X-Ray Search User Guide

What is Recruit'em X-Ray Search for?

Recruit'em is a tool that helps you find people on social networks. It creates a boolean search string that searches for publicly available profiles using Google.

How do I use Recruit'em?

Select the social network you want to search and fill in the relevant fields. No field is mandatory — start with just a job title or a keyword and refine from there.

Can I use Boolean operators?

Yes. You can use the following operators in any keyword field:

AND - find profiles that include both terms, e.g. java AND php. You can also use a comma or "&" instead of typing AND.
OR - find profiles that include at least one of the terms, e.g. developer OR programmer OR engineer. You can also use "|" instead of typing OR.

How do I get the most out of Recruit'em?

If you run the same searches regularly, use the Save Search feature to pick up where you left off.

After clicking Open in Google, you can edit the search string directly in Google's search box. Adding parentheses lets you group terms and build more targeted searches.

Where does the data come from?

The profiles are publicly available pages that have been indexed by Google.

How do I use Recruit'em for LinkedIn?

Enter your search terms, hit Find the right people on LinkedIn, then Open in Google.

Country: Choose from over 100 countries to focus your search geographically.
Job title: The role you're hiring for. Tick Show similar jobs to automatically include common synonyms (e.g. searching for "accountant" will also return "financial analyst").
Job title suggestions: Once you've typed a job title, click the wand icon next to the field to see related titles and synonyms. Select the ones you want to add and they'll be added to your search automatically.
Location or keywords to include: Skills, tools, or locations you want candidates to have. Separate terms with commas, e.g. London, Python, Django. A comma works the same as AND.
Keyword suggestions: Once you've entered a job title, click the wand icon next to the keywords field to see popular keywords used by people with that title. Pick the ones that fit and they'll be added to your search.
Keywords to exclude: Terms you don't want in results. For example, enter recruitment, talent acquisition to filter out recruiters who've added your target skills to their profiles.
Education: Filter by qualification level. Choose Degree, Masters or Doctoral Degree. Common variants are included automatically — selecting Doctoral Degree will also return PhDs.
Current Employer: Limit results to people currently working at a specific company, e.g. Salesforce.

Build a search from a job description

If you have a job ad or description, you can skip filling in the form manually. Paste it into the AI Search Builder and it will pull out the job title, location, and keywords for you. You can review and edit everything before running the search.

How can I get better LinkedIn results?

Match the level of detail to the market. In countries where LinkedIn is widely used (e.g. US, UK) you can be specific. In smaller markets, broaden your search — fewer keywords means more results.

If you're logged in to LinkedIn, profiles from 3rd-degree connections will show limited information. To see full profiles, open results in a private or incognito browser window:

For 2nd degree connections, you can send a connection request directly. For 3rd degree connections, LinkedIn only shows the InMail option — but if you log in and search for the person by name, the Connect button will appear.

How do I use Recruit'em for Twitter / X?

Enter your search terms, hit Find your people, then choose Open in Google or Open in Twitter.

City: The location of the people you're looking for.
Skills or keywords to include: The skills or topics you want candidates to be associated with.
Skills or keywords to exclude: Terms to filter out. When using Open in Google, the words job, jobs, recruiter, HR, and careers are excluded automatically. No built-in exclusions apply when using Open in Twitter.

How do I use Recruit'em for Stack Overflow?

Enter your search terms, hit Find your people, then Open in Google.

Skills or keywords to include: The technologies or skills you're recruiting for.
City or Country: Where the people you're looking for are based. Use a city for large markets, a country for smaller ones.
Exclude profiles with no websites: Filters out profiles that don't include a link to another site or contact method, making it harder to reach them.
Exclude profiles with no reputation: Filters out accounts with no activity score, which are often registered but inactive users.

How do I use Recruit'em for GitHub?

Enter your search terms, hit Find your people, then Open in Google.

Skills to include: The programming languages, frameworks, or tools you're looking for.
City or Country: Where the people you're looking for are based. Use a city for large markets, a country for smaller ones.

How do I use Recruit'em for Xing?

Enter your search terms, hit Find your people, then Open in Google.

Job title: The role you're hiring for. You can use English or German keywords.
Location or keywords to include: The locations and skills you need. Separate terms with commas, e.g. Berlin, Siemens, PHP, Java Entwickler.
Keywords to exclude: Terms to filter out. For example, enter Rekruiter or Personalvermittlung to exclude recruiters.

How do I use Recruit'em for Dribbble?

Dribbble is a good place to find front-end developers, graphic designers, illustrators, logo designers, and other creative professionals. Enter your search terms, hit Find the right people on Dribbble, then Open in Google.

Skills (keywords) to include: The creative skills or specialisms you need, e.g. logo design, vector, brand identity.
Skills (keywords) to exclude: Terms to filter out. For example, enter animation if you only want static designers.
Exclude profiles with no contact info: Filters out profiles that don't include a way to get in touch, making outreach easier.

How do I use Recruit'em for Toptal?

Toptal is a network of vetted freelance developers, designers, finance experts, and project managers. Use Recruit'em to search their public profiles without signing up. Enter your search terms, hit Find freelance talent on Toptal, then Open in Google.

Country: Filter by the freelancer's location.
Skills or job title to search: The role or skills you need, e.g. React developer or financial consultant.
Location or keywords to include: Additional terms to narrow your search, e.g. a city or a specific technology.
Keywords to exclude: Terms to filter out of your results, e.g. junior, intern.