How Boolean search works

Boolean search is a basic logic tool that allows you to improve your recruiting and hiring processes. By incorporating Boolean search logic, you can more easily identify candidates with the skills and qualifications you’re looking for. To do this, you use Boolean operators in your searches. These include operative words like AND, OR and NOT, as well as parentheses and quotation marks.

The operative word AND tells the search engine to find resumes that contain both keywords. For example, you could search for the keywords “nurse AND emergency department” to find resumes that contain both of these words.

OR tells the search engine to include either keyword. Using the example above, you could search for “emergency department OR ER” to find resumes that listed their experience in either format.

NOT tells the search engine to exclude resumes containing specific keywords. Using the same example, you might search for “nurse NOT doctor.”

You can use Boolean search markings to create more complex searches. Parentheses connect two keywords, whereas quotation marks define keywords that must be used together. Examples of search strings for finding healthcare candidates may include:

• nurse AND (“emergency department” OR ER) NOT doctor: This will give you search results for nurses with emergency department experience but will exclude doctors.
• (“pediatric doctor” OR “pediatrics”) AND orthopedics: This search provides results for pediatric orthopedic specialists.
• (psychiatrist OR psychologist) NOT (therapist OR counselor) AND (Tampa or “Tampa Bay”): This search string provides psychiatrists or psychologists who live or work in Tampa, Florida.

Did you know? You can use Boolean search on Indeed Smart Sourcing to proactively find qualified candidates from our pool of 245 million resumes. Gain a competitive edge in your recruitment process and quickly pinpoint candidates who meet your specific requirements. Indeed’s matching engine also learns from your resume searches to deliver quality matches. Start your search with a 14-day free trial.

How to search for healthcare candidates by location

Boolean search can be used to find healthcare candidates in specific locations, whether that be city, state, metro area, county or country. However, remember that using a location’s name will pull up resumes that include that phrase. This means you may end up with candidates who currently or previously have lived or worked in that area. You can even be more specific by using the phrase “lives in” before the location, but remember that this might exclude some relevant results.

Examples of location-based search strings for finding healthcare industry candidates include:

• (“certified nursing assistant” OR CNA) AND (“New York City” or NYC): This brings up CNAs who may live or work in New York City, or who have worked there in the past.
• (“travel registered nurse” OR “travel RN”) AND (“New Jersey” OR “Pennsylvania” OR “Delaware”) NOT New York: This search string will show you resumes for travel RNs who may live or work in New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Delawarebut exclude those who live or work in New York.
• (“physical therapist” OR “physical therapy”) AND (“SanFran” or “lives in San Francisco”): This bringsup physical therapists who may be located in San Francisco.

How to search for healthcare candidates by skills and experience

You can use Boolean search to find healthcare candidates with specific skills relevant to your position. In healthcare, the specific skills necessary for your position can vary significantly. However, a few common healthcare skills include communication, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, teamwork and general clinical capabilities for specific roles.

When constructing skill-based search strings, be sure you’re specific. You can also use the special Boolean field (skill:) to target the skills section of a candidate’s resume specifically. Examples of skill-based search strings for finding healthcare candidates include:

• (“registered nurse” OR RN) AND skill: (“intensive care unit” OR ICU) AND skill: management OR manager: This search string will bring up RNs who listmanagement experience in the ICU on their resumes.
• dietician AND (“celiac” OR “celiac disease” or “gluten-free”): This brings up resumes for dieticians who may be familiar with gluten-free diets.
• (midwife OR “OBGYN” OR “obstetrics” OR “gynecology”) AND skill: breach: This search string showsall midwives and OBGYNs who listexperience with breach births on their resumes.

How to search for healthcare candidates by education

Another way you can use Boolean search is to find healthcare candidates with specific education or certifications. For example, you could search for candidates who graduated with a doctorate or who have a specific certification or license, like a CET, CMAor CNA.

You can insert the educational field by itself or use special Boolean fields (school: or fieldofstudy:) to target specific areas of a candidate’s resume. Examples of education-based search strings for finding healthcare industry candidates include:

• doctor OR MD
• nurse AND fieldofstudy: oncology
• technician AND (CET OR “certified EKG technician”)

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How to combine search criteria

Once you become familiar with Boolean search, you can create complex search strings by combining location, skills and education criteria to find qualified healthcare industry candidates. When constructing combined search strings, you’ll want to take your time and be sure you enter each field accurately. A typo can cause your search results to be irrelevant.

Examples of combined search strings for finding healthcare industry candidates include:

• (doctor ORMD) AND skill: (“emergency room” or “ER) AND “lives in New York City”: This search string brings up candidates who are doctors with ER experience who may be located in NYC.
• (nurse OR RN OR “registered nurse”) AND skill: pediatrics AND skill: management AND (“Atlantic City” OR AC): This shows you pediatric RNs in Atlantic City who list management experience on their resumes.
• (“physical therapist” OR PT) AND (“Doctor of Physical Therapy” OR DPT) AND skill: (sport OR sports) AND Seattle: This search string would find physical therapists with experience in sports medicine in Seattle who may hold a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT).

Get started with Boolean search on Indeed

Boolean search can help you find qualified healthcare industry candidates by using keywords to filter your results for the education, skills or experience you’re looking for. Try using Boolean search to find the healthcare industry candidates who meet your needs.

Start your Boolean search for healthcare candidates with Indeed Smart Sourcing’s 14-day free trial. Our advanced search filters and support for Boolean search means you can quickly narrow in on the right candidates from our pool of 245M resumes. Not only that but Indeed’s matching engine learns from your resume searches and candidate activity on Indeed to deliver quality matches.