{"id":10938,"date":"2023-10-24T21:01:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T21:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/docs.pcrecruiter.net\/site\/?post_type=docs&p=10938"},"modified":"2026-03-12T19:35:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:35:27","password":"","slug":"introduction-to-searching","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/learning.pcrecruiter.net\/site\/docs\/searching\/introduction-to-searching\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction to Record Searching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Before delving into Basic or Advanced search methods, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of your data structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In PCRecruiter, there are three primary record types: Companies, Names, and Positions. Each record type comprises structured Field data and unstructured Keyword data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field Data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Field Data represents the organized information within records. These are the predefined or custom fields you’ll find on records, such as Company Name, City, State, Title, Email Address, and User Name. To search within field data, you select the field name from a dropdown and enter the value to search.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field Data Searching Tips<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When searching most fields, records are returned if the field starts with <\/em>the search term entered, as a wildcard (%) is assumed at the end of the search term. For instance, searching for First Name with rob<\/em> returns rob, robert, or robin. Here are some tips for searching field data:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use % before a search term to find records where the field contains<\/em> the value, rather than just starting with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Title    %Human Resources<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
You can use a comma as a separator to search for multiple values within the same field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can use a comma as a separator to search for multiple values within the same field. For example, the search Human Resources,HR would return a record if the field contains either Human Resources or <\/em>HR. Another example is searching multiple states by separating each value with a comma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Title    Human Resources,HR\nState    FL,GA,SC<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
You can also combine these methods to find records that contain either value within the same field. This would return records where the field contains <\/em>Human Resources or <\/em>HR<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Title     %Human Resources,%HR<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Keyword Data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Keyword data represents unstructured text information found in areas like Resumes, Attachments, Profiles, Notes, Keywords, Summary, and Job Descriptions. When searching these areas, you use Boolean operators in the Keywords search area to refine, broaden, or group search terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Operato<\/strong>r<\/td>When to Use<\/strong><\/td>Operato<\/strong>r<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Exact word<\/td>engineer<\/td><\/tr>
%<\/td>Starts with<\/td>engineer%
Unlike field searching, keywords does not assume “starts with”<\/td><\/tr>
Quotes<\/td>Find a phrase<\/td>“mechanical engineer”<\/td><\/tr>
AND<\/td>Narrow search<\/td>“mechanical engineer” AND bsme<\/td><\/tr>
OR<\/td>Broaden search<\/td>“mechanical engineer” OR bsme<\/td><\/tr>
~<\/td>Proximity Search (Lucene)<\/td>“mechanical engineer”~4
 <\/td><\/tr>
NEAR <\/td>Proximity Search (KW2)<\/td>“mechanical NEAR6 engineer”<\/td><\/tr>
Parenthesis<\/td>Group search terms<\/td>(“mechanical engineer” OR bsme) AND (cad OR autocad OR “computer aided design” OR solidworks)<\/td><\/tr>
NOT<\/td>
Exclude search term<\/td>		\u201cmechanical engineer\u201d NOT NASA<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
Always capitalize the operators AND, OR, NEAR and NOT.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
All matching keywords returned will be highlighted when viewing the content. In a resume, use the dropdown at the upper left corner of the PDF viewer to jump to the next occurrence. The currently active keyword result will be given an alternate highlight color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geographic Searching<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When working regionally or locally, searching by location can be helpful in limiting results <\/p>\n\n\n\n
City: Search the \u2018City\u2019 field for Chicago. However, keep in mind that this searches for entries starting with Chicago. To include records with suburbs or towns outside of Chicago, you can list them all such as Chicago,Schaumburg,Northbrook,Oak Park<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State: Search the State field using the 2-letter abbreviation, such as OH,IN,IL<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All Phone: Search the \u2018All Phone\u2019 field for 872,773,312 to find records based on area code. The All Phone field searches work, cell, and home phone fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zip: Search the first digits of the Zip field to search regionally, rather than a long string of states.   For example, search 2,3 to find records in the Southeast or search 33,34 for southern Florida. Click to view US Zip Code Map<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zip Code Radius Utility: You can also perform more targeted area searches using Zip Code Radius, which supports postal codes from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan. The maximum radius is 100 miles, and this option is only available in Advanced search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Searching by Status<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In PCRecruiter, the three types of records (Name, Company and Position) have a status field that can be searched using  Basic or Advanced Search. For Names, and Positions, this field is simply called \u201cStatus.\u201d For Companies, it’s referred to as \u201cDefault Company.\u201d These values are saved as single-letter codes,m so you must know the code for each value to search effectively. You can view the values used in your database by going to the Advanced search screen and selecting “Status” for Name and Position records, and “Default Company” for Companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Name Status<\/h3>\n\n\n\n