Monday, April 30, 2012

Interview Questions


Potential Interview Questions


Collected from Internet sources like Monster.com, About.com and few more


There are various Internet sources giving us list of questions that we recruiters can ask. Here is a list created from few major sites.

Further in the later section of this page, I have collected here potential best 100 questions. Some are real basic questions to an extent that this may bore you but worth a look since this will avoid you from missing any potential good question. I always suggest my recruiters to highlight best questions from this list before they go ahead and interview a potential new hire. 




The 10 Best Interview Questions to Ask

The best interview questions tell you about the person behind the resume, revealing the job candidate’s personality, strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, skills and abilities.
The best interview questions also benefit job seekers by giving them an opportunity to speak to details that don’t fit on a resume.
While a savvy interviewer always includes questions tailored to the position, our list of the 10 best questions works across a variety of industries and job descriptions:

1. From everything you’ve learned about this role, me and our company, tell me how you feel you’d make a contribution.
This interview question sorts people into two categories: contenders and also-rans.
“Those who have really prepared will love this opportunity to shine and stand out, demonstrating that they have done all the homework that can absolutely be done in today’s world of instant information,” says Darrell W. Gurney, career coach and author of Never Apply for a Job Again: Break the Rules, Cut the Line, Beat the Rest.
“Those who haven’t will stumble and try to put some generic response together, which will be obvious.”

2. Why should we hire you?
This is among the best interview questions because it asks job candidates to define what sets them apart from the intense competition in today’s job market, says Doug Schade, principal & supervising executive recruiter, Winter, Wyman & Company -- New York Accounting & Finance.
Faced with a big stack of resumes telling a similar story, this question helps you determine the best candidate. 
An interviewee who does a great job explaining how her unique experience, education, industry credentials, and personal interests will power your business will do the same thing for your company once hired.

3. If you could start your career over again, what would you do differently?
While no one likes to dwell on past regrets, this can be a good question to ask, says Brendan Courtney, president of staffing firms Randstad Finance & Accounting and The Mergis Group, Boston.
Asking a candidate to explain the major decisions he has made, highlighting the positive and negative, reveals the person’s ability to make calculated decisions based on past professional and personal experiences.
It also lets candidates share their vision for the future and their ambitions.

4. When I contact your last supervisor and ask which area of your work needs the most improvement, what will I learn?
“I love this question because it’s the one that actually garners an honest response from the candidate,” says career coach Lauren Milligan of ResuMayday, a Warrenville, Illinois, career-counseling firm.
“No amount of finesse will influence this answer because when the supervisor is brought into the conversation, the candidate knows the truth will come out anyway. Essentially, it’s the same question as ‘what is your biggest weakness,’ phrased in an unexpected way.”

5. Describe the best boss you ever reported to.
This is a great interview question because it tells you about past relationships, says Kathy Downs, recruiting manager, Robert Half Finance & Accounting, Menlo Park, California.
“Because it highlights the personality and work types the applicant meshes with best, the interviewer can gain greater insights into the candidate’s communication skills, work style and potential cultural fit,” she says.
Follow up with questions about what made the relationship click -- was it personality, performance, or perhaps a cheerleader type of boss? Does the candidate prefer autonomy to handholding, or was he inspired by a mutual drive to achieve organizational goals?

6. Tell me about what motivates you. 

7. What frustrates you?
Ask these questions in sequence to better understand the interviewee’s motivations, explains Janette Marx, SVP with Adecco Staffing US, Melville, N.Y.
If what drives the interviewee matches the position and your corporate culture, you have a winner.
When the candidate then talks about past frustrations, he reveals details about his personality, diplomacy skills and ability to work on teams.
Does the candidate answer by discussing minor irritations -- or ways that he successfully resolved serious conflicts over time, budgets, or priorities? The latter are candidates who have positive intelligence.

8. Tell me about the toughest negotiation you’ve ever been in.
Every job involves negotiation, and this question yields insight, not only in their direct negotiation skills, but also how the job seeker navigates difficult situations, Marx says.
The best negotiators answer this question by laying out both sides of the problem and then explaining how they aligned the issues or followed a process to a mutually-agreeable solution. 

9. How do you involve your staff when an important company strategy decision needed to be made? 
The candidate’s answer tells you whether a manager is secure enough to involve others in strategic decision-making, says Jayne Mattson, senior vice president, Keystone Associates, Boston, a career management firm.
How the job seeker involves his staff -- via written communication, one-on-one or in a group setting -- tells you a lot about their management style.

10. Where do you see yourself in five years?
With this question, it's not what the candidate says but how she says it that’s important, says Joey V. Price, CEO of Jumpstart HR, a managed HR services firm in Washington, D.C.
“If you see someone's eyes light up at the thought of the future, then you can tell this is a very ambitious person who knows where they want to go and will do everything in their power to help ensure your organization gets them there.”


Other 100 Best Interview Questions to Ask

  • Tell me about yourself starting from your family, education and experience background.
  • What are your strengths? OR you can also ask - If I ask your boss to list your strength areas what will he / she answer. 
  • What are your weaknesses? Similar to above - If I ask your friend to list your three key strength areas, what will he / she answer. 
  • Who was your favorite manager and why?
  • What kind of personality do you work best with and why?
  • Why do you want this job?
  • Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?
  • Tell me about your proudest achievement.
  • If you were at a business lunch and you ordered a rare steak and they brought it to you well done, what would you do?
  • If I were to give you this salary you requested but let you write your job description for the next year, what would it say?
  • Why is there fuzz on a tennis ball?
  • How would you go about establishing your credibility quickly with the team?
  • There's no right or wrong answer, but if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?
  • How would you feel about working for someone who knows less than you?
  • Was there a person in your career who really made a difference?
  • What's your ideal company?
  • What attracted you to this company?
  • What are you most proud of?
  • What are you looking for in terms of career development?
  • What do you look for in terms of culture -- structured or entrepreneurial?
  • What do you like to do?
  • Give examples of ideas you've had or implemented.
  • What are your lifelong dreams?
  • What do you ultimately want to become?
  • How would you describe your work style?
  • What kind of car do you drive?
  • Tell me about a time where you had to deal with conflict on the job.
  • What's the last book you read?
  • What magazines do you subscribe to?
  • What would be your ideal working situation?
  • Why should we hire you?
  • What did you like least about your last job?
  • What do you think of your previous boss?
  • How do you think I rate as an interviewer?
  • Do you have any questions for me?
  • When were you most satisfied in your job?
  • What can you do for us that other candidates can't?
  • What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?
  • What negative thing would your last boss say about you?
  • If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?
  • What salary are you seeking?
  • What's your salary history?
  • Do you have plans to have children in the near future?
  • What were the responsibilities of your last position?
  • What do you know about this industry?
  • What do you know about our company?
  • How long will it take for you to make a significant contribution?
  • Are you willing to relocate?
  • What was the last project you headed up, and what was its outcome?
  • What kind of goals would you have in mind if you got this job?
  • Give me an example of a time that you felt you went above and beyond the call of duty at work.
  • What would you do if you won the lottery?
  • Can you describe a time when your work was criticized?
  • Have you ever been on a team where someone was not pulling their own weight? How did you handle it?
  • What is your personal mission statement?
  • Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it?
  • What is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it?
  • What irritates you about other people, and how do you deal with it?
  • What is your greatest fear?
  • Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
  • What do you see yourself doing within the first 30 days of this job?
  • What's the most important thing you've learned in school?
  • What three character traits would your friends use to describe you?
  • What will you miss about your present/last job?
  • If you were interviewing someone for this position, what traits would you look for?
  • List five words that describe your character.
  • What is your greatest achievement outside of work?
  • Sell me this pencil.
  • If I were your supervisor and asked you to do something that you disagreed with, what would you do?
  • Do you think a leader should be feared or liked?
  • What's the most difficult decision you've made in the last two years?
  • What do you like to do for fun?
  • Why are you leaving your present job?
  • What do you do in your spare time?
  • How do you feel about taking no for an answer?
  • What was the most difficult period in your life, and how did you deal with it?
  • What is your favorite memory from childhood?
  • Give me an example of a time you did something wrong. How did you handle it?
  • Tell me one thing about yourself you wouldn't want me to know.
  • Tell me the difference between good and exceptional.
  • Why did your choose your major?
  • What are the qualities of a good leader? A bad leader?
  • What is your biggest regret, and why?
  • What are three positive character traits you don't have?
  • What irritates you about other people, and how do you deal with it?
  • If you found out your company was doing something against the law, like fraud, what would you do?
  • How many times do a clock's hands overlap in a day?
  • How would you weigh a plane without scales?
  • What assignment was too difficult for you, and how did you resolve the issue?
  • If I were to ask your last supervisor to provide you additional training or exposure, what would she suggest?
  • If you could choose one superhero power, what would it be and why?
  • What's the best movie you've seen in the last year?
  • Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could finish them.
  • What techniques and tools do you use to keep yourself organized?
  • If you could get rid of any one of the provinces, which one would you get rid of, and why?
  • With your eyes closed, tell me step-by-step how to tie my shoes.
  • If you had to choose one, would you consider yourself a big-picture person or a detail-oriented person?
  • If selected for this position, can you describe your strategy for the first 90 days?
  • Who are your heroes?
  • Tell me 10 ways to use a pencil other than writing.

THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD NOT BE ASKED:


More valid for US, Europe, Australia where regulations are updated to check if these questions are not asked. But whether you are in above mentioned markets or Africa or high potential BRIC nation, it is better to avoid these questions.

We all know how litigious our society has become in the area of employment-related issues. Every recruiter, hiring manager, executive, and department manager must realize that asking illegal interview questions or making improper inquiries can lead to discrimination or wrongful-discharge lawsuits, and these suits can be won or lost based on statements made during the interview process.
Thus, it is important to incorporate risk management into your interviewing process to help minimize your firm's exposure to employment practices liability.
You, or your company, could be accused of asking illegal interview questions or making discriminatory statements or comments that reflect bias. It is also possible to make assurances or promises during an interview that can be interpreted as binding contracts. Recognizing these potential danger areas is the best way to avoid saying the wrong thing during an interview.
Most companies have at least two people responsible for interviewing and hiring applicants. It's critical to have procedures to ensure consistency. Develop interviewing forms containing objective criteria to serve as checklists. Develop lists of interview questions and illegal interview questions.
These ensure consistency between interviewers, as well as create documentation to support the hiring decision if a discrimination charge is later filed by an unsuccessful applicant.

Interview Problems to Avoid

To minimize the risk of discrimination lawsuits, it’s important for interviewers to be familiar with topics that aren’t permissible as interview questions. Avoid illegal interview questions. For example, you shouldn’t ask a female applicant detailed questions about her husband, children and family plans.
Such questions can be used as proof of sex discrimination if a male applicant is selected for the position, or if the female is hired and later terminated. Older applicants shouldn’t be asked about their ability to take instructions from younger supervisors.
It is also important to avoid making statements during the interview process that could be alleged to create a contract of employment. When describing the job avoid using terms like "permanent," "career job opportunity," or "long term."
Interviewers should also avoid making excessive assurances about job security. Avoid statements that employment will continue as long as the employee does a good job. For example, suppose that an applicant is told that, "if you do a good job, there's no reason why you can’t work here for the rest of your career." The applicant accepts the job and six months later is laid off due to personnel cutbacks.
This could lead to a breach of contract claim where the employee asserts that he or she can't be terminated unless it's proven that he or she didn’t do a "good job." Courts have, on occasion, held that such promises made during interviews created contracts of employment.

Illegal Interview Questions

These practices will help you hire the most qualified candidate using legal, documented interview methods, including avoiding illegal interview questions.
Learn to assess job candidates on their merits. When developing evaluation criteria, break down broad, subjective impressions into more objective factors.
Obviously, you must prepare for the interview by reviewing the application, resume, cover letter, test results, and other materials submitted by the candidate. Try and put the candidate at ease and ask interview questions that can’t be answered with a "yes" or "no" response.
These open-ended questions allow applicants to tell all about their skills, knowledge and abilities. Some examples are: "Why are you leaving your current employer?" "Do you prefer routine, consistent [work or fast-paced tasks that change daily?” "And why?"

Interview Problems to Avoid Including Illegal Interview Questions

Interview questions and issues you want to avoid include the following:
  • asking improper, even illegal interview questions,

  • making discriminatory statements, and

  • making binding contract statements.
The following are examples of interview questions that should be avoided in interviews because they may be alleged to show illegal bias. This is why they are illegal interview questions.
  • Are you a U.S. citizen? (adversely impacts national origin)
  • Do you have a visual, speech, or hearing disability?
  • Are you planning to have a family? When?
  • Have you ever filed a workers’ compensation claim?
  • How many days of work did you miss last year due to illness?
  • What off-the-job activities do you participate in?
  • Would you have a problem working with a female partner?
  • Where did you grow up?
  • Do you have children? How old are they?
  • What year did you graduate from high school? (reveals age)
As you can see, these rather simple and seemingly non-threatening questions can easily violate one of the aforementioned dangers when conducting interviews.

Source: Books and Internet sources used while doing my research

Please note that the content above is combination of my work, books and Internet sources used while doing research.

Phone screening questions






Candidate’s Name: ____________________________________________
Today’s Date: ______________ Resume Attached: YES ___ NO ___
Position Title/Location: ________________________________________

Initial Phone Interview for the Specific Position

Develop a question that will assess the experience of the candidate in the position you are recruiting. (Example: How many years of inventory management experience do you have?)
Response:




Develop a question that will assess the experience of the candidate specific to your needs. (Example: Tell me about your experience with an inventory of over half a million parts.)
Response:




Develop a question that will assess the experience of the candidate specific to your needs. (Example: Tell me about your experience with computerized inventory control systems.)
Response:




Describe your educational background and experience.
Response:




Not to limit you or commit you to a certain dollar figure, but what’s the minimum salary you’d consider right now to accept another position?
Response:




Are you willing to agree to have a drug test, a criminal background check, references checks, educational background checks and others as appropriate for this position? YES __________ NO ___________
If the candidate's responses to these questions satisfy the phone interviewer, proceed with the interview. If not, tell the candidate that you have other candidates who appear to have credentials and experience that more closely match the expectations of the position. End the phone interview.

Learn About Past Company and Job in the Phone Interview

What size was the organization where you last worked in terms of revenue and employees?
Response:




What were the organization’s primary products and markets?
Response:




If the person had reporting staff, how many people reported to you directly – what were their titles?
Response:




If the candidate is not currently working, why and when did you leave your most recent position?
Response:




How have you spent your time since you left your most recent position?
Response:

Determine the Candidate's Degree of Success During the Telephone Interview

How did your most recent position support the accomplishment of the mission of your organization?
Response:




In your previous position, what do you consider your greatest accomplishment(s)?
Response:




What were your most significant failures?
Response:




How would your supervisor and coworkers describe your work?
Response:




What is your reason for leaving your current position?
Response:




If currently employed, what would need to change at your current position for you to continue to work there?
Response:




Determine Candidate's Work Environment and Cultural Needs

Describe your preferred work environment.
Response:




Describe the management style you exhibit and prefer.
Response:




What must exist in your work place for you to be motivated and happy?
Response:
Source: Internet and books used by doing my research

Please note that the content above is combination of my work, books and Internet sources used while doing research.

Recruiters' Help Centre:

Find Any Corporate Phone Number With This Site
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/hackingnyc/L-p1AUI_pBU

This tool will take you to internet presence of your candidate
http://booleanstrings.com/2013/01/28/do-not-miss-the-tool/ 
http://falcon.io/ 


Find distance between any cities
http://www.distancesbetween.com/

http://www.mileage-charts.com/search/calc.php

Do you know you can create search on google and then place an alert to get information on new profiles if coming. Same could be done on Monster. Alert can reach your ID directly.


Create podcasts (video or audio) based on your blog entries. Post the video on YouTube. You can post your audio to iTunes. Some people find it easiest to start with services like Audio Acrobat (www.audioacrobat.com); you can phone from anywhere to record your podcast, and Acrobat feeds it to podcast hosting sites such as iTunes.



5 Habits of Highly Successful Recruiters
http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blogs/5-habits-of-highly-successful-recruiters

The Recruiter's Toolkit - Browser Extensions to Boost your Sourcing Productivity
http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blogs/the-recruiter-s-toolkit-browser-extensions-to-boost-your-sourcing


Please note that the content above is combination of my work, books and Internet sources used while doing research..

6. Few free tools that a recruiter can use. They are simple but may be useful.
http://www.greatrecruitertraining.com/freebies

How to search resume directly on google.com




Want to learn how to find resumes on the Internet using Google?  You’ve come to the right place!
Whether you are new to searching the Internet for resumes or you are a veteran Interent sourcer, I’ve included some tips, tricks, and observations for the novice and expert alike.

Targeting Resumes

When using Google to search specifically for resumes, it’s a good idea to begin by searching for the word “resume” in the title and/or the url of web pages.
For example: (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume)
Here is a sample result to illustrate how this works – we can see the word “Resume” in the blue TITLE line, as well as in the green URL line. The first line of any search result is the title of the webpage, and the url is the specific web page’s address.
Targeting the word “resume” in the title and/or url is very handy, because for many people, it’s simply common sense/instinct to either title the web page containing their resume with the word “resume,” and/or save their resume using the word “resume” in the name of the file.

Eliminating False Positive Results

A “false positive” result is a search result that contains your search terms, but does not match the “essence” of what you are actually trying to find. For example – if you’re searching for resumes, there are many sites that will be returned in your search results that are in fact not resumes, such as sites advertising resume samples and job postings that mention phrases such as, “submit resumes to…”
In order to remove most non-resume false positive results, you can use Google’s version of the Boolean NOT operator, which is the minus sign, to prevent your search from returning results with words such as sample, job, etc.
For example:
(intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -job -jobs -sample -samples
Other ideas of terms you can try to eliminate that may return false positive results:
-eoe -submit -free -”resume service” -template -”resume service” -”resume writers” -”resume writing” 

Targeting Local Resumes

Area Codes

Some people who decide to make their resume available on the Internet also decide to publish a phone number. To find these folks, you can try and include local area codes in your search in attempt to find them.
Here is an example of a search using area codes to target people who live in Northern VA:
(intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” (703 OR 571)
What you’ll notice, however, is that searching for area codes can easily produce false positive results, as can be seen in the screenshot below – which are the first 4 results from the search. Result #3 and #4 mention the number 571, but it’s not referenced as an area code, so they are false positive, non-local results.
To clean up the false positive results that mention 571 or 703 but are not of resumes of people who live in VA, you can add the state and state abbreviation to the search as well as exclude more non-resume terms and phrases:
While there are still a good number of non-resume false positive results, this can be expected because we didn’t even search for any keywords/skills. Once we do, we will notice a significant drop off in false positives.
For example:
http://www.booleanblackbelt.com/2009/02/challenging-google-resume-search-assumptions/


More examples:
Example: (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume OR intitle:cv OR inurl:cv OR intitle:”curriculum vitae” OR inurl:”curriculum vitae”) -job -jobs -sample -samples -submit -free -”resume service” -template -”resume service” -”resume writers” -”resume writing” account pune 411

Always beginning your resume searches using the (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume OR intitle:cv OR inurl:cv OR intitle:”curriculum vitae” OR inurl:”curriculum vitae”)

Or syntax like this, specifically targeting urls and titles that contain the word “resume”:
Java (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume OR intitle:cv OR inurl:cv OR intitle:”curriculum vitae” OR inurl:”curriculum vitae”) -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” 75001..76155 (TX OR Texas)

OR

Always beginning your resume searches using the (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) syntax like this, specifically targeting urls and titles that contain the word “resume”: Java (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” 75001..76155 (TX OR Texas)




Challenging Google Resume Search Assumptions

This post is second in a series focused on using Google to search for resumes on the Internet.
In the first post I left some unanswered questions, such as why:
  • I didn’t talk about searching for CV’s
  • I didn’t suggest using the tilde ~ operator in conjuntion with the word “resume”
  • I didn’t use -~job when trying to eliminate false positive results
  • I didn’t talk about targeting filetypes
  • I didn’t talk about just searching for the word “resume” without using it in conjunction with inurl: or intitle:
  • I didn’t mention the use of Google Custom Search Engines (CSE’s) to find resumes
Whether or not you had those questions burning in your mind, I will address them all in this post.

Challenging Google Resume Search Assumptions

I’ve read my fair share of recruiting blogs and online discussions between recruiters and sourcers. As such, I encounter quite a bit of advice regarding tips and tricks to use when searching for resumes on the Internet using Google.
Some of the suggestions I see make sense at first, but being the inquisitive guy that I am, I don’t just take the suggestions and run with them, assuming they accomplish what they seem to accomplish. I take the time to test search tips, tricks, and suggestions to make sure they add value to my search efforts and that they do EXACTLY what they claim to do.
Today, you get to benefit from some of these tests, as I am going to challenge some of the suggestions I’ve come across over the years when it comes to searching for resumes on the Internet using Google. Let’s get going, shall we?

Using ~Job To Eliminate The Words Job And Jobs From Results

Google has a special operator that allows you to search for synonyms, as well as alternate endings for any word that is preceded by the tilde ~ symbol. For example, let’s see what kinds of results are returned by this simple search: ~car
You can see that Google returned results including the word “car,” but also highlighting words such as “BMW,” and ”cars” - words Google’s search engine thinks are synonymous with the word “car.” The fact that Google thinks the word “car” is synonymous with BMW is powerful and free advertizing for BMW – but that’s for another post. :-)
I’ve seen some sourcers and recruiters suggest coupling the tilde ~ symbol with the word “job” in an attempt to eliminate results with the words “job” and “jobs,” instead of using both -job and -jobs, as I recommend.
HOWEVER - I have found that using -~job does NOT in fact eliminate all results that mention word variants, or words with alternate endings, such as “jobs.” For example – run this on Google: (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -~job
On page 2 of the results, you can find this:
Yep – I see the word “jobs” in there, don’t you? —> “I’ve had too many jobs.”
Let’s see what happens if we actually try to use -~job and also search specifically for the word “jobs” in the same search: (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -~job “jobs”
Click here for the results. 475,000 results at the time of the search.
If Google actually interpreted -~job as both -job and -jobs, we shouldn’t get ANY results, let alone nearly half a million, because the search is written to actually look for a word we are trying to eliminate.
You will essentially get the same results if you run the search this way: (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -~job +jobs
But wait, the Google search weirdness continues!  Let’s see what happens when we use -~job and also try and make Google search for “job” at the same time: (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -~job “job”
Click here for the results. You get 5 results that become 10 if you click “repeat the search with the omitted results included.”
I hope you can appreciate how strange those results actually are.
Confused by the results?  Me too!
It actually takes using Google’s “exactly as is” search symbol, the plus + sign to finally see that at least using -~job will in fact eliminate the word “job” from search results.
What this testing demonstrates is that trying to eliminate the 2 words “job” and “jobs” from being returned in search results by using -~jobs DOES NOT WORK.
It appears that the tilde operator on Google does not in fact also search for and return (or eliminate) words with alternate endings, such as plural words. For the word “car,” yes, but not when it comes to the word job. As such, it’s safer to simply write out -job -jobs.

Using ~Resume To Search for Resumes and CV’s

I’ve heard some people suggest coupling the tilde with the word resume, in order to find results that have words synonymous with the word “resume,” such as CV or Curriculum Vitae in their url or the title of web results.
For example: Java (intitle:~resume OR inurl:~resume) -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” 75001..76155 (TX OR Texas)
Let’s test this theory.
Search #1 No Tilde
Java (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” 75001..76155 (TX OR Texas)
Click here for the results. 294 results at the time of the search.
Search #2 WITH Tilde
Java (intitle:~resume OR inurl:~resume) -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” 75001..76155 (TX OR Texas)
Click here for the results. 2760 at the time of the search.
Wow! 2760 results when we used the tilde vs 294 without the tilde – seems like a no-brainer to always throw in the tilde when searching for resumes, right?
Not so fast…let’s take a look at the search results past result #300 when using the tilde and see what we find:
Some pretty ugly results, right?
Yuck!
So where are the 2400 extra resumes we were expecting to get?
Keep searching past the 300 mark and you will see tons of junk results. That’s why I can’t in good conscience recommend using the tidle ~ in conjunction with the word “resume” when searching for resumes.

Where are the CV’s Anyway?

If you’re wondering where the CV’s were in the results, you can simply target them with a search string like this: Java (intitle:cv OR inurl:cv OR intitle:”curriculum vitae” OR inurl:”curriculum vitae”) -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” 75001..76155 (TX OR Texas)
Click here for the results. 82 results at the time of the search.

More on Searching for CV’s

You could of course search for both “resume” and CV in the titles and urls in web pages and documents, like this: (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume OR intitle:cv OR inurl:cv OR intitle:”curriculum vitae” OR inurl:”curriculum vitae”)
But when I have searched for CV’s, I have noticed that many people who save their resumes online who use the term CV are in school, are educators at a university, or are international (non-US) folks, whom you may or may not be able to engage depeding on your location and need.
Did you notice that 4 out of the 5 results from the last screenshot have .edu in the url? That means they are from university sites, and I have found many of these .edu CV’s to be of people with no paid work experience – which depending on your hiring needs, you may not be able to hire.

Auto-Stemming: Trying to Use -Job to Eliminate “Jobs” From Results

When it comes to your search terms, Google claims that they will look for some word variants automatically, such as words with alternate endings or pluralization.
However, it does not appear to work on the word “job.”
For example, if you are trying to eliminate false positive results of the word “jobs” when searching for resumes, using -job does not eliminate results with the word “jobs,” although if Google were in fact truly auto-stemming the word job, we could assume it should.
For example, let’s try this: (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -job
Here is a result from page 2:
That result does in fact mention the word “jobs.”
So once again I have to recommend simply spelling out -job -jobs when trying to eliminate job-related false positive results, because Google does not auto-stem -job to also include -jobs.

Not Searching for the Word “Resume” in Titles and URLs

I’ve heard some sourcers and recruiters say that it is unecessary to search for the word “resume” specifically in titles and URLs, through the use of (inurl:resume OR intitle:resume).
This is because simply searching for the word “resume” should return results with the word “resume” in the body of the website/page as well as in the url and title.
This is accurate, for example - let’s see what happens if we run this search: Java “resume” -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” 75001..76155 (TX OR Texas)
Click here for the results.  About 1400 at the time of the search.
You can see that the word “resume” is in fact highlighted in the blue title and green url lines, as well as in the “body” of the search results.
If you remember, the search I used previously that did specifically target (inurl:resume OR intitle:resume) only returned 294 results.
When I searched for “resume” without specifying that the word had to be in either the url or title, I got 1390 results.
That’s a big difference!
However, let’s not get too excited about the “extra” 1100 results we get from just searching for the word “resume” and not limiting the search to only results mentioning “resume” in the url and/or title.
Let’s take a look at the results past #300 to see what we’re really getting: Click here for the results.
Umm…those aren’t resumes – those are false positives!

Quality vs Quantity

Don’t ever be impressed by large quantities of results until you check in the “deep” end and make sure that they are just as high quality as the first few pages.
This test has shown that simply searching for the word “resume” anywhere and not forcing Google to specifically target results that mention the word “resume” in the title and/or url of results does not in fact yield more high quality results.
What it does is get you more junk in most cases.
So I recommend always beginning your resume searches using the (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) syntax like this, specifically targeting urls and titles that contain the word “resume”: Java (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” 75001..76155 (TX OR Texas)
Here is a snippet from the the LAST page of the results:
Yep – resumes all the way to the last page.

Searching for Filetypes

The last assumption I will challenge is that it’s always a good idea to search for specific file types when searching for resumes on the Internet.
Google does support searching for results of specific filetypes – here is an example of a search targeting PDF files:
Java (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” 75001..76155 (TX OR Texas) filetype:pdf
All of the results are PDF files.
While searching for specific filetypes can be handy, there are many filetypes available to people when saving their resume online.
Back in 2007, I read Jim Stroud’s Resume Sourcing Survey and it was an eye-opener – there are so many different filetypes people use when creating and saving resumes online. While you may think you are uncovering a lot of resumes when searching for doc, html, php and pdf fileytpes, you’re probably not searching for ASP, XML, PID, PHTML, MHT, DOT, CGI, XSL, WPD, and SDW filetypes.
I am not exactly sure why some people suggest searching for specific filetypes when searching for resumes. If I had to guess, I would say it has something to do with trying to get rid of false positive non-resume results.
Perhaps the thought process is that job postings and such are not typically DOC or PDF files?
In any event, searching for specific filetypes is unnecessary, because when you use a search string that doesn’t specify filestypes such as this one: Java (intitle:~resume OR inurl:~resume) -job -jobs -sample -samples -”resume service” 75001..76155 (TX OR Texas) …you’ll get every resume result available, REGARDLESS OF FILETYPE.
You can see from the results below that it returns ALL results, regardless of filetype.  In the screenshot, you can see we snagged 4 different filetypes from the first 4 results: HTM, PDF, DOC, and HTML.
That’s why I don’t recommend targeting specific filetypes – because if you do, unless you actually search for every possible filetype available, you will be missing results.
Perhaps the only time I would strongly recommend targeting specific filetypes is when you are specifically looking to find people who do not title or save their resume with the word “resume.”

Using Google Custom Search Engines (CSE’s) to Find Resumes

Creating your own and using others’ Google CSE’s can be a convenient way of automatically building in core and essential search logic (title/url search, false positive term removal, etc.) so that you don’t have to keep entering it into your searches.
However, when it comes to using someone else’s CSE, I’d advise that you not blindly use it without adapting it to your specific use.
Only you know what it is you are looking for specifically, where you would like to get your results from, and the specific locations you would like to recruit from.
I believe the best CSE’s are those that have location-specific logic built in, so that all you need to enter is your keywords and nothing else.
Implicitly trusting that someone else’s custom search engine has the optimum search logic would be a mistake. Use CSE’s designed by others as a starting point to modify and create your own that suits your specific need.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed me walking you through testing some of the more common Google resume search suggestions I’ve come across over the years.
It can be both easy and dangerous to follow search advice from anyone, regardless of their experience or reputation, and take their suggestions and immediately begin putting them to use.
I strongly recommend that you take the time to thoroughly test any sourcing/recruiting advice you read or hear about before making the assumption that it works as intended and that can help you achieve your goals.
As I’ve shown you today – some suggestions such as searching for specific filetypes can actually prevent you from finding all of the resumes available online, and others such as searching for ~resume can yield more junk than viable results.

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Read more in following Internet Link:
http://www.ere.net/webinars/sourcing-hard-to-find-candidates-from-the-deep-web-with-peer-regression-search/

Please note that the content above is combination of my work, books and Internet sources used while doing research.