LinkedIn Search Bar: A Laser-focused Way to Find Specific People & Relevant Posts

With 70+ million users, LinkedIn is now bigger than the combined population of the US, Indonesia, and Mexico. 

In this huge continent of people, companies, and content, it is nearly impossible to find:

• Specific people;
• Specific people working in specific fields;
• Specific people working in specific fields in specific companies;
• Specific people working in specific fields in specific companies at specific positions;
• Specific people working in specific fields in specific companies at specific positions in specific locations,

...and so on.

Confusing and daunting, isn’t it?

Not just people, finding relevant content (related to a particular field or hashtag) is also a tough nut to crack. 

That’s where LinkedIn Search Bar makes your life easier. 

The search bar is one of the most underused-yet-exciting features of LinkedIn which can help you locate specific people, companies, groups, or content in just a few clicks. 

However, 36% of people don’t know how to find relevant posts using the search bar (and 19% of them find it too complex).

However, once you gain proficiency in using the search bar, it becomes a cakewalk for you. 

Today, I’ll teach you how to:

1. Locate top content in each hashtag; 
2. Find specific people based on filters and search queries; and
3. Use Boolean Operators to conduct an advanced search.

Let’s dive deeper into the world of LinkedIn Search Bar. 

Finding top posts in your industry or niche

To build a sound personal brand, you need to engage with others on their posts. However, if you haven’t personalised your feed, it becomes difficult to find relevant posts.

What to do then? 

Start commenting on the top posts located in niche-specific hashtags. Once you do it, you increase the chances of getting visible in your 2nd-degree and 3rd-degree connections’ network. 

How to find top posts?

Type a hashtag (specific to your industry or niche) in the search bar. While you’re typing, LinkedIn will also show you the related hashtags. 

Click one of them to see all the posts under a particular hashtag. By default, LinkedIn sorts by “Top” posts, but you can also manually sort by “Recent” posts. 

You’ll find posts from 1st-degree, 2nd-degree and 3rd-degree connections from across the world. Comment on them to enjoy wider visibility. However, this option has certain limitations as it doesn’t allow posts to be filtered based on a specific company or industry. 

A more focused approach

Follow the below-mentioned steps to find posts from people belonging to a particular industry(s) or company(s).

Step 1: After typing a particular hashtag in the search bar, click “See all results for #”

Step 2: Click “All Filters”

Step 3: Select the relevant industry(s), company(s), and date of posting. 

This feature lets you see highly-relevant posts to comment on. For instance, using these steps, you can read posts under #leadership from people in the “Financial Services” industry.

Finding specific people

LinkedIn offers a set of filters to narrow down your search results. Go to the “People” section from the search bar. 

Here, you can filter profiles by:

• Connections (1st, 2nd or 3rd)
• Locations
• Current Companies

Wait! filters don’t end here. Click “All Filters” and you’ll find so many laser-guided missiles. You can filter people based on:

• Connections Of (connections of specific people);
• Past Companies
• Industries
• Profile Language
• Schools
• Contact Interests
• Services
• First Name/ Last Name/ Title/ Company/ School

Boolean Search (Warning - You’ll be fascinated by this feature) 

I had to give this warning because it’s so powerful and amazing that you can find specific people (and exclude the irrelevant profiles) based on keywords. Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) work the same on LinkedIn as they work on Google. 

Remember, all these operators have to be used in capital letters, otherwise, they won’t work. 

Boolean Operator - “OR”

You can use “OR” to find those people who have used any of the specified keywords(terms) in their profile.

For instance, if you want to discover those profiles where either “CEO”, “CFO”, or “CHRO” has been mentioned,  you can enter the following query in the search bar:

CEO OR CFO OR CHRO

Similar examples:

• Writer OR Marketer
• Founder OR Entrepreneur OR Freelancer

Boolean Operator - “AND”

Using “AND” in a search query will return those profiles where both the terms have been mentioned. 

For example, if you want to discover those profiles where both “Software” and “Developer” terms have been mentioned, you can insert the following search query:

Software AND Developer

Similar examples:

• HR AND Recruiter
• Procurement AND Head

Tip: You can combine AND with OR to go even deeper. For example, 

(Content OR Marketing OR Branding) AND (Director OR Head OR Manager)

(Sales OR Customer) AND (Department OR Function)

Boolean Operator - “NOT”

NOT can’t be used alone. It has to be used in conjunction with either “OR” or “AND”. It will exclude those people who’ve used a specific term on their profile anywhere. 

For example, if you search

(Mentor OR Coach) AND NOT Trainer

This search query will return those profiles where people have mentioned either mentor or coach in their profiles, but those profiles will be excluded where trainer word has also been mentioned. 

Wrapping Up

We can invest only a limited time on LinkedIn to create posts, comment on others’ posts, find relevant people, send them messages, and build professional relationships.

If you use the search bar according to the steps mentioned above, you can multifold productivity — comment on more posts, connect with highly-relevant people, and become more efficient.

Remember, “Productivity is never an accident. It’s always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused efforts.” 

If you found the article informative, tag a friend or a LinkedIn connection who should also get benefitted by this article. Also, if we are not still connected on LinkedIn, send me a customised connection request NOW.

This article was originally featured in Hashtag Magazine.