Tech job title search strings & synonyms

Oliver Keell

Navigating tech recruiting can be a daunting task. With countless job titles and positions, crafting effective search strings is crucial for finding candidates with the exact skills you need. By combining keywords and Boolean strings, you can sift through the digital noise and identify potential hires who perfectly align with your hiring criteria.

Understanding synonyms and variations of job titles broadens your search and ensures you don’t miss out on talented people who may use different titles for the same role.

Whether on LinkedIn, job boards, or other social media platforms, mastering the art of crafting search strings using both common and unique job title synonyms can give you a competitive edge in the tech talent market.

This approach allows you to access a wider yet more relevant pool of tech professionals, capturing those who may otherwise fly under the radar with conventional searching methods.

Let’s get into it.

Understanding the Boolean Search for recruitment

In the recruitment process, harnessing the power of a Boolean Search can help you ace your candidate search by focusing on specific criteria. This method combines keywords with operators to filter and refine search results effectively.

Basics of Boolean operators

Boolean operators are the foundation of your search strategy. Imagine these as the guideposts that navigate the flow of your search:

AND connects different terms and specifies that each search result must contain all terms included. For example, "developer AND architect" hones in on profiles that have both titles.
OR expands your search by including profiles that contain either one term or another. Using "developer OR architect" increases the pool of potential candidates by including either of the job titles.
NOT is used to exclude terms from your search, narrowing down the results. Searching for "developer NOT intern" filters out candidates with "intern" in their profiles.
Parentheses () allow you to combine multiple operators, structuring your search to get more precise results. For example, you might search for "(developer OR architect) AND (senior NOT intern)".

Crafting effective Boolean Search strings

Your Boolean search strings should be carefully crafted to balance detail and breadth. Use quotation marks to search for exact phrases, ensuring that your Boolean search yields candidates whose profiles exactly match the job title or skill set you're after.

For instance, searching for "senior developer" will get you profiles with that exact title, while leaving the terms unquoted might bring up all senior titles or all developers.

Applying Boolean logic in the candidate search

Think of your Boolean logic as the grammar of your search language. It guides how the search engines interpret your strings.

Use advanced search options in conjunction with Boolean operators to refine search results by date, file type, location, and more, allowing you to hone in on candidates that meet specific criteria.
Incorporate Boolean operators into your advanced search to optimize your searches. Imagine you're looking for a "software engineer" who knows "Python" and has "leadership" experience. Your Boolean search string might look like this: "software engineer" AND Python AND leadership.

Mastering these operators can significantly improve the accuracy and relevancy of your candidate search.

Key tech job titles and synonyms

When searching for tech candidates, recognizing various job titles and their synonyms is crucial as it can help you uncover a wider range of potential candidates who possess the skills you're looking for.

Here’s a list of search strings for the most common job titles in tech:

Backend: (full stack OR full-stack) developer AND ((frontend AND (react OR angular OR vue.js)) OR (backend AND (python OR java OR node.js)))
Frontend: (frontend OR front-end) engineer AND (react OR angular OR vue.js) AND (javascript)
UX/UI: (UX/UI OR user experience OR user interface) designer AND (figma OR adobe xd OR sketch) AND (wireframing OR prototyping)
Fullstack: (full stack OR full-stack) developer AND ((frontend AND (react OR angular OR vue.js)) OR (backend AND (python OR java OR node.js)))
DevOps: (DevOps engineer OR DevOps) AND (CI/CD OR automation) AND (cloud OR infrastructure as code)
Machine Learning: (machine learning engineer OR data scientist) AND (python OR R) AND (algorithms AND (linear regression OR logistic regression OR decision trees))
Embedded: (embedded systems engineer OR embedded engineer) AND (microcontrollers OR microprocessors) AND (C/C++ OR assembly)
Cyber Security: (cyber security OR information security) AND (ethical hacking OR penetration testing) AND (network security OR application security)
Mobile: (mobile developer OR mobile app developer) AND ((iOS AND (Swift OR Objective-C)) OR (Android AND (Java OR Kotlin)))
Web Developer: (web developer OR web programmer) AND ((frontend AND (React OR Angular OR Vue.js)) OR (backend AND (Python OR Java OR Node.js)))
Data Analyst: data analyst AND (SQL AND (Tableau OR Power BI)) AND (statistical analysis OR data mining)
QA: (QA engineer OR quality assurance engineer OR software tester) AND (test automation AND (Selenium OR Appium OR Cypress)) AND (agile methodologies AND (Scrum OR Kanban))
Product Manager: product manager AND (agile methodologies AND (Scrum OR Kanban)) AND (product roadmap OR product strategy)
Cloud Engineer: (cloud engineer OR cloud architect) AND (AWS OR GCP OR Azure) AND (infrastructure as code AND (Terraform OR CloudFormation))
Data: data analyst AND (SQL AND (Tableau OR Power BI)) AND (statistical analysis OR data mining)
Game Developer: (game developer OR game programmer) AND (game engines AND (Unity OR Unreal Engine)) AND (programming languages AND (C++ OR C#))
UX Researcher: (UX researcher OR user experience researcher) AND (user research methods AND (interviews OR surveys OR usability testing)) AND (data analysis OR UX design)

Incorporating synonyms and related terms

To cast a wider net in your search, incorporate synonyms and related terms that might not be exact job titles but are closely related to the skills and responsibilities of the role.

For a Software Engineer, consider terms like coding, programming, system design, and even specific languages and technologies they should be familiar with, like Python, C++, or AWS.
When looking for a Java Developer, include skills such as Spring Framework, Eclipse IDE, or Version Control to find candidates with experience in tools commonly used in Java development.
In the case of a Data Analyst, you might search for data visualization, SQL, Excel, statistical analysis, or specific platforms like Tableau or Power BI.
A DevOps Engineer search could include CI/CD pipelines, automation, cloud infrastructure, and tools like Docker or Kubernetes.

Understanding and using these synonyms and related terms helps you locate candidates who may not use the exact job title in their profile but have the relevant experience and skills.

FAQs

What is a Boolean search and how can recruiters use it effectively?

A Boolean search leverages logical operators such as AND, OR, and NOT to combine or exclude certain search terms, enabling recruiters to narrow down large talent pools to the most relevant candidates. By using these operators, you can refine your search results to include potential candidates who possess the exact skill set you're looking for in a tech role.

Why is it important to use synonyms when searching for tech jobs?

Using synonyms can help you broaden your search and find relevant job openings that you might have missed otherwise. Many job titles have variations or alternate terms, so using synonyms can increase your chances of finding the right job.