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Searching Techniques Training

Presented to: Recruiting / Sourcing Team

Training Objectives

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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.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304811304577366064075571378.h

The Meaning of Search

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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.

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Boolean Operators

Are similar to the conjunctions in English language. There are three Boolean operators:1. AND 2. OR3. AND NOT

There are two modifiers:1. Quotes “ ”2. Brackets ( )

There is a wild card:1. *

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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

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The AND OperatorWhen 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.

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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.

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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.

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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 person’s 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: 1 x (3 + 2) = 1 x 5 = 5 Ex #2: 1 x (3 + 2) x (1 + 2) + 1 = 1 x 5 x 3 + 1 = 15 + 1 =

16Ex #3: (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 SearchBuilding 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 SearchSearching 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 don’t 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 OxleyNeed 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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Possible Search Strings:

1. (“Microsoft SQL Server 7.0” AND modeling AND design AND “back-up” 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 didn’t put it on the resume.

We can solve this by Or’ing 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 let’s OR those together in the next Option.

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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-I’m-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 OR’ing these two terms together.

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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’ DBA’s 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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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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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 StringsTitle: 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 StringsCognos

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)

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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 )

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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)

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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" )

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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 StringsTitle: 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)

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.NET Web development.net AND asp.net AND (c# OR vb.net) AND webforms AND sql*server

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.NET Client/Server development.net AND (c# OR vb.net) AND winforms AND sql*server

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.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 StringsTitle :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*)

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.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

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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 StringsTitle : 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)

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==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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