A useful search starts with a question you can explain: which role, which essential skill, and which alternatives are acceptable? Write those down before opening the search box. A query finds text to read; it does not establish whether a person can do the job.

Operators supported by LinkedIn

LinkedIn Help documents uppercase AND, OR and NOT, quotation marks for phrases, and parentheses for grouping. AND requires both terms; OR accepts alternatives; NOT excludes a term. Use NOT rather than a minus sign inside LinkedIn. Wildcards such as an asterisk are not supported.

These are illustrative queries, not tested promises of a particular result count:

("frontend developer" OR "React developer") AND TypeScript
(accountant OR "financial accountant") AND Excel
("warehouse manager" OR "logistics manager") AND inventory

Start with the version you can explain to the hiring manager. Read the results and adjust one requirement at a time. Do not exclude a word just because it appears on an irrelevant profile: it may also appear in an otherwise relevant person's earlier job.

Keep optional skills optional

Adding AND (AWS OR Azure) still requires one of those terms. It is not an optional preference. If cloud experience is only helpful, leave that block out of the broad query and look for the evidence while reading profiles. Keep a separate, narrower version for comparison.

Ask the hiring manager which missing skill would actually prevent someone doing the work. If the answer is unclear, resolve the brief before making the query stricter. Read how to write a job description you can source from.

Check titles against the work

Try alternative titles that your team has actually encountered. A title is a lead to investigate, not proof of seniority. Keep examples from relevant profiles and ask what responsibilities sit behind each title. Do not add synonyms that change the job.

X-ray is a separate Google search

An illustrative starting point is:

site:linkedin.com/in/ "financial accountant" Excel

Google's documentation for site: says the operator restricts results to a domain or URL prefix. Results are not exhaustive, even for indexed pages. An absent profile is not evidence that a person is unavailable. Do not assume LinkedIn and Google interpret the same query identically.

From a brief to a record

Deelbert's generator prepares broad, narrow and X-ray query drafts from a job description. Review the drafts, copy them into your browser and run the search yourself. It is free with a Deelbert account. Saving a profile with the extension is a separate action that you initiate on the profile you are viewing.

Read what AI extraction needs you to check and compare the recruiting plans. AI output can be wrong, so compare both the query and the candidate record with the original text.

Questions while searching

Can I paste the same query everywhere? Treat it as a starting point and check the engine's documented syntax.

Does an optional OR block keep the search broad? Only within that block. Joining it to the rest with AND makes the block required.

Information only, not legal advice. Check the platform's current terms and the data rules applicable to your work. This guide makes no guarantee about account restrictions or legal compliance.

Open the generator, free with a Deelbert account