To the subject in general what I will say is this…

There are some common traits that I have observed that distinguish blah-blah researchers from competent sourcers, and expert hackers from “black belts.”

Some of those things include inquisitiveness; creative thinking and inventiveness; pedantic attention to detail; the ability to recognize, interpret and anticipate patterns, events and outcomes; a strong desire to be proven right, and a near OCD-enthusiasm for zoning out, missing meals and staying up late.

It seems to me that none that can be taught. Nurtured, yes; taught, no.

The problem is that knowing how to use AND, OR and NOT for what they are — “operators” — is a transferable skill. We can all become operators, right? That’s easy.

Most of what follows isn’t easy though. The whole-brain stuff, and syntax, and semantics, and search engine behavior, and understanding then the relationships and the rules, etc. is not easy. It’s hard. It’s not a transferable skill, sorry.

I envision a day when a few venerable black belts nurture their replacements, themselves few and far between. Together they can program the technology that will support recruiters who don’t want to know this Boolean stuff as badly as they want resumes delivered with the least amount of effort [and there’s nothing wrong with that].

If not programming a custom search engine perhaps then a programmatic approach that people can learn with the least amount of thinking required to produce results. Let’s be honest: given the choice between cracking the code and open sesame most recruiters would pick the spell-binding magic that requires no thinking.

I know I would.

Great post, Glen — timely too.