Hello! My name is Shally Steckerl. You may have received some information from me or read my posts on a few Internet Recruiting forums over the past few months. I have been a full time CyberSleuth for 6 years. I am having a great time telecommuting, meeting new people online and sharing my thoughts, research and developments with my peers.

Throughout my virtual travels and ruminations about the online world I have compiled significant resources. I love discovering, practicing and teaching new ways of finding and networking with people online. Due to an overwhelming demand for information from the recruiting community, I have created a newsletter, CyberSleuthing!, for professionals to share and exchange ideas and new techniques. I've added your e-mail to the CyberSleuthing! newsletter subscription list. Your first installment is enclosed. Let me know if you like it. If after reading the first issue you want to un-subscribe, there will be easy one-click instructions to remove your address at the bottom of the newsletter.

This is the premier edition of my free newsletter. I will send future newsletters at no charge. Starting this week, I will be sending it along twice a month. I promise you it will be fun and loaded with the most current trends, tools and information. Each issue will bring you something very useful to apply to your business. I will only recommend resources I've personally gained results from, and which you can obtain or do for free. There will be no pesky ads or hidden attempts to sell you something. Feel free to share this information with others in the recruiting world.

Why? Because you asked for it and because I enjoy doing it.

Feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions about anything I've sent or to exchange ideas and resources. I would be happy to add your content to the newsletter.


ADVthanksANCE!
Shally Steckerl
CEO, JobMachine, Inc.
shally@jobmachine.net
Toll Free: 877.293.3541
Fax: 661.457.3726

Vol. 1 Issue 1 - Nov. 16, 2001 - Quick and Easy Google Searching

It’s true; people waste time searching for candidates on the Internet.
For the Internet to be an effective candidate search tool it must be used efficiently. Many recruiters believe the Internet is a bottomless time pit. The demands of business require ever faster results obtained from diminishing resources. It is thought to be unproductive to spend hours surfing only to find the same people who get dozens of calls from recruiters a day. The three most important time savers when searching for candidates on the Internet are:
1. KEYWORDS
  • Don’t waste time searching with inadequate keywords. Keywords truly are the key to successful searching.
  • The best keyword makes all the difference in expediency. Pick words unique to the industry to guarantee accuracy.
  • Start with four to eight keywords. More keywords confuse the search engine and may return too few results, while less may return far too many.
2. PENDULUM
  • If keywords are too general, results will be inaccurate. If they are too specific, results will be sparse. Both result in wasted time.
  • The best approach is one which delivers 40 to 120 results. Vary your keywords until you get the best possible combination. You can achieve this by limiting results geographically using area codes, state abbreviations or zip codes as an additional keyword.
3. SIMPLICITY
  • Keep the search simple and save time.
  • Complicated search strings confuse the search engine and waste time.
  • Limit the search to less than three AND’s.
    • Start with the most important keyword, separate additional keywords with AND, then add the OR’s. Finally, narrow the search by changing each term, one at a time, starting from the right.
      For example, start with: "SONET AND CCIE AND (DWDM OR SWDM)"
      • 1st Swing: "SONET AND CCIE AND (DWDM OR SDH)"
      • 2nd Swing: "SONET AND CCIE AND (SDH OR OC-48)"
      • 3rd Swing: "SONET AND Cisco AND (SDH OR OC-48)"
    • Terms should be ranked in order of importance left to right. To adjust, modify the second term first, then the third and finally add one more if needed.

Three Google Searching Examples:

From www.google.com we start with three skill-related keywords, then add the terms "(home OR my)" and "resume". Hence this search begins with six terms.

Wireless Design Engineers

When looking for Wireless Design engineers using the terms “Wireless” and “Design Engineer” is not specific enough. Using the engineering industry term “CDMA” (Code Division Multiple Access) will increase accuracy. "CDMA" is entered first. The terms “Wireless” and “Design” narrow the search further.

Search string example: CDMA Wireless Design resume AZ (home OR my)

Senior Civil Engineers

We can find professional engineers by discipline: Mechanical, Civil, Industrial, etc. A senior engineer in this field usually earns a certification by passing an exam, similar to the "Bar" for lawyers. Upon final exam, engineers earn the title “P.E.” (Professional Engineer). Adding a discipline “civil” and modifier “structural” we find engineers who have worked in large-scale projects like bridges, roads, tunnels and dams.

Search string example: P.E. Ph.D Structural resume AZ (home OR my)

Emergency Room Nurses

The healthcare field is full of keywords, but many are not unique. Nursing is a very common term found in fields including home, hospice, maternity and agriculture. Only “RN” nurses can work in the ER. Licenses are important in this industry – but “Licensed” is too common. With “Licensure” we find a section many RN’s use in their resumes, like "Certification" is to the IT world.

Search string example: RN Licensure Clinical resume Phoenix home my