The Secret To Dominating Google Search Results
As a recruiter or sourcer, you are x-raying the same sites over and over again, in all corners of the Internet, looking for new candidates or hidden resumes lost somewhere in the pile of data. Sometimes, is just really time-consuming and you can also make a few errors when you are typing the Boolean strings into the search field. Sometimes Google tries to slow you down with its evil Captchas, just because they think that your fast-pasting search string into their search field is just another hacker attack. 🙂
But, luckily, there is a simple solution regarding how you can save time searching and not to be slowed down by Google captchas and that will make your sourcing job more productive. And the solution is called a Custom Search Engine.
Many recruiters have never heard about Custom Search Engine (CSE) from Google. Google Custom Search allows users to feature web searches and refine queries based on Google Search. CSE has been provided by Google from 2006, and it’s a very handy tool for recruiters and sources. Not only will it help you to build custom search engines for your team, it is the easy way to quickly find targeted candidates’ resumes on the web.
It’s very easy to build and anyone can create his/her own search engine. It allows one to create and select what website will be used to reach information; it also helps to remove from search results any sites that shouldn’t be there. CSE has many functions and can be customized in many ways. And you can bookmark your search engine with the sites that you are x-raying and even share with other people from your team.
Building search engines with Google doesn’t provide you with different results than a regular Google search would, but you will get your own Google search that refines the results and removes the sites that you should add into the search results.
Benefits of Custom Search Engine
- It’s free!
- You can automate frequent search strings
- You can use the Google Boolean search syntax
- Your own Google will be part of your website or just as a link.
- You don’t have to save your search strings
- You can create more CSE focusing on specific fields
- You can share it with the whole team
- Freshers in your team will be more productive
- There is no reason to use 3rd party software or a hosting service. Everything is hosted on Google; again, there are no other costs involved.
There are many other benefits why you should start using CSE as a recruiter and why you should try to create at least one of your CSE, but if you are not convinced yet, you should consider that, with your own CSE, you also get these two things:
- There are no limitations on the 32 word search limit on Google.
- CSE prevents Google from displaying Captchas, so you are not going to be blocked by Google every time you are using complex strings
So, no more “Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network” and images like this one:
Create your own Custom Search Engine
If you don’t know how to create your own Google Custom Search, you can follow the step-by-step manual that I created.
How to Build Custom Search Engine – https://www.recruitment.camp/course/how-to-build-custom-search-engine/
Creating Google Custom Search step-by-step is only the first part; the second part is to customize and add interesting features that will help you to be more effective. And if you were not a part of the Sourcing Summit Europe 2016, you missed the great presentation of Irina Shamaeva – “Hacking Custom Search Engines” – with lots of interesting ideas and tips about how to customize your CSE.
This second lesson will show you new, interesting hacks that you can use in your Custom Search Engine, which will boost your sourcing skills to a new level.
Hacking Custom Search Engines – https://www.recruitment.camp/course/hacking-custom-search-engines/
Custom Search Engine
There are many setup options regarding how you can customize the CSE for your needs. And don’t worry – if you break it, you can just delete it and start again. If you are looking for more info about CSE and how to customize it, check these documents that introduce you to basic concepts and guide you through the creation of your first search engine: https://cse.google.com/cse/
The possibilities of Google Custom Search Engine are endless!
Last Updated on January 16, 2024