The LinkedIn hidden search operators are back! Nobody knows for how long they will work this time (we enjoyed them for a year and a half a while ago). But they offer any LinkedIn user, whether basic or paid, significant searching power and an important filter unavailable with any subscription.
LinkedIn never documented the operators, apart from the less-useful firstname:, lastname:, title:, company:, and school: (all achievable via the advanced dialog). Nobody has any idea who had implemented the other ones. But the code came alive again.
The operators were featured in Nathan Palin’s Bellingcat’s Invitation Is Waiting For Your Response: An Investigative Guide To LinkedIn.
You will find some again-working search examples earlier on my blog, posted when I was discovering the operators. Here are more examples:
- headline:”open to remote” (this is a favorite because there is no “official” way to search for headlines – the most important profile parts!)
- skills:”(java python “software development”)
- spokenlanguage:italian
- startyear:2010 (start school)
- endyear:2010 (end school)
- geo:”mountain view”
- industry:94 (aviation; note that the codes have moved from LinkedIn Developer site to Microsoft’s.)
- seniority:6 (director; codes)
- profilelanguage:de
- yoe:8
You can combine the operators and any search terms.
It very well may be that there are other operators to be discovered. Profiles have tons of data, of which we can search only part. But we can search better while the discovered operators last. 🙂
Please check out our class on some OSINT advanced (often, also hidden) features of LinkedIn, Google, and Custom Search Engines –
Advanced Google and LinkedIn for #OSINT Research.
Comments 11
This syntax seems to be more efficient than the one you suggested: skills:”java,python,software”
What do you think, Irina?
Author
How is it more efficient? 🙂
Your produces 55 results, while mine stands for 626,000 of them.
Check it out: https://cln.sh/fvy0JS
Hi Denys,
I don’t think it is more efficient if you have that many results…I believe for you it is pulling out one or two of the skills while in this model without commas it goes for all 3. 🙂
That makes sense, thx for the clarification 🙂 sorry for being noobish
I would love to know how to use this boolean codes. I am trying to learn how to be strong in passive sourcing.
Author
Denys, thank you for catching this. No, it is not about running an OR search. I think I know what happens. If we use spaces, it treats the input also as a phrase to find, in addition to an AND skills search (odd, right?). If we use commas or other symbols to separate the terms, it is (just) an AND search. So you were right 🙂
Author
See? https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/people/?keywords=skills%3A%22python%2Cjava%22%20%22python%20java%22
Hi Irina,
thank you for sharing!
I have just tried running a search on the open to work JDA consultants.
Here is my string:
headline:”open to work” skills:jda
It’s come back with 5 results only…
Would appreciate your comment on that?
Thanks!
Hi Irina,
thank you for sharing!
I have just tried running a search on the open to work JDA consultants.
Here is my string:
headline:”open to work” skills:jda
It’s come back with 5 results only…
Would appreciate your comment on that?
Thanks!
Author
Hi Yulia,
The result is correct. To see more, try https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/people/?keywords=skills%3Ajda%20headline%3A(open%20OR%20looking)