Boolean search on LinkedIn is powerful. It's also tedious if you don't know the shortcuts. Most recruiters are out here typing the same long search strings over and over when there are faster ways to find exactly who you need.

Let's fix that. Here are the Boolean hacks that'll make you faster at sourcing without sacrificing quality.

The Parentheses Trick For Skill Variations

Stop writing the same search string five different ways. Use parentheses to group variations and search them all at once.

Instead of:

"React developer" OR "React.js developer" OR "ReactJS developer"

Do this:

(React OR React.js OR ReactJS) AND developer

Even better, combine it with job title variations:

(React OR React.js OR ReactJS) AND (developer OR engineer OR programmer)

One search string, multiple variations covered. This works for any skill with multiple names: JavaScript/JS, Python/Py, C++/CPlusPlus, etc.

Time saved: 5-10 minutes per search by not running multiple variations separately.

The Minus Sign For Filtering Out Noise

LinkedIn searches return a lot of irrelevant results. The minus sign (-) is your friend for excluding what you don't want.

Looking for Python developers but keep getting data scientists?

Python AND developer -"data scientist" -"machine learning"

Want senior engineers but LinkedIn keeps showing you CTOs?

"senior engineer" -CTO -"VP of engineering" -director

Need full-time employees, not consultants?

"software engineer" -consultant -freelance -contractor

The minus sign removes profiles that match the excluded terms, instantly cleaning up your results.

Pro tip: Put excluded phrases in quotes to filter exact matches. -consultant removes anyone with "consultant" anywhere in their profile. -"independent consultant" only removes that specific phrase.

The Quote Trick For Exact Phrases

When you search senior software engineer without quotes, LinkedIn returns anyone with those words anywhere in their profile, in any order.

Putting phrases in quotes forces exact matches:

"senior software engineer"

This only returns profiles where those words appear together, in that order. Way more precise.

Where this matters most:

• Job titles: "product manager" vs product manager (which could match "product" and "manager" separately)
• Certifications: "PMP certified" vs PMP certified
• Specific tools: "Salesforce CRM" vs Salesforce CRM

Time saved: Stops you from scrolling through hundreds of irrelevant profiles.

The Location Hack For Remote-Friendly Searches

LinkedIn's location filter is notoriously bad for finding remote workers in specific time zones or regions.

Instead of using the location filter, include location keywords in your Boolean string:

"React developer" AND (Austin OR "remote Austin" OR "Austin TX")

Or if you want to find remote candidates willing to work in a specific time zone:

"software engineer" AND remote AND (PST OR "pacific time" OR "west coast")

This catches people who mention remote work preferences but might not have it set as their official location.

Bonus: You can also search for people who recently relocated:

"software engineer" AND ("recently relocated to" OR "new to" OR "moved to") AND Seattle

The Wildcard Asterisk For Partial Matches

The asterisk (*) works as a wildcard for partial word matches. Super useful for prefixes or suffixes.

Example:

market*

This returns: marketing, marketer, marketplace, markets, marketed, etc.

Where this is helpful:

engineer* AND (Java OR Python)

Returns: engineer, engineers, engineering

consult* AND "change management"

Returns: consultant, consulting, consultancy

Warning: The asterisk can make searches too broad. Use it when you specifically want multiple variations, not as a default.

The Company Targeting Strategy

Looking for candidates from specific companies? Group them together:

"software engineer" AND (Google OR Facebook OR Amazon OR Microsoft OR Apple)

Want people who worked at startups but are now at bigger companies (often a sign of growth-minded candidates)?

"product manager" AND (Stripe OR Airbnb OR Uber) AND ("previously at" OR "former")

This helps you find people who have the startup experience but wanted more stability.

Another angle: Target competitors directly:

"sales director" AND (CompetitorA OR CompetitorB OR CompetitorC)

You're sourcing from companies that already trained people in your industry.

The Years Of Experience Search

LinkedIn doesn't let you filter by exact years of experience in basic search. But you can approximate it with graduation dates.

Looking for 3-5 years of experience?

Assume they graduated 3-5 years ago:

"software engineer" AND (graduated 2020 OR graduated 2021 OR graduated 2022)

Or target specific degree years:

"marketing manager" AND "class of 2019"

This isn't perfect (some people have career changes or went back to school), but it's a decent proxy when you need to filter by experience level.

The Skills AND Projects Combo

Don't just search for skills. Search for people who actually use those skills in projects.

Weak search:

JavaScript

Better search:

JavaScript AND (built OR developed OR created OR launched)

This prioritizes people who actively talk about building things, not just listing JavaScript as a buzzword.

Even better:

JavaScript AND (built OR developed) AND (portfolio OR "side project" OR "open source")

Now you're finding people who are actively coding, not just people who put JavaScript on their profile once.

The Rapid-Fire Profile Review Hack

Once you've run a good Boolean search, you still need to review profiles quickly. Here's the speed-review trick:

Open the first 10-15 promising profiles in new tabs (command+click or ctrl+click). Then review them rapid-fire without going back to search results.

LinkedIn's back button is slow. Opening tabs lets you fly through profiles and close the ones that don't fit without losing your place.

Sort profiles by:

• Current role relevance (are they doing what you need?)
• Recent activity (have they posted or engaged recently? Higher likelihood of being open to messages)
• Skills overlap (do they have 70%+ of what you need?)

Close tabs that don't fit. Keep tabs for candidates you'll message. Takes 2-3 minutes to review 15 profiles this way.

The Boolean String Template You'll Actually Use

Here's a template that combines everything:

(Title Variation 1 OR "Title Variation 2" OR Title Variation 3)
AND (Skill1 OR Skill2 OR Skill3)
AND (Company1 OR Company2 OR Company3)
-"Excluded Term 1" -"Excluded Term 2"

Real example for a senior product manager search:

("product manager" OR "senior product manager" OR "lead product manager")
AND (SaaS OR "B2B software" OR enterprise)
AND (Salesforce OR HubSpot OR Workday OR Oracle)
-director -"VP of product" -consultant

Save your best-performing Boolean strings in a doc. Don't rebuild them from scratch every time.

When Boolean Isn't Enough

Boolean search is powerful, but it's not magic. Sometimes you need to:

• Use LinkedIn Recruiter's advanced filters (company size, years at company, industry)
• Look at 2nd and 3rd degree connections (warm intros always beat cold outreach)
• Check who's engaging with competitor content (shows active industry interest)

Boolean gets you 70% of the way there. The other 30% is hustle, networking, and creative sourcing.

The Bottom Line

You don't need to be a Boolean wizard to source faster. You just need to:

• Use parentheses for variations
• Exclude noise with the minus sign
• Quote exact phrases
• Target companies strategically
• Combine skills with evidence of actually using them

Master these basics and you'll cut your sourcing time in half while finding better-fit candidates. Which means more time for the part of recruiting that actually matters: building relationships with candidates.

Now go source some unicorns. Or at least well-qualified humans who meet 80% of your requirements.