Stellar Boolean Search Tips

Find Exactly What You’re Looking For (and Faster)

Dec 30, 2025

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Mon Jan 5 - Beating the Applicant Tracking System Black Hole
Wed Jan 7 - Harnessing AI for Smarter Job Searches
Thu Jan 8 - Job Scams 2026: How to Spot, Avoid, & Report Them
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Mon Jan 12 - Career Success Group Job Seeker Accountability & Networking
Mon Jan 12 - How to Create Snazzy Graphics for Social Media Step-by-Step Demo
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Thu Jan 15 - Recruiter on Call with Jobs
Mon Jan 19 - MLK Day Job Fair at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
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Tues Jan 20 - Skills for Career Transition
Tue Jan 20 - Business Executives Networking Group & ChemPharma LV
Wed Jan 21 - What are small business employers looking for? Small Biz vs. Corporate Employers
Thu Jan 22 - Career Success Group Job Seeker Accountability & Networking (Hybrid Paoli, PA)
Tues Jan 27 - Business Executives Networking Group & ChemPharma
Wed Jan 28 - How to Develop Successful Job Search Strategies
Sat Jan 31 - The Launchpad Role: How to Choose Your Next Job to Unlock the One After

Boolean search tips can help you target the information you’re seeking, whether you’re a job seeker, an entrepreneur, or someone who wants better search results on LinkedIn and Google.

If you’ve ever wondered:

How do recruiters find people so quickly?
Why does LinkedIn feel hard to search sometimes?
Is there a more innovative way to Google things?

The answer is often a Boolean search.

Let’s break it down in plain English, with real examples, and no computer science degree required.

What is a Boolean Search?

Boolean search is based on a logic system developed in the 19th century by George Boole. Today, that logic powers how we search the internet, LinkedIn, job boards, and databases.

Boolean search uses capitalized operators:

AND
OR
NOT

These operators are combined with keywords such as names, job titles, skills, and companies to narrow, or expand, your results.

You can use a Boolean search on:

LinkedIn
Google
Job boards
Resume databases

Searching on LinkedIn

Use Quotation Marks for Exact Phrases

If you want LinkedIn to treat multiple words as one phrase, put them in quotation marks.

Examples:

“project manager”
“talent acquisition”
“executive director”

Without quotes, LinkedIn will search each word separately and give you less accurate results.

Combine Keywords with Boolean Operators

You can layer keywords to get more targeted results.

Examples:

“project manager” AND healthcare
“career coach” OR “career consultant”
“software engineer” NOT intern
“sales manager” AND Realtor
“sales manager” AND “real estate”
“sales manager” AND “real estate” OR Realtor
“sales manager” OR “regional manager” AND “residential real estate” NOT “new construction”

Layering keywords helps you filter out noise and focus on what matters.

Searching Google for People on LinkedIn

LinkedIn limits the number of searches you can do each week. Google can be a powerful workaround.

Use site:linkedin.com/in to search public LinkedIn profiles.

Example 1:

site:linkedin.com/in “marketing director” AND nonprofit AND Philadelphia

This search tells Google:

Only show LinkedIn profiles
Include the exact phrase marketing director
Include nonprofit experience
Focus on Philadelphia

Example 2:

site:linkedin.com/in (“greater philadelphia area” OR “greater new york city area”) AND (R&D AND VP OR “vice president” AND “johnson & johnson” OR “johnson and johnson” OR “j and j” OR “j & j” OR j&j)

Copy and paste the string above into a Google search, and you will see the results!

Tips for Job Seekers (Employed or Unemployed)

If you’re unemployed, you can include keywords like these in your About section:

Open to Work
Seeking New Opportunities
Available Immediately

If you’re employed but exploring, you can place similar keywords under a previous role to avoid broadcasting your search in your About section.

Keywords Are Essential on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a searchable database. If you want to “be found” on LinkedIn, your profile must contain the words people are searching for.

Key sections for keywords:

Headline
About section
Skills section
Job Titles

Additional places to reinforce keywords:

Experience
Projects
Publications

Repetition matters, but it needs to be natural.

Think Like Google

Ask yourself:

What would I type into Google if I were looking for someone like me?

For example:

Would you search Owner OR President of ABC Website Design?
Or would you search for ‘website designer’ OR ‘website developer’ as a more general inquiry?

Most people search general terms, not company names they’ve never heard of.

Important Tip for Business Owners

Your company name and title belong in the Experience section and not your headline.
Your Headline should focus on a key title, keywords, and a unique selling proposition (USP) to differentiate yourself, not just your title.

Think Like a Recruiter or Talent Acquisition Professional

Recruiters don’t search the way job seekers do when applying.

They use:

Job titles
Skills
Certifications
Industry keywords
Locations

Reading articles from professional HR and recruiting organizations can help you understand how searches actually happen. Once you know that, you can reverse-engineer your LinkedIn profile to match how you want to “be found.” Here are a couple of articles by SHRM and TalentLyft on how someone in talent acquisition searches for candidates.

Think Like You as a Job Seeker

You don’t have to rely only on job boards or LinkedIn Jobs.

You can use Google to uncover roles that fit what you are looking for, but may not have a title that exactly matches your search.

Example:

nonprofit AND “servant leadership” AND management jobs near City, State

This approach often surfaces:

Smaller organizations
Consulting roles
Mission-driven opportunities

Other Helpful Boolean Terms & Symbols

**Asterisk (*) – Wildcard Searches**

An asterisk replaces multiple word endings.

Example:

recruit*
Results may include: recruit, recruiter, recruiters, recruiting, recruited

Double Asterisk () – Broader Variations**

Some platforms interpret a double asterisk as an even broader variation.

Example:

sell**
Results may include: sell, selling, sold, sales

(Not every platform handles this the same way, but it’s helpful to test.)

Note that there are other Boolean operators for computer scientists, but we are keeping this simplified for the average searcher - YOU!

Final Thought

Boolean search isn’t complicated; it’s strategic.

When you:

Think like Google
Think like a recruiter
Think like your ideal audience

You stop searching harder and start searching smarter.

And that’s where better opportunities tend to show up.

AUTHOR BIO

Lynne M. Williams is the Executive Director of the Great Careers Network, a volunteer-run 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides career development and networking connections for 1) job seekers in career transition, including veterans, and 2) employed and self-employed individuals for career management.

Aside from writing keyword-focused content for ATS resumes and LinkedIn profiles, Lynne is writing her doctoral dissertation on LinkedIn for Job Seekers. She is a contributing author on “Applying to Positions” in Find Your Fit: A Practical Guide to Landing the Job You Love, along with the late Dick Bolles, the author of What Color is Your Parachute?, and is also a speaker on career topics.