Thanks to CareerBuilder and Monster workshops, online tutorials, and sourcing blogs, recruiters have mastered the art of basic Boolean. Creating a Boolean search string that contains simple keywords and geographic locations enables the recruiter to isolate results containing the names of individuals in, or associated with, the position they are recruiting for. Unfortunately, Boolean workshops often glamorize the usefulness of this technique. While the results are relevant, they rarely contain the plethora of resumes and CVs shown in examples. Instead, they are a list of names and titles, many of them without phone numbers or email addresses attached.
These leads are often better than the resume results recruiters zone in on, but are frequently disregarded because the corresponding contact information is difficult to track down. While there are many wonderful search engines, I have compiled a list of those that I have found to be the most helpful in this endeavor. Keep in mind though that common names will return multiple results, and it is only through tedious calls and persistent emails that you will find who you are looking for.
- Yasni Searches the deep web and returns results from over 100 people-related networks
- Wink Searches for people by name, phone number or email address
- Spokeo Searches only social networks - be careful, as it will return results from both personal and professional networks
- Pipl Another meta search that returns database entries that many search engines are unable to capture
- Addresses.com Searches by name, addresses, email address or phone number - includes reverse phone number look-up
- Yahoo People Search Reverse phone look-up and email look-up by entering first and last name
- Zaba Search Searches for addresses and phone numbers
Looking to take your searches one step further? Try finding (or creating) a custom search engine (CSE). The University of California at Berkley has created a wonderful comparison of meta search engines, as well as compiled information on creating CSEs.
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