Boolean 101 


The Recruiter’s Guide to the Hunt for Top Talent

AN EBOOK BY

Baffled by Boolean? 
 (Javascript HTML CSS) (Ruby OR
We can help with that.
Finding the right candidate for your
open opportunity is no walk in the park.
Sourcing qualified talent takes a keen
eye and sleight of hand – but magic’s
got nothin’ to do with it.
With the power of the Boolean
search, talent acquisition pros can
boost their recruiting arsenal, run
highly specialized searches, and hire
top talent based on current and past
job titles, particular skill sets,
geographic location, work
experience, or academic background. 
 "Objective C" OR iPhone OR iPad)


Read on to get started!
Android SDK OR ((Java OR C#) AND
Mobile) OR (iOS OR Objective-C OR
"Objective C" OR iPhone OR iPad)
Python OR Java OR PHP OR NoSQL
OR MySQL) "account executive" OR
"account manager" OR "inside sales"
OR "business development" OR
"sales" NOTAND
engineer Director OR VP
OR Chief OR C*O OR "Vice
NOT
President" (UI OR UX) OR "User
OR
Interface" OR "User Experience” sfdc
“”
OR salesforce OR salesforce.com
Android SDK( OR ) ((Java OR C#) AND
Mobile)?????
OR (iOS OR Objective-C OR
(Javascript HTML CSS) (Ruby OR
Python OR Java OR PHP OR NoSQL
OR MySQL) "account executive" OR
"account manager" OR "inside sales"
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AND
The Connector
The more times ‘AND’
Use AND to narrow down your
appears in your search
search for candidates who only query, the lower the
meet ALL of your specifications.
 volume of search results.
The word AND allows


recruiters to include and
Think of ‘AND’ as the wolf of the
connect specific skills
pack who commits everyone to the
into a search query.
8 pm dinner reservation for just 

the six of you – and no one else.

You’d type in:




EXAMPLE Developer AND C# AND XML AND Java


You’re searching for 

developers with C#, XML, This search will pull up results only with that set of words in the profile or dataset
and Java skills. — and clearly, a candidate who’s probably in hot pursuit by other recruiters.

Based on this search logic, you wouldn’t see any engineers who don’t have all C#,
XML, and Java skills.

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OR
The Expander

The word OR allows

recruiters to expand their
candidate search to
Use OR to connect terms and to increase
include similar, related
the number of results that appear.

terms or phrases.


OR is the friend who gives you options. 



Would you want to watch a movie OR go
on a hike OR grab lunch tomorrow?

You could try:


EXAMPLE
HTML OR CSS OR Javascript OR Ruby OR Java OR C# OR C++ 

You want to cast a wide 
 OR Python OR PHP
net and recruit for both a 

front-end and back-end Your results would pull up candidates who list any of these skills on their
engineer.
profile, which pertain either to front-end or back-end engineering.

3
NOT
The Excluder
The word NOT allows
recruiters to exclude
unrelated skills, titles,
companies, and other
keywords or phrases
from a search query.
EXAMPLE
You’re recruiting
individual contributor
candidates with
experience working in
sales, and you don’t want
results to filter in
engineers who have
listed sales-related skills
in their profiles.
Use NOT to refine your search and
leave out any unwanted, irrelevant
information on a candidate.


 You can also use the em
If AND is the includer, we’ll appropriately dash, or –, to function in
call NOT the cold shoulder. 
 place of NOT.


NOT is also the friend with the dinner
reservation who specifically asks you
don’t bring along that guy who
somehow always forgets his wallet 

at home.
You could type in:

sales NOT manager NOT director NOT chief NOT engineer 

NOT developer NOT programmer
This search query would leave out management-level candidates and engineers.
4
AND
NOT
The Excluder 
 Use AND NOT for hard-to-fill,
by Association
The phrase AND NOT
excludes unwanted
results likely
associated with the
original search.
EXAMPLE
You’re only hiring SDRs,
but most of your search
results are pulling up AEs.
Remember: This operator
eliminates entire profiles and
specialized positions that yield pages containing the
relevant and uncorrelated results. 
 specified term, even if those
pages include information

 you’re searching for.
Consider AND NOT the buddy who
doesn’t want to hang out with you 

this weekend because you’re 

friends with the guy who never 

brings his wallet.
You could type:

SDR AND NOT AE


This search string would include candidates who are SDRs, not AEs.
5
“”
The Enforcer
Use quotation marks to search
for specific, distinct words and
Quotation marks phrases that may be particular
allow recruiters to to the type of position you’re
search words and hiring for. Quotation marks
phrases exactly as must be used to search for
they appear. exact phrases.



Quotation marks – the friend
who means what he says.

Your search results, however, are pulling in a variety of candidates that have both
“data” and “scientist” in their profiles, but not the exact title, “data scientist.”
Results pull up unrelated candidates who, for example, are data entry specialists,
data analysts and scientists. Use quotation marks to search for candidates with
the exact job title.

EXAMPLE 

You would type:

You’re hiring a data scientist 

with experience in machine 
 “data scientist” AND “machine learning” 

learning and natural 
 AND “natural language processing”
language processing. 

This search string would only search for data scientists who have listed this title in
that exact phrase and syntax. The search would also pull up candidate profiles
that list “machine learning” and “natural language processing” as part of their
skills and/or experience.
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( )
The Combiner
Parentheses allow
recruiters to group
search terms for more
advanced searches,
multiple search
phrases and criteria.
EXAMPLE
You’re interested in hiring
a content marketing
manager with experience
in working in the B2B
recruiting tech industry.
Using more than one
Boolean command to build
your search string? Use The parentheses Boolean operator
parentheses to combine
functions for an optimum
them before you hit Enter.
pudditalltogetherandwhadyaget effect. 



Think of them as the ones who
strategically plan where everyone sits 

at the wedding party.
You can type in:


 (“content marketing” AND manager) AND (B2B AND recruiting)
This search query will retrieve content marketing managers who have experience in the
B2B recruiting space.



Want to up the ante on your search? Here’s another way to approach the query:




 ((“content marketing” AND manager) 

OR (“content marketing” AND (writer OR editor))) 

AND ((B2B AND recruiting) OR (B2B AND “talent acquisition”))
These search results will also include content marketing candidates who have experience
as writer and editors, and who may identify with the “talent acquisition” umbrella term
instead of “recruiting.” 7
Leave it to
the robots
in your computer to know exactly
what you’re looking for when it
comes to the hunt for talent.

For more information on sourcing candidates

using Boolean search strings, check out
these additional resources:

• BooleanStrings.com
• ChildsBooleanTraining.com
• BooleanBlackBelt.com
• LinkedIn’s Boolean Search Tips
• A Recruiter’s Guide to Boolean Searching
• Recruiter Radiology! Here's How to X-Ray
LinkedIn, G+, and GitHub

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ABOUT ENTELO
Entelo gives companies a competitive
advantage in building great teams. 



The Entelo platform leverages big data,
predictive analytics, and social signals to
help recruiting organizations find, qualify,
and engage with in-demand talent.

To learn how leading companies like

Facebook, Mircrosoft, and GE are
building their teams using Entelo, visit
www.entelo.com