Searching Best Practices: Classic Resume Search

Keyword Search

We recommend searching by keywords first. You can easily find candidates with important terms such as job title, skills, experience, etc. Enter your Boolean search string (see Tip #2) in the Keyword field to include multiple terms in your search.

Right below, you can narrow your results by when a resume was posted, location (by region, ZIP code or city), work authorization and if candidates are willing to work in selected locations.

More Search Options

You can refine your search with additional search criteria by clicking on “More Search Options” at the bottom of the search tool. Keep in mind that these search options are derived from information that may or may not have been provided in the candidate’s profile.

• Most Recent Employer
• Most Recent Job Title
• Most Recent Job Description
• Education level
• Schools Attended
• Desired Salary
• Language Proficiency
• Job Status
• Job Types

Boolean logic is a series of commands and operators that are used to turn keywords into meaningful phrases so the search engine understands how to filter the results. To learn how to develop a search string to widen your search, narrow it down and/or exclude keywords in one search string.

Candidates can use different title variations for the same role. To find as many candidates as possible in one search use a broad/industry standard job title. For example, if you are looking for a Software Project Manager, write “Project Manager” AND “Software”  in the search box instead of “Software Project Manager.”

The results will be ranked by candidate relevance to your search strings, with resumes containing the most repetitions shown at the top.

Sometimes there might be too many variations of a job title and including them all in one search string can make it look too overwhelming. Or perhaps you’re recruiting for a junior position and want to consider relevant skills instead of previous job titles.

For example, in the IT sector when searching for Software Engineers you might not care about their previous job title but want to find candidates who know specific programming languages like Java or C# or Frameworks like AngularJs. You can search for these with the required proficiency level by terms like “proficient” or “working knowledge.”

Another example to consider is the Customer Service field. There are lots of variety in job titles – ranging from “customer service agent” to “client experience specialist” – you can focus on relevant skills or knowledge of processes, instead of entering every variation of the job title on top of the required skills.

In the resumes posted field, the search engine will default to searching all resumes as it is best practice to start with all the candidates before narrowing this filter. Here are a few reasons searching all resumes is the best place to start:

• Your ideal candidate could be currently employed, not actively looking, but open to considering an appealing offer.
• Potential candidates may be in a more “passive” state. Even though their resumes haven’t been updated, they could be open to the right opportunity.

We strongly recommend narrowing down your search with additional criteria until your results are in the 100-200 range. Then, you’ll know the candidates that you choose to contact will meet your specific qualifications.

You can preview the candidates from the search results list without using any inventory. High-level information will help you to confirm if your search returned matching candidates. Information such as: most recent employer, most recent job title, desired job title, education and career level, job status and type, desired salary, work authorization and resume updated is listed in this view. Some fields may not be filled in by the candidate and can be displayed as blank.

If you have viewed the candidate’s resume or performed an action on a candidate you will see a “Viewed” callout.

Click on the candidate’s name to view the full profile and resume. From this page you can view the resume, additional info and skills. You can also perform activities such as:

Send message – Be proactive and send the candidate a message about the job opportunity.
Add candidate to folder – Keep your top candidates within reach by adding them to a folder.
Forward Resume – Did you come across an interesting resume for a colleague’s requisition? Send it over!
Add note – Capture your thoughts and activities (phone calls, interviews, etc.) related to a resume
Rate – Rate the resume and compare to other candidates.
Update status – Keep track of a candidate’s progress through the hiring cycle.
Block Resume – Clearly mark resumes you want to bypass in the future.

You can view all activities made by you or your colleague in the activity tab.

Save your searches so it’s easy to come back and continue your work.

You can save your search and receive an email notification when new candidates who match your search are found, click on “Save Search” in the filters on the left side of the page.

Enter a name for the search and tick the box to receive email notifications. You can choose frequency and to which email address the notifications should be sent. Scroll pass the search criteria and click on “Save Search.”

You can check your inventory at any time. Sign into your account and click on the settings icon at the top of the page. Then click “Inventory Detail.”

The Inventory Detail page shows the inventory that is available company-wide. You will see the number of views purchased, used and remaining.