Boolean search stringbuilder.
Paste a job description and get a Boolean string for LinkedIn Recruiter, X-ray strings for Google, and broader and narrower versions, each checked and ready to copy. Then edit the terms by hand. Free, no sign-up.
Edit the search
Or build the search by hand: add job titles, skills and exclusions, and the strings build as you type, checked against each platform’s syntax.
Your search
Press Enter or type a comma after each term. Phrases are quoted for you.
The titles people with this job use. A profile needs to match any one of them.
A profile needs to mention every one of these. Give a skill its other names (JavaScript or JS) and a profile can match any of them.
Nice-to-haves: a profile needs to mention one or more of these. Leave it empty to skip.
- recruiter
- intern
Profiles that mention any of these are left out. It starts with two common sources of noise; remove them if you need to.
Used in the Google X-ray and ATS strings. On LinkedIn, set it with the location filter instead.
Your strings
LinkedIn Boolean search
Add a job title or a skill to build the string.
Paste it into the LinkedIn search bar or LinkedIn Recruiter’s keyword search. Other databases may write the operators differently, so check their help pages.
How LinkedIn read it
- AND, OR, NOT in capitals
- ( ) to group
- "…" for a phrase
- No * wildcards
From LinkedIn Help, “Use Boolean search on LinkedIn”.
What it searches for
Add a job title or a skill, and this says in plain words what the strings look for.
The link holds your figures, so anyone with it sees them.
Saved searches
Check a string you already have
Boolean search
What is a Boolean search string?
A Boolean search string is a search written with the operators AND, OR and NOT, quotation marks and brackets, so a search engine returns exactly the combination of words you want: any of these job titles, all of these skills, none of these words. Recruiters use them to search LinkedIn, applicant tracking systems, CV databases and Google.
| What you want | ||
|---|---|---|
| Every word | python AND sql | python sql |
| Any of the words | python OR java | python OR java |
| Not this word | NOT intern | -intern |
| An exact phrase | "data engineer" | "data engineer" |
| Group alternatives | ("data engineer" OR "ETL developer") | Not documented by Google |
| One website only | Not applicable | site:linkedin.com/in |
- LinkedIn’s help pages say AND, OR and NOT must be typed in capitals, and that parentheses are the only grouping symbols it recognises.
- LinkedIn reads a string in this order: quotes, then parentheses, then NOT, then AND, then OR. Brackets around each OR group keep the meaning you intended.
- LinkedIn doesn’t support wildcards such as *, and its help pages recommend AND and NOT over + and -.
- Put phrases in straight quotation marks. Without them, "data engineer" can match a profile that mentions data in one place and engineer in another.
X-ray search
What is X-ray search?
X-ray search uses Google’s site: operator to search one website’s pages from Google. Starting a search with site:linkedin.com/in limits it to the addresses of LinkedIn profiles, so Google returns public profiles that match your titles, skills and location. site:github.com does the same for GitHub, which is useful for developers whose code says more than their job title.
Google’s syntax differs from LinkedIn’s. A space between words means all of them, OR goes between alternatives, and a minus sign directly before a word or a quoted phrase leaves it out. Google’s help pages document quotes, site:, OR and the minus sign, but not brackets. The strings here keep brackets around each OR group so they read the same as the LinkedIn string; if a search behaves oddly, try the OR group on its own.
The limits
What a search string can’t do.
- X-ray search only finds what Google has indexed. LinkedIn’s public profile is a simplified version of the full profile, and members choose which sections search engines can show, or turn it off.
- Search results can be out of date. LinkedIn’s help pages say search engines can take weeks to pick up changes to a profile, and LinkedIn doesn’t control when they do.
- A string matches words, not ability. A profile that mentions Python tells you someone wrote the word, not how well they use it.
- Strings with many terms are harder to check. Start with the titles and one or two must-haves, look at the results, then add terms one at a time.
- Use what you find within data protection law and each site’s terms, and contact people the way you would want to be contacted.
Once you have a list of people, the guide to sourcing and outreach automation covers what comes next.
Questions
About Boolean and X-ray search.
What is the difference between Boolean search and X-ray search?
How do I do an X-ray search on LinkedIn?
Does LinkedIn support Boolean search?
Why are job titles left out of the GitHub string?
Why does my X-ray search return few results?
Does this tool store what I type?
Related: interview invitation email template, job description builder, interview kit builder, talent pools and candidate screening.
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