LinkedIn advanced search tool for recruiters

[Chris Pomeroy]

I've been working on a linkedin "search engine" and thought i'd share it with this group.

The site is here: http://www.peopletoucher.com/linkedinsearch

Here's a few advantages to using this tool over the built-in linkedin search:
-store keywords in an inventory format
-save search settings for re-use
-automated boolean operators to filter results by rank (manager, VP, C-level etc.)
-Autocomplete US cities without having to lookup the zipcode

I know this won't replace manual keyword entry but it can automate part of the process or be used for some basic searches. Take a look and let me know if you find it useful or anything you would want changed.

I come from a sales background, but noticed the sales/business dev process of linkedin searching shares some similiar startegies (and pains) as sourcing candidates.

Open to any feedback on it, positive, negative, anything. Thanks.

Chris Pomeroy

[Susan Carson]

I just tried this tool, and found a problem. I was doing a search specifically for a 75 mile radius from brisbane California, but the results included people from all over the US. I did a better search directly with linked in. Any suggestions? I would like to hear from others who have tried thtis.

Susan

[Chris Pomeroy]

When you start typing a US city or zip code, the autocomplete will suggest what cities you might be looking for. Once the right one appears you have to hit enter to "select it". You should see "94005-Brisbane, CA" in bold and in Red if it is enabled. We have noticed sometimes people leave the city name in the field and then just press "search" and the zip code isn't actually enabled. Not sure if that's it or not.

Most of the text fields require you to hit enter to "enable" the term.

Not sure if its confusing as-is and should be changed.... Hope that helps, and if you have any suggestions to improve it I will make the changes. - Chris

[Donna Carr]

I've just gotten started but this is great! Thanks for the tip.

[Louis Jenkins]

I too have just gotten started. All in all, I like the tool a lot.

I ran across a couple of things when searching for Java developers with perl and trading application experience in the NYC area:
- When entering "java, perl, trade" - the search performed is "java or perl or trade"
- When entering the keywords - java and perl and trade or trader - I received the following error message: "This search cannot be performed. In order to include the "no rank" position of the rank filter, you must include at least one other term (company, title, keyword) in your search".
- When entering "java and perl" - I have a successful search

I curious if anyone else experienced the above.

Lou

[[e-mail]]

Hi Lou,

The search tool adds the boolean operators for you, so you really aren't meant to include your own. You may notice that the search performed at LinkedIn is ordered by relevance. So instead, add each of these terms and allow the relevance to bubble up the best matches. As you point out, the resulting search will be same as "java OR perl OR trade OR trader".

In general, you are better off hitting enter on the text input boxes to add the terms to your inventory before hitting [search]. You can either add terms one at a time or in a comma separated list. If doing the latter, remember you'll still have to click on the terms individually to enable them (they turn red when enabled).

Thanks for your feedback, we will take this experience into account when we make changes to the interface.

-Dave

[Louis Jenkins]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the feed-back!

Lou

[shawn davidson]

Hi Chris,

I tried your tool this morning. I especially like the ability to save searches. One small issue - for location I selected Canada (I'm in Montreal), but the field under the country field (I assume that's for city name?) and 'radius from zip code' are both disabled. I tried a couple of workarounds: I entered the city(ies) as keywords, and I saw that I could also modify the results.

It's a great tool. I bookmarked it and I'll share it with my colleagues.

Shawn

[Chris Pomeroy]

Postal code and radius functions are disabled for all countries except the US. International postal code radius search is something we are working on now.

In the meantime, if you need location-based filtering for Canada and other countries, it would be best to just pick canada, perform the search, then add the additional criteria on the linkedin page, and search again to narrow down the list. This will unfortunately make it a 2-step process, but is highly recommended over using Keywords to search for location by entering a city like "Toronto". This is not going to be a good workaround because most do not refernece their location in their profiles.

FYI, linkedin Keyword searching does not match any words in the "location subheading" at the top of a user's profile, for example: "in the Toronto Canada area" etc.

[[e-mail]]

International sourcing on LinkedIn is now easier using Peopletoucher!

We have recently added international region support to the Peopletoucher LinkedIn Search Engine and want to share this with the Boolean Strings community. International recruiters have written us requesting this feature and we are proud to add it to our list of features.

Here is a link to a short how-to blog post, and here is a direct link to the search engine.

Please give it a shot and let us know what you think. Any questions or comments are welcome here or via email at [e-mail].

Thanks! Dave