Boolean search cheat sheet for recruiters

The operators

• AND: both terms must appear. Java AND Spring.
• OR: either term may appear. "Java Developer" OR "Java Engineer".
• NOT or minus: exclude a term. NOT intern, or -intern in Google.
• Quotation marks: exact phrase. "Site Reliability Engineer".
• Parentheses: group terms. ("Java Developer" OR "Java Engineer") AND Spring.
• Wildcard (some tools): Develop* matches Developer and Developers.

A build order that works

Start broad, then tighten one step at a time and watch how the result count changes.

• Step 1: group the title variants in one OR group.
• Step 2: add the one or two skills that decide a fit with AND.
• Step 3: add location.
• Step 4: exclude noise with NOT (intern, trainee, recruiter).
• Step 5: review twenty results and adjust before you scale up.

Copy-ready examples

Replace the bracketed parts.

("[Title A]" OR "[Title B]") AND ("[Skill 1]" AND "[Skill 2]") NOT (intern OR trainee)

Google resume X-ray

Use site and intitle operators to steer Google toward resumes. Check the privacy rules that apply to the region before collecting contact details.

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) ("[Title]") ("[Skill]") ("[City]" OR "[ST]") -job -jobs -sample -template

Platform differences to check

Syntax is not universal. Confirm the rules in each tool’s own help page before you rely on a string.

• Keep AND, OR and NOT in uppercase; some tools, LinkedIn among them, treat lowercase as plain words.
• Google X-ray uses a minus sign for exclusions, for example -job -sample.
• Some job boards handle AND and OR reliably but apply NOT inconsistently, so scan results for terms you tried to exclude.
• Wildcards (Develop*) are not supported everywhere.
• Group every OR set in parentheses so the tool reads the string the way you meant it.
• Do not over-exclude: each NOT term can remove a good candidate who simply lists the word.

Role-specific starting points

Each sourcing guide has title variants and strings for one role. Start with Java Developer, DevOps Engineer or Data Engineer.

Frequently asked questions