Not everyone lists every keyword, project, or detail on their public profile. Some don't even have a public profile at all - no LinkedIn, no digital footprint to scrape. So how do you draw the line between what someone's actually done and what they've bothered to self-report? That's the real work: peeling back the layers and looking past the surface. This is where the majority of Recruiting teams drop the ball.
You know the persona you're hunting for. But the person behind it might not be great at describing their own experience, might dread writing a resume, or might not have a profile to write one on in the first place. That doesn't mean they're not exactly who you're looking for.
Cast a Wider Net Than the Job Description Ever Could
Here's an easy, practical move: use an AI chat like Claude, Copilot, or ChatGPT to build a long OR boolean string that captures every keyword adjacent to your search — not just the narrow handful sitting in the job description. Don't search for a direct match. Search for the widest possible net, then let the candidate confirm or opt into the specific experience themselves.
Let AI fill in the blanks, and you can 10x your keyword-matching probability. Better yet, these long OR statements are easy to save and reuse - just store the search in ZoomInfo and rinse and repeat.
Prompt example: "Create a long OR boolean string with [insert requirement] keywords"
Try it with:
[hematologist technologist]
[Spanish speaking]
[data center electrical engineering]
Let Company Insights Do the Correlating for You
Take it a step further: ask your AI chat which companies have a specific focus or use specific technologies within their departments. This lets you make a correlation keyword search never could - if a candidate works at a company that just announced a particular project, there's a strong chance they carry that exact experience, whether their profile says so or not.
Prompt example: "Which companies have [projects, programs, focuses, use technology]"
Try it with:
[data center construction projects]
[building data lakes using Hadoop]
[R&D products and programs for medical devices]
From there, I zero in on the specific companies, navigate straight to the relevant section of the org chart in ZoomInfo, and reach out - again, giving candidates the space to confirm or deny the experience I've proposed. The strategy is simple: be thoughtful and creative in your outreach. Most recruiting teams aren't doing this, and it leaves them with a massive blind spot to an entire pool of qualified talent.
Why This Also Boosts Your Response Rate
This approach doesn't just widen your pipeline - it makes people actually want to write back. Consider:
"I saw that DPR is working on the Crusoe Abilene Data Center in Texas. That project — a total of 8 buildings — is exactly the caliber of experience we value. I'd love to connect with you as a resource for the future. Do you know when the project is expected to wrap up?"
Notice the question at the end. Asking something - giving the candidate a clear call to action - makes them far more likely to respond, because now they feel invited to confirm or correct the picture you've painted of them.
I challenge you to put these simple prompts to work in your own recruiting strategy. The net is wider than you think - you just have to know how to cast it.
