What happened?
As of two days ago, search operators (that I have covered in previous posts) have stopped working on LinkedIn. This includes not only undocumented operators like headline: but also the officially documented operators firstname:, lastname:, title:, company:, and school:. (They were introduced in 2017). It’s quite unfortunate! [Edited April 22, 2019: LinkedIn has taken down that help page.]
As always, we will be looking into alternative ways for Recruiters and Sourcers to overcome LinkedIn limitations.
We may get the operators back; we’ll see.
In the meantime, if you are searching with a basic or premium account, keep in mind that:
- LinkedIn Keywords Boolean Search Is Compromised. For better results, use the advanced search dialog.
- You can X-Ray LinkedIn for current company and job title. The advantage is, you would be looking for the “true” current job and avoiding finding jobs that members have not “closed”.
- If you are up for writing complex Custom Search Engine (little-known) special operators, you can use the technique described in Fascinating: Custom Headline Search. While LinkedIn search operators are not working, this is the only way to search by headlines (unavailable in any LinkedIn accounts, including Recruiter.)
- If you are not up for writing complex CSE search operators, use our Sourcing Tool Social List, which used the CSE technology via APIs and hides all the complexity for end-users. (We have also added a “Contact Finder” to the tool. Check out Dean Da Costa’s blog and video).
Thanks for reading! I’ll keep you updated.