How to Find Candidates on Google (Guide for Recruiters)

Discover effective strategies on how to find candidates on Google with Boolean search string examples. Enhance your recruitment and sourcing process.

Sep 17, 2023

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When I first shared this method back in 2017, little did I know that it would stand the test of time. It's amazing how this approach can still help you track down candidates on Google today!

The best part is, it's not just limited to job seekers. You can reach out to people who might not even be actively looking for opportunities but would be open to hearing about them. It's all about identifying potential candidates in your industry and connecting them with relevant opportunities.

In this digital era, the recruitment game has changed drastically. Thanks to tools like Google, we now have access to a global pool of potential candidates. And let me tell you, one technique that has helped recruiters is not storytelling, but it's Boolean search.

If you're a recruiter and you haven't heard about this, you should definitely fix that as soon as possible!

What is Boolean Search in Recruitment

Boolean search is like a supercharged search that lets you combine keywords with operators such as AND, NOT, OR. This helps you find even more relevant results. For recruiters, it's a game-changer that makes searching for resumes or CVs across the web a breeze.

Boolean Search Examples

Using the Boolean operators can help narrow down search results:

AND - Ensures that both terms are in the search results.
- Example: Developer AND "San Francisco"
OR - Either of the terms can appear in the search results.
- Example: Developer OR Programmer
NOT - Excludes a term from the search results.
- Example: Developer NOT Java

If you're eager to master the art of constructing advanced boolean search strings, look no further than this must-have guide!

Free Boolean Search Strings for Recruiters

Cautionary Note: While using these Boolean search strings, one might come across files that are peppered with keywords to appear in searches. These might not contain a resume but could redirect to potentially harmful sites. Always exercise caution and ensure the legitimacy of the links before clicking.

Here are some free samples boolean search strings for recruiters:

How to Find Candidates on Google Suite

G Suite, now known as Google Workspace, is a collection of cloud-based collaboration and productivity tools developed by Google. It provides businesses, educational institutions, and other organizations with a suite of popular Google tools, revamped for business purposes, including Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and Meet.

These tools are designed to improve collaboration, streamline workflows, and enhance productivity within and outside an organization.

Creating strings for Google Suite is actually pretty easy! Just use the site: operator and include the important part of the public URL of the Google Drive site.

Along with other keywords, you can find the results you're looking for. In the string below, I've also removed words like "example," "sample," "samples," and "jobs."

site:docs.google.com developer "San Francisco" resume -example -sample -samples -jobs

You can also use intitle: operator, so the results show pages with just the right keyword in the page title – in this case, the keyword “resume”

site:docs.google.com developer "San Francisco" intitle:resume -example -sample -samples -jobs

You can target more keywords by using the "intitle:" operator. Not everyone uses "resume" for their files; some folks might opt for "CV" or "curriculum vitae," for instance.

site:docs.google.com developer London (intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) -example -sample -samples -jobs

site:docs.google.com developer London (resume OR CV OR "curriculum vitae") -example -sample -samples -jobs

If you want to target a specific email address in your x-ray string, you can simply add "* * @email.com" into the string.

And if you're looking for all documents with @gmail.com, just target that email account like this:

site:docs.google.com London "* * @gmail.com" -example -sample -samples -jobs

But these search strings are generic, not targeting specific services. So, let's learn how to specifically target services.

How to Find Candidates on Google Docs

Google Docs is a free, web-based word-processing software. It allows users to create, edit, and store documents online and access them from any computer with an internet connection. The real-time collaboration feature lets multiple users work on the same document simultaneously. Everything is automatically saved to the cloud, ensuring no data loss and easy sharing capabilities.

Google Docs files are located under the /document/ subfolder, so you can use the same strings for all of Google Drive – you only have to add the subfolder to your string. docs.google.com/document/

site:docs.google.com/document/

Example:

site:docs.google.com/document/ developer "San Francisco" intitle:resume -example -sample -samples -jobs

site:docs.google.com/document/ developer London (resume OR CV OR "curriculum vitae") -example -sample -samples -jobs

How to Find Candidates on Google Drive

Google Drive is a cloud storage service that allows users to save files online and synchronize them across various devices. This includes documents, photos, videos, and more. Integrated with other Google services, it facilitates easy sharing and collaboration on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Drive offers a certain amount of storage space for free, with more available for purchase.

Google Drive users aren't just creating documents or spreadsheets - they're also sharing all sorts of interesting stuff they upload. Think resumes, address books, organizational charts, and more! To target these files, you can use the "intitle:" or simply the keyword along with the "site:" operator.

site:drive.google.com/file/ intitle:resume -example

site:drive.google.com/file/ resume "New York" -example

Your string could be more powerful if you target files that users already have on their drives. A perfect example is a target list of attendees and staff directories:

site:drive.google.com/file/ (contacts OR participants OR directory OR registrants OR attendees) -example

Targeting org charts could be done through intitle: or without it:

site:drive.google.com/file/ intitle:"org chart" -example

You can also use a combination of more keywords:

site:drive.google.com/file/ ("organizational chart" OR "org chart") -example

How to Find Candidates on Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a web-based spreadsheet program included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite. It offers features similar to traditional spreadsheet software while also allowing for cloud storage, real-time collaboration, and easy sharing capabilities. Users can create, edit, and collaborate on spreadsheets directly within their web browsers without requiring specialized software.

Besides targeting documents on Google Docs, you can also target Google spreadsheets. These spreadsheets are pretty awesome when it comes to finding information about people. You'll often find lists of conferences and attendees, users, or even people subscribed to certain newsletters. It's a treasure trove of valuable data!

Google Spreadsheets uses the domain docs.google.com/spreadsheets/. You can use the same strings as before – just replace the domain URL in the string.

If you are planning to target a list of attendees in Google Spreadsheet, you can use this type of string:

site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ Accountant (contacts OR participants OR directory OR registrants OR attendees) -example

X-Ray string also gives you the ability to target lists of attendees with some specific email address:

site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ "@yahoo.com" (contacts OR participants OR directory OR registrants OR attendees) -example

Or with email addresses of some specific domains:

site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ "email * * com|net|org" (contacts OR participants OR directory OR registrants OR attendees) -example

Google Spreadsheets also offers staff directories:

site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ "Staff Directory" -example

And you can target the whole list of users with “* List”, but I recommend adding more keywords to the string:

site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ "* List" -example -sample

How to Find Candidates on Google Forms

Google Forms is a survey administration software that is part of the Google Docs Editors suite. It allows users to create surveys, quizzes, and other forms that can be shared via email, web links, or embedded on websites. Responses to these forms are collected in real-time and can be viewed in summary form or detailed spreadsheets.

Google Forms are very popular because they are free and very easy to use. Every form has two parts: one part is Google Forms, and the second part is Google Spreadsheet, where all answers are stored. When people create the second file, they very often name it “Responses;” thus, it is very easy to target these files.

site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ Responses (contacts OR participants OR directory OR registrants OR attendees) -example

site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ Responses "email * * com|net|org" -example

You can be more creative with your strings and target lists of participants:

site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ "List of *" (contacts OR participants OR directory OR registrants OR attendees) -example

How to Find Candidates on Google Presentations

Google Slides, often referred to as Google Presentations, is a presentation program that is part of Google's free, web-based software suite. It allows users to create, edit, and collaborate on presentations online, ensuring real-time collaboration and automatic cloud-based saving.

With various design templates and multimedia integration capabilities, it's a robust tool for creating professional presentations.

Presentations usually include contact details of the creators. So, if you're trying to find folks knowledgeable about Docker, you'll want to look for presentations they made.

site:docs.google.com/presentation/ docker -example

You can also target presentations that have email addresses in them:

site:docs.google.com/presentation/ docker "email * *" -example

Presentations also include organizational charts that you can target in a similar way as you targeted files on Google Drive:

site:docs.google.com/presentation/ "organizational chart" -example

How to Find Candidates on Google Sites

Google Sites is a structured wiki and web page creation tool offered by Google. It enables individuals or teams to create websites without the need for coding knowledge. The drag-and-drop interface allows for easy customization, and the integration with other Google services ensures seamless content addition. It's particularly popular among educators, small businesses, and project teams for creating informational sites.

These sites might have info about the people who create them, their contact details, and sometimes a list of all their contacts.

site:sites.google.com "Staff Directory" -example

Small firms that want to pay for a web designer or a developer are going to use Google Sites for their website, and you can target their teams just by adding “Our Team” into the search string:

site:sites.google.com "Our Team" -example

site:sites.google.com "Our Team" Accountant -example

Do you know what's great about Google Sites? You can find people who aren't on LinkedIn and probably won't ever be.

How to Find Candidates on Google

Boolean search in recruitment is still a must-have tool for modern recruiters, even with all the ChatGPT tools we have. It helps you navigate the vastness of the internet and find potential candidates with precision. Whether creating search strings or using a generator, the key is understanding the logic behind Boolean operations and using them effectively.

Now, let's talk about Google. It's not only an incredible search engine but also one of the best sourcing tools out there if you know how to master it. Google has already stored millions of interesting files containing contact details of candidates you're looking for.

Remember, in this digital age, your candidates are just a search string away!

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Comprehensive Boolean Search Strings:

If you’re into these examples, you’d be absolutely amazed by the other things mentioned in this next section:

Comprehensive Boolean Search Strings
Semantic Search Integration
Leveraging Advanced Google Search Operators
and more.