SeekOut supports advanced search syntax to help you go beyond basic keywords and Boolean logic. These techniques allow you to build highly specific queries and uncover the most relevant candidates.
Before diving in, we recommend reviewing the article Boolean and Field-Based Search. For a deeper exploration, check out our blog post: Boolean Search in Recruitment.
Stemming
SeekOut automatically searches for word stems to return related terms. Examples:
manage→ matches managed, managing, manager, managementengineer→ matches engineered, engineering, engineers
Proximity
Use proximity searches to find terms that appear close together, even if not consecutively. Add a tilde ~ and a number after a quoted phrase to set the word-distance limit. Examples:
"senior engineer"~1
→ matches senior software engineer, senior electrical engineer"clinical scientist"~2
→ matches clinical retinal research scientist, scientist specializing in clinical studies"customer support manager"~2
→ matches manager of customer support, support manager and head customer outreach
Proximity searches are bi-directional and work regardless of word order.
Wildcard
Wildcards help match variations of a term.
*= multiple characters?= single character
Examples:
eng*→ matches engineer, engineering, Englishstor?→ matches store, story, storkwom?n→ matches woman, women
Note: Wildcards only work on single words and cannot be used as the first character.
Fuzzy Search
Use a tilde ~ after a word to find similar spellings. Example:
SDE2~→ matches SDE2, STE2, SDE3
Fuzzy search applies only to single terms, not phrases.
Preferred / “Nice-to-Have”
Highlight preferred skills or experiences without excluding others. Format: List terms inside parentheses with OR, then add OR true:y at the end. Examples:
past_companies:(google OR facebook OR microsoft OR true:y) cur_title:ceo
→ CEOs with experience at Google, Facebook, or Microsoft appear at the top(seekout OR bullhorn OR glassdoor OR true:y) cur_title:(sourc* OR recruiter)
→ Recruiters with experience at SeekOut, Bullhorn, or Glassdoor are prioritized
Boosting
Use the caret ^ followed by a number to increase the importance of a term.
Boosting range:
2–99De-emphasizing range:
0–0.9Examples:majors:(physics^5 OR math OR computer)
→ Physics majors appear higher than math or computer majorsschools:("Carnegie Mellon"^10 OR stanford^5 OR california)
→ Candidates from Carnegie Mellon are ranked highest, followed by Stanford, then other California schools
These advanced techniques give you powerful control over your search results. Combine them to build precise queries and uncover top-tier talent.