Boolean Search Basics

Boolean search is a great way to increase the relevancy of your results when sourcing candidates. It combines keywords and phrases with AND, OR, NOT, and parenthesis ( ) to widen, condense or strictly define your search.

In ChatterWorks, all search fields are Boolean capable, and we encourage users to employ these search tactics to get the most out of the product.

OPERATOR	HOW-IT-WORKS	EXAMPLE
AND	Results include all keywords linked with ‘AND’ (Narrows Search)	Java AND Spring
OR	Results include at least 1 of the keywords linked with ‘OR’ (Broadens Search)	HR OR Human Resources
NOT	Results will exclude keyword (Narrows Search)	NOT Director NOT Manager
( )	Groups keywords together & useful for the ‘OR’ Boolean Operator	(Engineer OR Developer) AND (Software OR Java)
" "	Results will only show if terms are exactly as they appear within the quotes (Narrows Search)	“Operations Director” This will only include results with ‘Operations Director’ and exclude other variations, such as ‘Director of Operations’

Using AND to narrow your search:

For required keywords, use AND to narrow your search. For example, if you are searching for a software engineer who is proficient in all three skills, type "javascript AND html AND css" in the skills field. If a candidate only has two of the three skills, they won't show up in the results. Therefore, more AND's will give you more specific results, but may exclude viable candidates.

Using OR to broaden your search:

Use OR to expand your results. Results will include everything that contains at least one of the keywords. For example, one developer might use HTML as a skill, and another might use HTML5. By searching for "html OR html5", both will appear in your search results.

Typically, it is helpful to add synonyms, related terms, and variations of keywords to ensure your search encompasses all possibilities within your search requirements.

Using Parentheses ( ) to group keywords together:

Typically used with OR statements, it is important to group similar keywords together. Using the previous examples, a strong boolean would be "JavaScript AND (hmtl OR html5) AND (css OR css3)". This would return candidates who know JavaScript and have at least one of the skills within each of the parentheses. 

Using NOT to exclude:

NOT comes in handy to filter out candidates. For instance, if you are looking for a junior-level candidate, you can add "NOT manager NOT director NOT senior NOT lead" to weed out all results with these words in their job title.

Using Quotation Marks “” to search exact phrases:

Use quotation marks " " to ensure the results will only contain the phrase's exact wording. This is particularly useful for niche searches. Without quotes, a search may return results with similar terms. For example, Assistant Director (i.e. a lower-level Director) may include a Director's Assistant (i.e. a secretary to the Director) without quotation marks. However, "Assistant Director" with quotation marks will only return candidates with that exact job title and exclude other versions such as “Assistant-Level Director”.

Other Boolean tips:

• Take a look at your search results for other keywords to include in your boolean. There are often several ways to articulate the same experience with alternative keywords that are still relevant.
• For niche searches, including keywords that will supplement specific criteria is helpful. For example, an advanced degree might supplement a specific certification.
• Get creative! Think about what your ideal candidate might have on their profile. Maybe a Director of HR has a Chief People Officer as a job title. For bilingual searches, try adding international universities where courses are taught in that native language in the School search field.

There are many ways to use ChatterWorks, and we're always happy to help! If you are not getting the right results or want more tips, simply email us at [e-mail].