How to find Programmers with Boolean search strings

Generic search string to find a Programmer

Your search strings will be more effective if they:

• Reduce false positives. Use terms like -job -jobs -sample -examples that exclude irrelevant results.
• Expand your search. Use variations of the same job title such as (programmer OR developer.)
• Target resumes. Use the command (intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) to generate results that contain the words “resume” or “cv” in the page title. You could do the same for urls with the command (inurl:resume OR inurl:cv.)

Here’s an example of a generic search string to find resumes:

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) (programmer OR developer) -job -jobs -sample -examples

Searching for online profiles of Programmers

Use the site: operator in Google to search within Github or Stack Overflow. Along with the “Programmer” job title, include terms found exclusively on member profiles to target your search. For example:

• site:github.com “Java programmer” “joined on”
• site:meetup.com “java programmer” inurl:member
• site:stackoverflow.com/users/ “badges” Rails

Add more criteria in your search to find profiles that better match your requirements.

When sourcing EU candidates, please refer to guidance on using social media for recruiting and collecting candidate information as per the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR.

Examples of Boolean search strings to find a Programmer by skills and experience

Find Programmers who:

Can code in selected programming languages

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) programmer (Java OR Rails) -job -jobs -sample -examples

Have experience with mobile development

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) programmer (mobile OR Android OR iOS) -job -jobs -sample -examples

Have experience with Drupal

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) programmer Drupal -job -jobs -sample -examples

Hold (or have held) senior positions

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) programmer (senior OR lead) -job -jobs -sample -examples

Are familiar with Scrum

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) programmer Scrum -job -jobs -sample -examples

Sample string to search for resumes of Programmers in downloadable formats

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) (filetype:pdf OR filetype:doc OR filetype:txt) programmer -job -jobs -sample -templates

Examples of Boolean search strings to find Programmers by location

By state or city:

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) programmer (“New York” OR NY) -job -jobs -sample -examples -book

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) programmer Sydney Australia -job -jobs -sample -examples

By area code:

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) programmer (Massachusetts OR MA) (857 OR 617) -job -jobs -sample -examples

Find area codes here.