Basic Boolean Operators Explained
Basic Boolean Operators Explained
No, those aren’t my hands. I never cease to be amazed by what you can find on the Internet and what people take pictures of.
Now that I have your attention, this post is going to focus on the basic Boolean operators and search symbols and will not go into any detail of any of the special Internet-only search commands/operators. Although a great many people seem to think that Boolean = Internet search, Boolean logic and searching has been around WAY before the Internet. And here’s a quick fact: you don’t have to capitalize Boolean operators on any of the major job boards and many of the major ATS’s. Go ahead – try it. Nothing will explode and your searches will execute.
And now, back to the Boolean basics…
AND
The AND operator limits your search – it should be used for targeting required skills, experience, technologies, or titles you would like to limit your results to. Unless you are searching for common words, with every AND you add to your Boolean query, the fewer results you will get.
Example: Java and Oracle and SQL and AJAX
OR
The OR operator typically broadens your search. Essentially, using an OR means ”at least one of/one or more.” OR statements need to be encapsulated by parentheses in order to execute properly.
Example: Java and Oracle and SQL and AJAX and (apache or weblogic or websphere)
The returned results must mention at least one of the following: apache, weblogic, websphere. However, if candidates mention 2 or all 3, they also will be returned, and some search engines will rank them as more relevant results because of such.
The best ways to use OR statements is #1 to think of all of the alternate ways a particular skill or technology can be expressed, e.g., (CPA or “C.P.A” or “Certified Public Accountant”), and/or #2 to search for a list of desired skills where you would be pleased if a candidate had experience with at least one, e.g., (apache or weblogic or websphere).
ASTERISK *
The asterisk can be used on most resume databases and non-Internet search engines as a root word/stem/truncation search. In other words, the search engine will return and highlight any word that begins with the root/stem of the word truncated by the asterisk.
For example: admin* will return: administrator, administration, administer, administered, etc.
The asterisk is a time saver for search engines that recognize it (most major job boards and ATS’s) because it saves you from creating long OR statements and having to think of every way a particular word can be expressed.
PARENTHESES ( )
Parentheses must be used to encapsulate OR statements for the search engines to execute them properly.
For example: (apache or weblogic or websphere)
If you don’t enclose all of your OR statements, your search may run but it will NOT run as intended.
QUOTATION MARKS ” “
Quotation marks must be used when searching for exact phrases of more than one word, or else some search engines will split the phrase up into single word components.
For example: “Director of Tax” will only return “Director of Tax.” If you searched for Director of Tax without the quotation marks, on some search engines, it will split up the words Director and Tax and highlight them as relevant matches even when not mentioned as an exact phrase.
Bonus: Google auto-stems every search term, so if you are looking specifically for the word manager, it will still return managed, management, etc. – even if you don’t want it to. If you put quotation marks on a single word in Google, it will defeat the auto-stemming feature and only return that specific word.
NOT
The NOT operator excludes specific search terms and will not return any results with that term (or terms) in them.
Example: If you were searching for an I.T. Project Manager, you may want to employ the NOT operator in order to eliminate false positive results - results that mention your search terms but do not in fact match your target hiring profile. In this case, you could run: “project manager” and not construction – this search will not return any results with “project manager” and the word “construction” contained within them.
On all of the major job boards and some ATS’s, you can use the NOT operator in conjuction with an OR statement.
Example: .Net and not (Java or JSP or J2EE) – that search will not return any results with any mention of Java, JSP, and/or J2EE.
Bonus: NOT has 2 main uses
#1 Excluding words you do not want to retrieve to reduce false positive results (most common usage)
#2 Starting with a very restrictive search with many search terms, you can use the NOT operator to systematically and progressively loosen the search into mutually exclusive result sets (not so common usage, but very effective strategy)
For example:
Search #1 “Project Manager” and SQL and Spanish
Search #2 “Project Manager” and SQL and not Spanish
Search #3 “Project Manager” and not SQL and Spanish
In the near future, I will be writing posts reviewing the search operators and symbols of the major Internet search engines, as well as powerful extended Boolean operators and functionality. Check back often or simply subscribe to my feed.
If there is something you would like to see me post about with regard to Boolean logic and search tactics and strategies – let me know. Thanks!
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Kindly clarify the default values taken by boolean operators in Oracle
Hi Glen.
You have explained Boolean operators in a very simple and nice manner.
I am a newbie in recruitment blogging. Taking inspiration from you, I have tried to explain boolean search in my blog in my own way. Please have a look at it and comment.
(click on my name above to read the post)
Well done Fundoo Recruiter – I think you did a nice job of walking through the specific search examples and the factors that must be considered in creating effective search strings.
Great article. As someone just returning to the recruiting field after a few years away it was a very helpful refresher for me! Thanks
Great article, really enjoy learning, enhancing my technology skills thru your expertise.
JC
Hey! Those are my hands!
The image you “found” on the internet is licensed under a creative commons attribution license.
Please provide attribution and a link to the original source. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennafreedman/3000801429/
When people allow you to use their work as long as you give them credit, the least you can do is be respectful and give proper credit. Please keep this in mind in the future when you use other people’s content on your site.
Thanks.
@ Eric: please accept my apologies – that was one of my earliest blogging efforts and I was still new to linking. Although I made sure that the photo name showed the artists’s (Jenna’s) name, I obviously missed the link directly to the photo. I just updated the link, and thank you for such an interesting and relevant image!
apology accepted.
thanks for taking the criticism in such a positive way and not assuming I was just ranting.
Also, thanks for using that image, it makes me laugh every time I see it.