze comes down over the face of my audienceBrains shifted into 'Park' and pulled up the emergency brake.

I knew I had lost my audience

But now, 5 easy steps……

But show a job description slide and ask how to write the Boolean search string

Pulling down a window shade => glaze comes down over the face of my audience

Brains shifted into 'Park' and pulled up the emergency brake.

I knew I had lost my audience

But 5 easy steps will come to the rescue.

Chapter 2Starting in the Basement: The 'Budget' Database

Boolean: AND, OR, NOT, Quotation Marks, Asterisk & Parentheses [rules first, exceptions later]

Resume FishResume Fish

Resume #1: John Doe

Eum ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani labores I have five years experience as a Senior Technical Recruiter admodum, eruditi hendrerit eu qui, ea nec ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani

Close-up of example ‘resume’ to be used during this presentation.

Resume #1: John DoeEum ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani labores I have five years experience as a Senior Technical Recruiter admodum, eruditi hendrerit eu qui, ea nec ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani

Resume #2: Richard RoeElephant Ex aeque periculis abhorreant eum, dicam A Senior in high school and wants into a Technical field & has been talking to an Army Recruiter. iudico Ea elitr iudico ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani

Resume #3: Joe BoeEa elitr iudico corrumpit vis. Alii lobortis ius, an vel veniam et I am an engineer looking for a job, so I'm calling a Senior Technical Recruiter verterem ut Eum ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani

About 'AND':This bait, Senior Technical Recruiter, will 'catch' ANY resume that has ALL 3 words on their resume

Resumes Selected ("Surfaced" or "Pulled Up")Exercise Number Boolean Search Strings #1 - John Doe #2 – Richard Roe #3 – Joe Boe

1 Senior AND Technical AND Recruiter Yes Yes Yes2 Recruiter AND Senior3 Technical AND Senior4 Senior

Resumes Selected ("Surfaced" or "Pulled Up")Exercise Number Boolean Search Strings #1 - John Doe #2 – Richard Roe #3 – Joe

Boe5 Senior OR Technical OR Recruiter OR Elephant Yes Yes Yes6 Senior AND Technical AND Recruiter AND Elephant7 Senior OR Elephant8 Senior




About 'OR':When we connect key words with OR, it means that in order for a resume to be selected, each resume has to only have one of the key words on it. The resume can have more than one key word on it, but it must have at least one key word.

About NOT:NOT is used at the end of a Boolean search strings when you want to EXCLUDE all resumes that have one or more of the keyword that follow the NOT.




Resumes Selected ("Surfaced" or "Pulled Up")Exercise Number Answers to Boolean Search String Exercises #1 - John Doe #2 – Richard Roe #3 – Joe Boe

9 Senior OR Technical OR Recruiter NOT Bird Yes Yes Yes10 Senior OR Technical OR Recruiter NOT

Elephant Yes No Yes

11 Senior AND Technical AND Recruiter NOT Bird12 Technical AND Recruiter NOT Elephant13 Recruiter NOT Recruiter

About Quotation Marks:When you put quotation marks around two or more key words, then the Boolean search string will only pull up resumes that ALL the key words in the SAME ORDER.

Resume #1: John DoeEum ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani labores I have five years experience as a Senior Technical Recruiter admodum, eruditi hendrerit eu qui, ea nec ad

Resume #2: Richard RoeElephant Ex aeque periculis abhorreant eum, dicam A Senior in high school and wants into a Technical field & has been talking to an Army Recruiter. iudico Ea elitr iudico ad duis vivendo.

Resume #3: Joe BoeEa elitr iudico corrumpit vis. Alii lobortis ius, an vel veniam et I am an engineer looking for a job, so I'm calling a Senior Technical Recruiter verterem ut Eum ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani ad duis vivendo.

Resumes Selected ("Surfaced" or "Pulled Up")

Exercise Number Boolean Search Strings #1 - John Doe #2 – Richard Roe #3 – Joe

Boe14 "Senior Technical Recruiter" Yes Yes Yes15 "Technical Recruiter Senior" No No No16 "Senior Recruiter"17 "Senior Technical"18 "Technical Recruiter"19 "Technical Senior"20 "Recruiter Technical"

About The Wild Card Asterisk (*):In the card game of five card poker, the wild card can be used or substituted for any card in a deck of 52 cards. Let's say the Joker card is the wild card and you are dealt a hand with three Aces, the Joker, and the 2 card as shown below:

2-Ace-Ace-Ace-JokerWith this hand of cards, we want the Joker to be another Ace and now you hold a card hand of four Aces!

Perhaps they call the card "wild" because it is unpredictable in revealing its chameleon identity that constantly is varying depending on the hand of cards you are holding.

2-3-4-5-JokerIf you have 5 numbered cards in sequential order such as 2-3-4-5-6 , in poker this is called a' Straight' and a highly likely winning hand. If you have a hand of 2-3-4-5-Joker, the Joker can count as the 6 card.

So in the Boolean world, the asterisk (*) is the "wild card".

If I enter manag* by itself into a Boolean key word field, it will surface all resumes that have the first five letters of m-a-n-a-g followed by any other letters or numbers. For this example, manag* would be used to pull up resumes that had managing, manage, manager, managers, and management on them.

Manag* would also pull up / surface resumes with Managxxx in them!

Key points about the asterisk and databases:

a) not all resume databases allow or support the use of asterisks, for example, Monster does support the use of the asterisk, but as of this writing, LinkedIn Recruiter does not; and

b) the asterisk is only used at the end of a word and not in the beginning or middle of a word…..UNLESS you are using Google which allows you to almost put it anywhere. More on this later.

Resume #1: John DoeRecruitxxx ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani labores I have five years experience as a Senior Technical Recruiter admodum, eruditi hendrerit eu qui, ea nec ad duis vivendo. Ei offendit lobortis ius, an vel veniam et tritani



Resumes Selected ("Surfaced" or "Pulled Up")Exercise Number Boolean Search Strings #1 - John Doe #2 – Richard Roe #3 – Joe Boe

21 Technical* Yes Yes Yes22 Tech* Yes Yes Yes23 Tech*nical [non-Google Search]24 *Technical [non-Google Search]25 Tech* AND Senior26 Recruit*

Parentheses Examples: Mixing unrelated keywords inside a set of parentheses

Correct: (sugar OR honey OR molasses) AND (cucumbers OR tomatoes OR brocolli)

Correct because all related keywords are in one set of parentheses.

Incorrect: (brocolli OR honey OR molasses) AND (sugar OR cucumbers OR tomatoes)

Incorrect because broccoli being a vegetable doesn’t belong in the group of various sweeteners AND sugar being a sweetener doesn’t belong in a group of vegetables.

Mary Doe

*********

User Name

Password

Logan’s File Room of ValidUser Names & Associated Passwords

The Little-known Legend of Logan Login(Making sure your User Name & Password are correct before opening your omputer.)

http://www.123rf.com/photo_9799872_silhouette-caucasian-business-man-computing-expressing-behavior-full-length-on-studio-isolated-white.html

Meet Boolean Bob

(manager OR management) AND (HR OR “Human Resources”)

Boolean Keywords Field

“““

Resume Database or Stack of a Million Resumes >>

http://www.123rf.com/photo_9799872_silhouette-caucasian-business-man-computing-expressing-behavior-full-length-on-studio-isolated-white.html

Summary of the 5 Easy Steps to Building a Winning Boolean Search String

Step 1. Read the job description and extract the REAL (not always stated on req) Required Skills and the REAL Preferred Skills. This is VERY important. Then write key words that would relate to each job requirement, i.e., keywords likely to be found on qualified and selected resumes. Step 2. If you have three requirements, write three sets of blank parentheses connected with AND.

If you have four requirements, then you would write four sets of blank parentheses connected with AND, etc. ( ) AND ( ) AND ( )

Step 3. Enter the keywords determined in Step #1 into the first set of blank parentheses. These keywords are those that would likely be found on desired qualified resumes. Inside the parentheses, connect these keywords or phrases with OR. Step 4. Keep ALL RELATED key words within ONE set of parentheses. Don't mix unrelated keywords!!!! Two kinds of ‘RELATED’: 1) to one another inside a set of parentheses, ex: (HR OR “Human Resources”)

2) to a specific Required Skill, ex: Must have experience in one or more of the following areas: (Accounting OR Advertising OR Horses) So in this case, the words within the parentheses are not related to one another but ARE RELATED to a specfiic Required Skill. This only happens about 10% of the time.

Step 5. The Boolean Bob will take over at this point. It will start reading every resume in the resume database (even a million resumes….but in just a few seconds!). As the program reads a resume, the program / aka Boolean Bob will go down the line of parentheses to determine if EACH resume has ONE OR MORE KEY WORDS from EACH set of parentheses. If so, then the resume is pulled up or selected or surfaced.

Requisition #: 1001Title: Human Resources Manager Job Description: We are looking for a candidate that has a solid background in Human Resources. Also candidate must have strong experience as a manager in HR.

Three new resume examples: Delilah Doe, Rose Roe, and Betty Boe.

Resume #4: Delilah DoeEx putent eruditi eos, vel solet sanctus quaers endum at, Human Resources Manager Eu cum esse rebum, an wisi aliquam perpetua quo Vivendum facilisis at ius, qui bonorum adipiscing eu.

Resume #5: Rose RoeHuman Resources Manager mei, mea in iusto choro nonumes. Usu ludus iudico maiestatis ex. mnis impetus efficiendi sea ex. Mea cu facete suscipiantur disputationi, est viris homero blandit ea,

Resume #6: Betty Boeneglegentur oportere ut, per et ignota efficiendi, quo at detraxit HR Manager explicari consequat. Id malis iracundia vel, ei eos mutat dicunt, eu harum nominavi du detracto mnesarchum sed eu,

Step 1 of 5:

# of Required Skills

Required Skills: A phrase or keyword from the Job Description calling for a specific skill set.

Keywords most likely to be found on desired resumes.

1 Must have experience in Human Resources "Human Resources" OR HR

2 Must have experience as a Manager in a Human Resources department. Manager

Step 2 of 5: Because we had two Required Skills, we needed two sets of parentheses.

( ) AND ( ) Step 3 of 5: We take the keywords we entered into the ' Keywords most likely to be found on desired

resumes' and insert them into the parentheses. ("Human Resources" OR HR) AND ( Manager )

Step 4 of 5: We have verified that are only related or equivalent keywords are contained within each set of parentheses

Step 5 of 5:

The Boolean program (aka Boolean Bob) takes off and verifies that each of the three resumes had one or more keywords from each of the two sets of parentheses.

Resumes to be selected or not (Yes / No)

Exercise Number

Boolean Search Strings #4 – Delilah Doe #5 – Rose Roe #6 – Betty Boe

("Human Resources" OR HR) AND (Manager) Yes Yes Yes

A quick ‘what if’?What if we changed Delilah Doe's resume and replace the word Manager with Management.

Resume #4: Delilah DoeEx putent eruditi eos, vel solet sanctus quaers endum at, Human Resources Management Eu cum esse rebum, an wisi aliquam perpetua quo Vivendum

Resume #5: Rose RoeHuman Resources Manager mei, mea in iusto choro nonumes. Usu ludus iudico maiestatis ex. mnis impetus efficiendi sea ex. Mea cu facete

Resume #6: Betty Boeneglegentur oportere ut, per et ignota efficiendi, quo at detraxit HR Manager explicari consequat. Id malis iracundia vel, ei eos mutat dicunt, eu harum

However the string below would exclude Delilah Doe from the search because she now no longer has Manager anywhere on resume. ("Human Resources" OR HR) AND (Manager) We can fix that by modifying the string as shown below by connecting Manager & Management with an OR and putting them within the same set of parentheses. ("Human Resources" OR HR) AND (Manager OR Management)

Requisition #: 1001 (modified: either Hospital OR Medical are now added required skills)Title: Human Resources Manager

Resume #4: Delilah DoeEx putent eruditi eos, vel solet sanctus quaers endum at, Human Resources Management Eu cum esse rebum, an wisi aliquam perpetua quo Vivendum facilisis at ius, qui bonorum adipiscing eu.

Resume #5: Rose RoeHuman Resources Manager mei, mea in iusto choro nonumes. Usu ludus iudico maiestatis ex. mnis impetus efficiendi sea ex. Mea cu facete Medical suscipiantur disputationi, est viris homero blandit ea,

Resume #6: Betty Boeneglegentur oportere ut, per et ignota efficiendi, quo at detraxit HR Manager explicari consequat. Id malis iracundia vel, ei eos mutat dicunt, eu harum Hospital nominavi du detracto mnesarchum sed eu,

Job Description: We are looking for a candidate that has a solid background in Human Resources. Also candidate must have strong experience as a Manager in HR. Additionally the candidates must have had experience working in either a Medical or Hospital company.

Requisition #: 1001 (modified with either Hospital OR Medical now are required skills)Title: Human Resources Manager Job Description: We are looking for a candidate that has a solid background in Human Resources. Also candidate must have strong experience as a Manager in HR. Additionally the candidates must have had experience working in either an Medical or Hospital company. Step 1 of 5.





2 Must have experience as a Manager. Manager OR Management

3Must have experience with either a Hospital OR Medical company. Hospital OR Medical

Step 2 of 5. We have THREE required skills so that means we need to start off with THREE sets of blank parentheses connected with AND's: ( ) AND ( ) AND ( ) We look at the "Keywords most likely to be found on desired resumes" column, and we take the keywords there and enter them into the three sets of parentheses. Step 3 of 5. Enter the keywords into their respective sets of parentheses. The string now becomes: ("Human Resources" OR HR) AND (Manager OR Management) AND (Medical OR Hospital)

Step 4 of 5.Verified that all three sets of parentheses only contain keywords related to one another.

("Human Resources" OR HR) AND (Manager OR Management) AND (Medical OR Hospital





2 Must have experience as a Manager. Manager OR Management

3Must have experience with one or more of the following: Telecom OR Dairy OR Pharmaceuticals

Telecom OR Dairy OR Pharmaceuticals????

Short Detour: Suppose the 3rd skill below required Telecom or Semiconductor experience?

The search string would then become: ("Human Resources" OR HR) AND (Manager OR Management) AND (Telecom OR Dairy OR pharmaceuticals). This is an example of two keywords not related to one another inside a set of parentheses, BUT directly related to a single specific Required Skill

Delilah Doe, Rose Roe, and Betty Boe are all going to apply for this job.Resume #4: Delilah DoeEx putent eruditi eos, vel solet sanctus quaers endum at, Human Resources Management Eu cum esse rebum, an wisi aliquam perpetua quo Vivendum facilisis

Resume #5: Rose RoeHuman Resources Manager mei, mea in iusto choro nonumes. Usu ludus iudico maiestatis ex. mnis impetus efficiendi sea ex. Mea cu facete Medical suscipiantur disputationi, est viris homero

Resume #6: Betty Boeneglegentur oportere ut, per et ignota efficiendi, quo at detraxit HR Manager explicari consequat. Id malis iracundia vel, ei eos mutat dicunt, eu harum Hospital nominavi du detracto mnesarchum sed eu,

("Human Resources" OR HR) AND (Manager OR Management) AND (Medical OR Hospital)

Step 5 of 5. Boolean Bob ‘interviews’ the candidates. Only Rose Roe and Betty Boe pass.

Candidate Name ("Human Resources" OR HR) (Manager OR Management) (Medical OR Hospital)

Delilah Doe Yes Yes No

Rose Roe Yes Yes Yes

Betty Boe Yes Yes Yes

Req # 7777 - Manager Human Resources at Grits Electronics (acquired LIS-EDF Electronics)Job Description:Grits Electronics is a great place to work! We are committed to a culture of creativity and innovation while at the same time creating a inner culture and creativity within the individual. We continue to raise the push the envelope on technology; we highly value quality, innovation, and style and design; and we stretch the boundaries of current technology. At Grits Electronics, there is no limit to what you can innovate. A job at Grits Electronics is not a job, it's a pathway to growth and good eating.

The Human Resources organization currently has an opening for a Human Resources Manager to provide human resources support for our manufacturing organizations in various locations in the U.S. The HR Manager will provide proactive leadership, direction and professional expertise in all areas of human resources management, with a specific emphasis on staffing and recruiting, talent management and employee and labor relations and health and safety. The role will report to the CTO (Chief Talent Officer). This person will be a proactive, hands-on manager skilled in functioning in a fast paced, team-oriented business environment and must have well-developed interpersonal skills necessary to function across all levels of the organization.

Required Skills:Must have experience in related broad-based human resources experience with increasingly significant levels of responsibility involving major business decisionMust have management experience.Must be able to define human resources strategy and program development as a member of a management team, while also proactively addressing the hands-on tactical and human resources operational needs of the business organization at all levelsDemonstrated consultative and influencing skills with an ability to interact with all levels of an Medical OR Hospital company I won't go through all five steps again, but just Step 1 of 5 on next page.

Step 1 of 5.

Read and sift through the req's job description and pick out the real requirements called for in the JD (job description). ***** ( "When do I want to know what the hiring manager is really looking for?") In the two column table below, in the left hand column, itemize and briefly describe the requirements in just a few words. In the right hand column list all the keywords in a resume that would point to or indicate a candidate that has one or more of these skills.


Required Skills: A phrase or keyword from the JD calling for a specific skill set.

All keywords to search for that would indicate a resume has that skill set

1 Must have experience in related broad-based human resources experience

HR OR "Human Resources"

2 Must have management experience. Manager OR Management

3Demonstrated consultative and influencing skills with an ability to interact with all levels of an Medical or Hospital company

Medical OR Hospital

Summary of the 5 Easy Steps to Building a Winning Boolean Search String Step 1. Read the job description and extract the REAL (not always stated on req) Required Skills and the REAL Preferred Skills. This is VERY important. Then write key words that would relate to each job requirement, i.e., keywords likely to be found on qualified and selected resumes. Step 2. If you have three requirements, write three sets of blank parentheses connected with AND. If you have four requirements, then you would write four sets of blank parentheses connected with AND, etc.

( ) AND ( ) AND ( ) Step 3. Enter the keywords determined in Step #1 into the first set of blank parentheses. These keywords are those that would likely be found on desired qualified resumes. Inside the parentheses, connect these keywords or phrases with OR. Step 4. Keep ALL RELATED key words within ONE set of parentheses. Don't mix unrelated key words!!!! Doing this will wreck a search string. Step 5. The Boolean software program (or Boolean Bob) will take over at this point. It will start reading every resume in the resume database (even a million resumes….but in just a few seconds!). As the program reads a resume, the program will go down the line of parentheses to determine if EACH resume has ONE OR MORE KEY WORDS from EACH set of parentheses. If so, then the resume is pulled up or selected.

Blackberry Pie Baking Contest (like a req job description)Growing up in the deep south there was a blackberry patch by our house. I loved blackberry pie, but the only way my mother would make it was if I picked the blackberries. Blackberry Pie Recipe [Not for real. Don't try this at home because I just made a guess at the ingredients and the amounts!] Prepare the dough by pouring five cups of white flour into a mixing bowl. Add a teaspoon of regular salt, and a half cup of white sugar. Mix these ingredients thoroughly into a mixing bowl. Melt two sticks of butter and pour into the mixing bowl. Add whole milk as needed to get the dough to a nice manageable consistency. Prepare the dough to be placed into rectangular glass casserole dish with dimensions of 3 inches deep, 8inches, and 15 inches long. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangular shape about 14 inches wide and about 32 inches long. Place the sheet of dough into the dish which as been greased with butter. This will leave about 4 inches of dough flapping over each side. Now in a separate pot pour the blackberries. Add water and one cup of sugar. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Pour the mixture into the glass dish and then take the flaps of dough and fold them over the blackberry mixture. Over the dough sprinkle some white sugar. Put the dish into the oven and cook at 375 degrees for one hour Very fine eating indeed!

Enlarged section showing representative detail.

Speaking of ‘equivalent’ keywords for search strings……

From Google:

“human resources manager” - 10,400,000 results“human resource manager” - 3,700,000 results“human resource manager” OR “human resources manager”

Definition: Principal – person with highest position or most authority.Definition: Principle - fundamental basis or source for something.

“Principal Engineer” - 2,780,000 results“Principle Engineer” - 280,000 results“Principal Engineer” OR “Principle Engineer”

Engineer - 436,000,000 “Engineeer” - 415,000

Search string format for LinkedIn Recruiter (paid site) & LinkedIn Basic (free site) (recruiter OR recruiters OR recruiting OR recruitment) AND (Java) AND ( Telecom OR Electronics) NOT Semiconductor • AND, OR, NOT have to be in all caps.

• Does not have the wildcard asterisk (*) feature.

• Guesstimate on max characters with spaces: 700 using Internet Explorer and 1500+ with FireFox

The highlighted paragraph above has 109 words and 628 characters with spaces

Word Count Function

LinkedIn Recruiter

LinkedIn Basic

LinkedIn Basic (continued)

Search string format for Monster (recruit*) AND (Java) AND ( Telecom* OR Electronics) AND NOT Semiconductor • AND, OR, AND NOT all have to be in all caps

• Wildcard asterisk (*) feature is available.

• Max number of characters seems to be 500.

Search String for Indeed.com (recruiter*) (Java) (Telecom OR Electronics) –Semiconductor Not able to confirm the bullet points below with Indeed.com• Parentheses are used• Same results with or without using AND. Similar to Google.• No need for (inURL:resume or inTitle:resume). All documents are resumes.• Both the minus (-) sign and NOT seem to both work.• Don't know the max number of characters of spaces it will hold, but I fed it the string below with 832 characters with spaces and Indeed.com seemed to digest it.

(RND OR "R&D" OR research OR researcher OR development OR developer OR design OR designer OR architect OR architecture) AND (patent OR patents OR publication OR publications OR published OR patented OR paper OR papers OR article OR articles) AND (NIC OR network OR networks OR networking OR Ethernet OR 802 OR switch OR switcher OR switching OR "Data Center Bridging" OR MPLS OR VXLAN OR "VN-Tag" OR "Port Extension Technology" OR "SR-IOV" OR VIA OR UDP OR Unicast OR "multi-cast" OR router OR routers) AND ("information centric" OR "information-centric network" OR "distributed computing" OR "cloud services" OR "cloud computing" OR "distributed services" OR "distributed systems" OR "distributed systems" OR FIA OR "Future Internet Architecture" OR P2P OR "peer-to-peer" OR CDN OR OSPF OR "Open Shortest Path First" OR BGP OR "Border Gateway Patrol") NOT (MBA OR QA OR "Quality Assurance")

Indeed.com (continued)

Below are four versions of this string adding and deleting parentheses, AND's, NOT, and the minus sign (-). The first four strings did yield identical results, but again, this is just my experimenting with no input and no confirmations as to accuracy from Indeed.com. recruiter AND (manager OR management) AND Java AND (electronics OR telecom) NOT semiconductor [691 results using NOT] recruiter AND (manager OR management) AND Java AND (electronics OR telecom) -semiconductor [691 results using minus (-) sign instead of NOT] recruiter (manager OR management) Java (electronics OR telecom) -semiconductor [691 results using no AND's] recruiter (manag*) Java (electronics OR telecom) -semiconductor [691 results using asterisk (*) ]

Search string format for Taleo Business Edition

Pasted on the following pags are the Boolean rules in screenshots from the Taleo Business Edition resume search section.

The example string we’ve been using, I’ll be using my opinion of how the search string should be constructed.

• +Java +HR is the same as Java AND HR

• Java HR is the same as Java OR HR

• The minus (-) sign is used instead of NOT

• To search for an exact phrase like “Human Resources”, you use quotation marks as usual.

• To force Human Resources be on every resume you pull up, you put the plus + sign INSIDE the quotation marks, “+Human Resources”. To exclude a phrase you would use the minus sign.

Taleo Businss Edition (Continued)

Instead of using: (“Human Resources” OR HR) AND java AND (electronics OR telecom) NOT semiconductor

You will have to run the following 4 searches at the site: 1) +Java "+Human Resources" +electronics –semiconductor2) +Java +HR +electronics –semiconductor3) +Java ”+Human Resources” +telecom –semiconductor4) +Java +HR +telecom -semiconductor

Instead of using: (“Human Resources” OR HR) AND java AND (electronics OR telecom) NOT semiconductor

You will have to run the following 4 searches at the site:

1) +Java "+Human Resources" +electronics –semiconductor2) +Java +HR +electronics –semiconductor3) +Java ”+Human Resources” +telecom –semiconductor4) +Java +HR +telecom –semiconductor

An observation from an outside person I trust, it looks like TBE doesn’t handle grouping of keyword or in other words, multiple words in a set of parentheses contected with OR’s.

The better solution seems to be either write strings with either all AND’s or all OR’s. By that I mean the AND & OR function. Taleo doesn’t use AND & OR, just those functions. The four strings above use all AND’s (I include NOT with the AND’s).

The Most Important Step of the Five Easy Steps

Step 1 of 5. Read the job description and extract the REAL (not always stated on req) Required Skills and the REAL Preferred Skills. This is VERY important. Then write key words that would relate to each job requirement, i.e., keywords likely to be found on qualified and selected resumes.

• There is a real art to determining the REAL required skills. • If not done correctly, the 5 Easy Steps won’t work, even if you think you followed all 5 steps correctly. • Discovering a unique and subtle technique methodology.• “I found the resume of my neighbor, of all things, and I’m going to hire him/her.”• Five Required Skills or was it two??• I would have preferred to have known this at the beginning of the search for this hiring manager.

The Problem

As stated in the job description on the req:

• Required Skills turn out to be Desired Skills.

• Desired Skills turn out to be Required Skills.

• Then there are new Required Skills state nowhere on the req job description.

• 90% of req job descriptions are not 100% accurate.

Why? & How are req job descriptions formed?The “Birthed” Req Job Description:• A hiring manager does what I would I would do if I were in his/her shoes. Write required job skills for the perfect, one-in-million candidate. Designate even Desired Skills as Required Skills.• Hiring manager wants to be successful, so they “place their order” for the perfect candidate, all the while knowing that it is virtually impossible to find someone with all these skills.• “Shoot for the stars, but hope you hit the moon” mentality.

The “Cloned” Req Job Description:• Hiring manager too busy to write a current req job description.• HR / Recruiting is on his/her back to get it done.• Reaches for bottom right hand desk drawer – 3 years old job description.

The “Morphed” Req Job Description:• The Customer changes the product requirements.• To adapt to changing market trends, upper management changes product direction, which changes Required and Desired Skills of people to be hired.

Req (birthed) requires the following:1. Experience in HR2. Management experience3. Medical OR Hospital experience4. SPHR certification5. CEBS certification6. Taleo experience.

( ) AND ( ) AND ( ) AND ( ) AND ( ) AND ( )

(“Human Resources” OR HR) AND (Manager OR Management) AND (Medical OR Hospital) AND (SPHR) AND (CEBS) AND (Taleo)

****Interview with Hiring Manager to Discuss Required & Desired Skills****1. If a hiring manager lists six required skills, listen intently and let him/her elaborate on each one.

2. After this discussion, here are some things you do not want to ask:

A) What are your “gotta haves”? B) Which of these requirements can you do without?

3. Both questions are very negative. It sounds like to the hiring manager that you are admitting defeat before you even start the search. You’ve asked the hiring manager what she/he wants. He/she tells you, and then you turn right around and ask the hiring manager which of the “wants” he/she doesn’t want.

4. Here’s the question that’s worth the price of admission all by itself: “Ms. Hiring Manager, thank you for going over all 6 of your Required Skills. I just want you to know that we are going to do our best to find candidates that have all 6 skills, but if, for example, we find a candidate that has 5 out of the 6 skills, we won’t send you that candidate, unless of course they are truly extraordinary!” Interesting study in human nature, for 10 years I’ve consistently watched Required Skills become Desired Skills as the HM says, “Well, only the first 3 are really required.” I have stayed positive and given the power of choice to the hiring manager!!

The 5 Easy Steps will only work if this first step is done correctly, otherwise you could become frustrated when you either don’t get good results or no results. Important!!!

From Req, Fill Out Required & Desired Skills – Take to Hiring Manager

Required Desired Skills Candidates Responses to Each Skill

x Must have Human Resources experience.

x Must have management experience in HR.

x Must have Medical or Hospital experience.

x Must have SPHR certification.

x Must have CEBS (Employee Benefits)

x Must have experience with Taleo.

The Form After the Hiring Manager Interview





x Desire to have SPHR certification.

x Desire to have CEBS (Employee Benefits)

x Desire to have experience with Taleo.

Difference in Search Results Going from 6 Required Skills to 3 Required Skills

(“Human Resources” OR HR) AND (Manager OR Management) AND (Medical OR Hospital) AND (SPHR) AND (CEBS) AND (Taleo)In searching the world, I got one hit from the above string!

(“Human Resources” OR HR) AND (Manager OR Management) AND (Medical OR Hospital)565,098 results from search the world with the above string.

(“Human Resources” OR HR) AND (Manager OR Management) AND (Medical OR Hospital) AND (SPHR OR CEBS OR Taleo) 15,411 results when OR’ing the Desired Skills keywords.

Here’s a trick. Remember only resumes are surfaced that have one or more keywords from each set of parentheses. What if we take “Human Resources” OR HR and copy these keywords into the last set of parentheses where the Desired keywords are. This guarantees we will see all resumes with and without the Desired keywords, but get to seee all Desired keyword highlighted.

(“Human Resources” OR HR) AND (Manager OR Management) AND (Medical OR Hospital) AND (“Human Resources” OR HR OR SPHR OR CEBS OR Taleo)

This Now Becomes the Form That the Candidate Fills Out





x Desired to have SPHR certification.

x Desired to have CEBS (Employee Benefits)

x Desired to have experience with Taleo.

Active & Passive CandidatesThe Effect of Stress On Both Active & Passive Candidates

Active vs. Passive Candidates

CareerBuilder: 74 percent of workers either actively searching for a new job or open to a new opportunity.

Gallup Poll: Workplace morale heads down: 70% of Americans negative about their jobs, Gallup study shows.

“Now we find that some of America’s biggest companies — collectively hiring hundreds of thousands of workers annually — hire only active job seekers, while more than two-thirds of them fill three-quarters of their jobs with actives.”

Above by John Zappe, SourceCon Article, “Everyone Loves Passive Candidates, But We Hire Mostly Actives”

Top Ten Reasons Given Why Recruiting Active Candidates Is Not the Best Idea

6. Passive candidates are stronger candidates than Active candidates. 7. Too hard to learn Boolean. 8. If you only recruit candidates from resume job boards, you will miss a lot of great passive candidates. 9. It's useless to search for candidates on a job board because they've already been picked over by other recruiters and all the good candidates have been taken. 10. Only losers post their resumes on a job board because they can't find a job any other way.

Top Ten Reasons Given Why Recruiting Active Candidates Is Not the Best Idea

1. It's easy for anybody to go after candidates on a job board, but we only go after the passive candidates. 2. There are only 6 people in the world that can do this job & you won’t find them on the internet. 3. There are only 3 companies in the world who have people with this skill & you won’t find them on the internet. 4. You won't find these people cruising the internet. 5. These kind of people don't post their resumes on the internet.