We should have a rather narrow of search results, hopefully containing some candidates that we can reach out to.
Here is the full search string:
javascript node react intitle:resume (“software developer” OR “application developer” OR programmer OR “software engineer”) (410 OR 443 OR 301 OR 240 OR 202 OR 703 OR 571 OR md OR maryland OR “washington dc” OR “washington d.c.” OR virginia OR va) -example -sample -apply -jobs -job -template
Here is a link to the url that contains the exact string above:
What I like to do, however, is show you how the search string works almost like a funnel, starting with a broad set of returned results and then narrowing things down to hopefully contain some qualified candidates coming out at the bottom of the funnel.
For instance, if we just search for: javascript, look at the number of pages that are returned!
That is 7.4 BILLION pages!
Watch what happens when we add the two other skills, node and react:
Hey…we narrowed things down a lot, but still, almost 96 MILLION pages to sift through.
The reason the number of pages returned dropped from the billions to the millions is because Google is now showing only pages that HAVE TO CONTAIN ALL of those keywords: javascript AND node AND react. If we set those three words in an OR statement that we covered earlier, the number of pages returned would actually INCREASE!
Let’s keep going and adding to the search string with our previous work to see how the results get tighter yet again when we request Google to show only pages that have the word “resume” showing up somewhere in that web browser title bar:
Now we are getting somewhere…almost 79,000 pages, which is quite a lot better than 96 million pages, but still way too much.
Let’s keep going down the narrowing funnel by adding the job titles we want that are likely to be found on candidate resumes: (“software developer” OR “application developer” OR programmer OR “software engineer”)
Getting much more narrow, down to 15,300 results when we add job titles section to our search string.
At this point, that is still a lot of pages to sift through, so let’s add the location portion of our string…
However, that is still a ton…you can see from the small screenshot snippet I took below, how we are going to get those job board postings I mentioned earlier. Here is the first search result before making those exclusions with the NOT statement:
Clearly you can see that we are going to find a lot of job postings. The first page returned is a page on indeed.com which is going to list 86 job postings! That is because we didn’t yet ask for Google to exclude the word “jobs”.
Let’s add that final section and look at the number of results now:
Ok…753 pages to sift through! We started with 7.4 billion and narrowed down to 753. Now, are all 753 pages going to be exactly what we are looking for?
Are these candidates that are perfect for our role, waiting for us on a silver platter?
Nope!
We are going to see candidates and pages that are still not a fit for what we are targeting, but this is a manageable number of pages to sift through. It doesn’t take long to scroll through clearly non relevant pages and click on the ones that hold the most promise. Even when doing that, we will still see candidates that are not relevant.
For instance, here is a page that is clearly relevant…the search string produced a page containing a resume that looks to be exactly the type of candidate I am targeting:
- Look at the location
- Look at the skills
PERFECT!
Then we have this resume below. The search did it’s thing…it gave me what I asked of it, but not really what I am looking for.
Notice how this page likely came up in the search results because of the “301”, which is a phone number area code in Maryland. However, this for this candidate while that just happens to be a part of his phone number…it is for Pakistan… (notice the PK)!
We just have to move on and accept this as part of the deal we made when sourcing talent on the internet!
While you will find “false-positives” like this with this search string, it is worth it.
- Great candidates: I have found and placed some amazing candidates with this particular type of search string!
- Hidden candidates: Sometimes these are candidates that don’t even have a profile on LinkedIn. Not only can you sometimes find “hidden” talent like that, but those candidates also aren’t getting inundated by recruiters contacting them for roles.
- Receptive candidates: They are more receptive to being pitched on a new job opportunity.
- Increasing your credibility as a recruiter or sourcer: Many candidates have asked how I found their info and are impressed when I tell them how I came across their info. It gives you as a some extra credibility…you certainly stand out when compared to most recruiters!
I hope I am helping you with some actionable value here with this free mini-course.
Perhaps you can help me…
I am currently developing a very comprehensive PAID course, where I share all of my 16 years of knowledge as a sourcing recruiter. Right now, I am developing a list of those interested getting free access to the course when it launches. All I ask in return is your valuable feedback to help me refine aspects of the course. Also, if you do enjoy the course and find it helpful, I would welcome any testimonials, which will help the course reach a wider audience.