the best kept secret in boolean search-tortorici

best kept secret in BOOLEAN SEARCH

Mark TortoriciFounder & Training [email protected]


Mark Tortorici is the Founder & Training Expert at Transform Talent Acquisition. Since 1997, Mark has trained thousands of technical staffing professionals including hundreds at Google, where he taught sourcers and recruiters onsite throughout the company’s global staffing organization.

Other companies include Apple, Facebook, Disney, Pinterest, Twitter, Tagged, eBay, Yahoo and AppNexus.

Mark also helped launch the MARS (Master Accreditation in Recruiting and Sourcing) certification program with netPolarity, which creates expert staffing professionals with little or no previous industry experience. He has managed staffing teams with great success and is an expert technical sourcer & recruiter.

about Mark Tortorici

is it? whatSome people don't understand it…

Boolean is dead?

Yep, I sure know how to "Boolean"…

Some "industry experts" say that it's dead…

…and others strongly disagree

what is it? Boolean is dead?

whatIt's very trendy right now to say that Boolean search is dead…

is it? Boolean is dead?

whatAs long as: .

There are people

There are social networking sites

We communicate using a widely accepted language

There is more than one way to say something…

is it?

…there will be Boolean

Boolean is dead?

what is it? Boolean is dead?

Some of you may think…

should we care?whyWhat about

search engine AI?

Doesn't that get rid of Boolean?

should we care?whyAnd others may think…

should we care?why

Machines taking over?

should we care?why

Maybe not, but…

should we care?why

Increased reliance on AI for search

Diminished creative problem solving

=

is the secret?what The Secret to Successful Sourcing…the trick is

all in the words, they can be:. Natural language

Verbs that describe what an individual does

Titles and variations

Technologies and companies

Synonyms

is the secret?what As long as we can:

.

Understand how the candidate communicates

Understand what they do

…Then we can creatively search

mind games

So that you go from this…

mind games

To this…

mind games

Natural Language

The First Secret

is natural language?what

is natural language?what It is quite simply, a commonly accepted way and

method that is used in communication

Of courth you realize

thith meanth war!

What do you mean you canth

underthand me?!?!

is natural language?what Once you understand how the candidate speaks, you

can find better ways to search for them

Sorry, Daffy.

You're dethpicable

Natural Language is the way to go!

Capture more profiles

Use verbs to describe job role

Use verbs to describe job level

Use nouns to describe accomplishments

Use pronouns to describe individuals and gender

Natural Languagewhat is this?

What are we trying to capture?

I'm the lead programmer at company, where I develop algorithms for map/reduce data sets

OR

I am a software engineer at company, where I develop algorithms for map/reduce data sets


"I (m OR am) (a OR the) (lead OR software) (programmer OR engineer OR developer)" (hadoop OR hive OR hbase OR mapreduce) -site:linkedin.com

Natural Language

"I (m OR am)

what is this?

Quotes around the sentence with parentheses for variations:

(a OR the) (lead OR software) (programmer OR engineer OR developer)"

"I (m OR am) (a OR the) (lead OR software) (programmer OR engineer OR developer)" (hadoop OR hive OR hbase OR mapreduce) -site:linkedin.com


What are we trying to capture?

I work in Supply Chain Management for the EMEA region

Natural Language

OR

I manage the Procurement / Logistics division of the company

what is this?

"I (m OR am) (a OR the) (lead (procurement OR sourcing OR chain) "manager" (manufacturing OR distribution OR goods OR factory) -site:edu -site:linkedin.com -jobs -careers -samples

Search for variations of pages that mention "about me" or "profile":

("about me" OR "my pr "i (am OR was OR work OR worked OR lead OR led OR manage OR managed)"

Natural Language

("about me" OR profile)

what is this?

Get creative!

("i lead" OR "i led" OR "ioversaw" OR "i exceeded" OR "iwas promoted" OR "i was awarded" OR "i managed") "(territory OR sales OR account) (lead OR manager OR director)" (varian OR "medical device" OR covidien OR medtronic OR dexcom OR "boston scientific")-site:linkedin.com -jobs


Get creative!

("i lead" OR "i led" OR "i oversaw" OR "i exceeded" OR "i was promoted" OR "iwas awarded" OR "i managed") "(territory OR sales OR account) (lead OR manager OR director)" (varian OR "medical device" OR covidien OR medtronicOR dexcom OR "boston scientific") -site:linkedin.com -jobs


Action Words

The Second Secret

Think about what the candidate might SAY…

who is this? Social Search

For example, what words would a Cloud SW Architect or Manager use to describe what they do?


I lead…I manage…I create…

I designed…I architected…I managed…

I led…

I proposed…I drove…

I oversaw… Cloud Architect



Cloud SW Architect search, LinkedIn from Google:

Base String for LinkedIn:

site:linkedin.com/in


Add a focus and natural language phrases the candidate might use:

site:linkedin.com/in architecture "i (drove OR led OR lead OR oversaw OR architected OR managed)"





("i drove" OR "i led" OR "i lead" OR "i oversaw" OR "i architected" OR "i managed")


Add the cloud services keywords:

site:linkedin.com/in architecture "i (drove OR led OR lead OR oversaw OR architected OR managed)" ("cloud service" OR saas OR "software as a service" OR ec2 OR rackspace OR aws)




• Head of Cloud Services

• Product Management

• Senior Manager, Solutions Architecture

• Chief Evangelist

• Senior Director, Cloud

Titles and Variations

The Third Secret


Sourcing titles is all about the WORDS…

What do you read, my lord?

Words, words, words…

If you need a Manager with a Finance Risk background that works at KPMG, then search LinkedIn from Google:




Add the manager titles and additional keywords:

site:linkedin.com/in ("manager of finance" OR "finance manager" OR "financial manager" OR "finance management" OR "manager financial" OR "manager finance" OR "financial risk management") "manager" risk




Add the manager titles and additional keywords:

site:linkedin.com/in ("manager of finance" OR "finance manager" OR "financial manager" OR "finance management" OR "manager financial" OR "manager finance" OR "financial risk management") "manager" risk

Add the phrase "at kpmg":

site:linkedin.com/in ("manager of finance" OR "finance manager" OR "financial manager" OR "finance management" OR "manager financial" OR "manager finance" OR "financial risk management") "manager" risk "at kpmg"


Now you have access to Financial Risk Managers that work or have worked at KPMG.


did you do that?why

Why did we enter in so many titles?

Why did we put "manager" in quotes?

Why can't I just use LI Recruiter?

Why enter so many titles?

why is this? Social Search

• Searching for just "finance manager"

• Searching for ("manager of finance" OR "financial manager" OR "manager financial" OR "manager finance")


• So that means:

("manager of finance" OR "finance manager" OR "financial manager" OR "finance management" OR "manager financial" OR "manager finance" OR "financial risk management") "manager"

• Will get titles like:

• Manager of Finance

• Manager, Finance

• Manager of Financial Risk

• Manager, Finance Management

• Manager, Financial Risk


Why did we put "manager" in quotes?


• Because Google does word-stemming for all single terms

• If you don't add quotes, you get results like:


manager

manager

management

lead

led

manage


So is Google's AI engine good for searching?


That depends...sometimes you have to outsmart the tech


• Manager = "Finance Manager" = good

• Management = "Finance management" = maybe

• Management = "Associate in Financial Management" = bad

• Manage = "Manage a team" = good

• Manage = "Manage daily financial reports" = bad


• So use quotes…

• Get the exact word you want

"manager"

"manager"

"manager"

"manager"

"manager"

"manager"


Why can't I just use LinkedIn Recruiter?


• Different search engines index and rank pages differently

• Google's relevancy rankings are different from LinkedIn's


Why can't I just use LinkedIn Recruiter?


• LinkedIn internal search string:

Keywords: ("manager of finance" OR "finance manager" OR "financial manager" OR "finance management" OR "manager financial" OR "manager finance" OR "financial risk management") "manager" risk

Company: kpmg


• Google search string:

site:linkedin.com/in ("manager of finance" OR "finance manager" OR "financial manager" OR "finance management" OR "manager financial" OR "manager finance" OR "financial risk management") "manager" risk "at kpmg"


• Besides number differences…


• Keyword relevancy rankings are different


Technologies and Companies

The Fourth Secret

Research….Argha!!!

Before anything else…

…do the (P)Research

• Industry, job, concepts, methods, etc. (buzzword repeater)

.• Landscape, national and local

• Competitors

• Similar roles at other companies

• Alternate profiles.

• Intelligent reasons for choosing alternate profiles

RESEARCH:


Research Tools:.

• Google Finance / Hoovers / Zoominfo

• Similarweb.com

• Computer Desktop Encyclopedia

• Official pages or user group pages (i.e. nosql-database.org, apache.org, scala-lang.org, etc.)

• Wikipedia


Research the company Mobilefit.

• Consumer HW/SW device

• Fitness / Health industry

• Research the competitors and landscape.

• Apple / Nike Fuelband, Fitbit, Withings, Body Media, Jawbone Up, Zeo, etc.

mobilefit



("fitness tracker" OR "fitness monitor" OR fitbit OR jawbone OR withings OR bodymedia OR medtronic OR "glucose monitor" OR garmin)

If you just use companies in your string, make sure:.• The company's main focus matches your search

• Otherwise, you have to add another parentheses of keywords to reinforce the company set

Super Tech Example.


Super Tech Example.

• Boss needs a SerDes Architect

• Won't take anything else

• But clever research will give you more possibilities for candidates


SerDes! I want

SerDes!

Give me the SerDes!!!

If all you do is:

serdes architect


Research:

• SerDes (serializers/deserializers) are devices that can take wide bit-width signals and compress them to a smaller differential signal that switches at a much higher frequency rate

• Devices that use SerDes include USB 2.0, USB 3.0, PCI-Express, SATA, 16GFC (16 GB Fiber Channel) and PHY


Research:

• SerDes

• Devices that use SerDes include

Then your string becomes:

(serdes OR serializer OR "phy" OR pcie OR "pci-e" OR "pci-express" OR sata OR "usb 3" OR usb3 OR 16GFC) (architecture OR architect) (equalizer OR pll OR "signal processing" OR modulation OR algorithm)


Then your string becomes:

(serdes OR serializer OR "phy" OR pcie OR "pci-e" OR "pci-express" OR sata OR "usb 3" OR usb3 OR 16GFC) (architecture OR architect) (equalizer OR pll OR "signal processing" OR modulation OR algorithm)


Base String

Combining Synonyms & Methods

The Fifth Secret

Combination…pizza

Now we're cooking!

Combination…pizza

Combining everything…for cheesy goodness. Non-profit experience

Twitter Profiles

Natural Language

Action Words

now we're cooking

Combination…pizza

Combining everything…for cheesy goodness. (humanitarian OR "united way" OR "red cross" OR "amnesty

international" OR "non profit" OR "boys and girls club" OR "non governmental")

Twitter Profiles

Natural Language

Action Words

now we're cooking

Combination…pizza



site:twitter.com -inurl:status -inurl:statuses -jobs -careers

Natural Language

Action Words

now we're cooking

Combination…pizza



site:twitter.com -inurl:status -inurl:statuses -jobs -careers

"i (work OR help OR find OR care)"

now we're cooking

site:twitter.com "i (work OR help OR find OR care)" (humanitarian OR "united way" OR "red cross" OR "amnesty international" OR "non profit" OR "boys and girls club" OR "non governmental") -inurl:status -inurl:statuses -jobs -careers

now we're cooking Combination…pizza

now we're cooking Combination…pizza

now we're cooking UU, DD, L, R, L, R, B, A, Start

Combo!!!. Security Analyst / White-hat Hacking

Natural Language

Action Words


Combo!!!. (ipsec OR encryption OR decryption OR "public key" OR keystore

OR pki OR pgp OR "penetration testing" OR firewall)

Natural Language

Action Words


Combo!!!. (ipsec OR encryption OR decryption OR "public key" OR keystore

OR pki OR pgp OR "penetration testing" OR firewall)

"i (break OR hack) (things OR computers OR servers)"

"i (break OR hack) (things OR computers OR servers)" (ipsec OR encryption OR decryption OR "public key" OR keystore OR pki OR pgp OR "penetration testing" OR firewall)


in SUMMARY

1. Natural Boolean searches can be used anywhere! Resumes, social networks, blogs, profiles, links, bios and many others

2. Think of how the candidate will speak about their experience or describe their accomplishments - then search

3. Learn your company, services and technology – thoroughly

4. Don't search for one thing! Use synonyms and variations!

in SUMMARY


best kept secret in BOOLEAN SEARCHSpecial thanks to SourceCon and ERE

the best kept secret in boolean search-tortorici

Recruiting & HR