Search engines are not very intelligent and therefore it is often difficult to find what you are looking for. Every Recruiter is by now familiar with boolean search commands but another tactic or approach can yield dramatic results.

In this series of advanced sourcing tips for Recruiters, I show some well-known and lesser-known search techniques and strategies.

Tip 3: Google image search

If you are active on LinkedIn with a free account than you’ll frequently face the problem that the people you’ve found are in your 3rd degree connections or out of your network, especially if you have a small (relevant) network. A well-known technique is to search the profile via Google, using the headline, but this is not always successful. That can happen if this person has changed the headline recently.

Another effective way to find the LinkedIn profile is to make use of the profile picture. For this, you make clever use of a special functionality of Google to search for (similar) images. Most likely you will find the LinkedIn profile as the first result!

How does it work?

You can store the image in a separate folder on your desktop and then upload it via http://images.google.com.

Easier is to install a special extension in your favorite browser, for example:

1. Search by Image (Chrome extension)
2. Google Image Search (Firefox extension)

The advantages of an image search

This technique is interesting because a profile picture is less frequently altered, which makes it easier to find. Another benefit is that they are often used in other online profiles. So you get positive results faster and as a bonus more online profiles of the same person. Use it to your advantage!

Do you have any questions or suggestions for a search? Or do you want to share a handy sourcing tip? Let us know and we will include them in this series about advanced sourcing techniques!