How to use Google to find hidden jobs

Posted by Jim Stroud

January 23, 2008

Okay, this is an advanced tip for those who are determined to never say “die” when using search engines to find those VERY hard to find job requisitions. Most job ads lack original thinking when it comes to describing what they want in a candidate. If you do a search on certain phrases and add your qualifications, then you are sure to find opportunities that match your skillset. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Go to Google and put in this search string:

“hands on experience” (career OR job) “oracle dba” 2008

To explain this in full detail, I would have to write an entirely new book. Hmmm… maybe I will, but for now let me describe what I have done. I placed the OVERLY used term “hands on experience” in quotations because I am looking for that exact term. I then type (career OR job) to indicate that I am looking for a page that has the term career OR job, I then put in “oracle dba” because that is the kind of job I want and then I add the year “2008” because I am looking for recent jobs. I could have added “Atlanta” as well, but with this example, I don’t care about relocation. (Curious about my search string? Get more details at: http://www.google.com/help/basics.html)

What came back? At this writing, 24,700 results. In the first 10 results, one was from a corporate website, 3 from well known careersites and the rest from job boards I had not heard of before.

Of course, results will vary with the terms you use and the kind of job you are pursuing. I don’t know what kind of job you want, but here is a list of overly used job description terms to help you with your search. (I’ll wager that you’ve seen them all before.)

Ability to multitask
Establish and maintain relationships
Exciting career opportunities
Fast-paced environment
Ability to travel
Opportunity of a lifetime
Proven experience
Commensurate with experience
Strong work ethic
Six figure income
In strict confidence
Excellent benefits
Self-starter
Dream job
Relevant experience
Successful candidate
Prior experience
Work from home
Hands on experience