Finding people thru search engines offers many problems. This is due in part to words that can have more than one meaning and that can also be interpreted in different ways. When websites or bios or resumes that we search for are designed for placement on the web, they are labeled and categorize in so many ways that make finding them difficult at best. Since there is no set way to navigate thru the volumes of information searching difficulty increases.

For recruiters to understand this is of the utmost importance. We must find ways to get beyond the limitations of ambiguity, semantics, and syntax or else we won’t be able to succeed at the individual level or even worse at the corporate level. As I see it we need to possess a certain level of curiosity to wander beyond our safety net of routine and search in ways that are different, strange or even alien to us in order to explore the limits of what a search engine can offer.

Should we as recruiters develop a hacker’s mindset?