8 June 2011

X-Ray Searching - The Basics

The idea of X-Ray searching is one which has been covered countless times across various recruitment blogs (most notably and thoroughly in Glen Cathy's outstanding Boolean Black Belt) - yet it is a technique which I believe is criminally underused, particularly here in the UK. Anyone familiar with the concept, please switch off now; this is very much a bare-bones guide to X-Ray searching.

Background

X-Ray searching is a term denoting a technique for searching LinkedIn (or other similar publicly available databases) via search engines such as Google or Bing. The overwhelming majority of LinkedIn profiles are public, which leaves them open to being indexed by any search engine for finding using familiar Boolean search techniques.

How?

Step 1: Load up Google.com. As simple as that. Nearly, anyway; if like me you are based outside of the United States, you will be redirected to Google's localised site (so in my case Google UK) - this can actually skew your search results slightly, so click on the link at the bottom of the page which says 'Go to Google.com' (or, navigate to google.com/ncr).


Step 2: Build up your search string. The basic building blocks will be:
site:linkedin.com (inurl:pub | inurl:in) -intitle:directory -inurl:groups -recruiter
You then need to enter your keywords; in this example, let us try a very simple search for an iPhone developer with some kind of Agile experience.
site:linkedin.com (inurl:pub | inurl:in) -intitle:directory -inurl:groups -recruiter iphone (agile | tdd)
Next; location. A little different to a standard Boolean search, but only in ways which make it easier for us. Not too long ago, LinkedIn added the country code to the beginning of their URLs which makes for easier filtering; as a quick example;
site:uk.linkedin.com (inurl:pub | inurl:in) -intitle:directory -inurl:groups -recruiter iphone (agile | tdd) "London United Kingdom"
3. Search! :)


Why?

There are several reasons why one would X-Ray search rather than search directly in to LinkedIn; the big ones, for me, are that first of all it is simply quicker to run a search and skim through names via Google than LinkedIn, and that you are not limited to connections within your own network, but to anybody on LinkedIn with a public profile. You are also limited to 1000 search results when using Google; in a (free) LinkedIn account, your search is capped to 100 results.

The big loss when using Google in comparison with LinkedIn itself are the advanced search operators and the control that comes with them; it is difficult to control the distinction between current or past employers, for example.

Conclusion

Add this to your arsenal of search tools. If it is something you don't do at the moment, do it! :)

I have only touched the tip of the iceberg of what is possible with this introduction; I will add more advanced tips from time to time, but as with any kind of sourcing, it is up to the individual to take these ideas and really make them your own. Take the examples shown here, tweak them, change them, and use them.

-TW

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