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The Job Search signal has two modes for matching job titles: a simple substring mode and an advanced boolean mode. This guide covers advanced mode — what it can do, and when to reach for each operator.
This guide applies to the job title field in advanced mode only.The description keywords field supports only OR and quoted phrases ("…"). No AND, NOT, proximity, wildcards, or parentheses — anything else is matched literally.

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Description keywords

The description field matches job descriptions on keywords or phrases. Use simple comma-free OR lists. Quote multi-word phrases. Anything else (AND, NOT, parentheses, wildcards) is sent to the API as-is and will almost certainly return nothing.

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Simple vs advanced mode

Switch to advanced mode when:
  • You need to match multiple variations of a title (VP OR Director OR Head)
  • You want to exclude terms (Engineer NOT junior)
  • You care about word proximity (senior <-> engineer)
  • You want a prefix match (engineer:* matches engineer, engineering, engineers)

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Core boolean operators

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OR

Finds titles containing either term.

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AND

Finds titles containing both terms.

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NOT

Excludes titles containing the term.

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Phrases with quotes

Quote multi-word phrases to match them as a unit.
In advanced mode, multi-word tokens must be quoted ("senior engineer") or joined with the proximity operator (senior <-> engineer). Bare spaces between words will cause the query to reject your input.

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Parentheses for grouping

Group terms to control evaluation order.
Without parentheses, this would be interpreted as CEO OR (founder AND startup) — a different query.

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Advanced operators

These operators extend beyond basic LinkedIn-style boolean search.

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Proximity: <-> (followed by)

Matches when two terms appear in that order, one after the other.
Use <-> when word order matters and you want exactly adjacent words. For more flexibility, combine it with phrases:

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Distance: <N> (followed by, within N words)

Matches when the first term is followed by the second within N words.

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Prefix wildcard: :*

Matches any term that starts with the given prefix.
Prefix wildcards work well for catching plural and derived forms without listing each one explicitly.

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Combining operators

All operators compose. A few real-world patterns:

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Exact leadership titles, exclude interim roles

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Engineering leaders with prefix matching

Matches Engineering Manager, Software Engineer Lead, Principal Developer, etc. — without listing every variation.

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Senior roles in a specific function, regardless of title word order

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Proximity-aware search

Matches “Head of Sales”, “Head of Marketing”, “Head of Growth” — but not “Sales, Head of Global”.

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Operator precedence

Without parentheses, operators evaluate in this order (highest to lowest):
  1. "..." — phrases
  2. :* — prefix wildcards
  3. <-> / <N> — proximity
  4. NOT / -
  5. AND
  6. OR
Example:
Is interpreted as sales OR (marketing AND manager), not (sales OR marketing) AND manager.
Always add parentheses when you mix operators. They make intent clear and prevent precedence surprises.

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Common mistakes

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Bare multi-word tokens

In advanced mode, this is invalid — a bare space between words will reject the query. Use one of these instead:

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Lowercase operators

Operators must be uppercase: OR, AND, NOT. Lowercase words are treated as search terms.

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Prefix wildcard before the word

Prefix wildcards go after the word, not before. Use engineer:* instead.

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Unbalanced parentheses

Missing closing paren. Count them as you write.

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Build your query step by step

1

Start with the simple mode

If a single phrase works, leave advanced mode off. Don’t over-engineer.
2

Flip advanced mode when simple isn't enough

Enable advanced mode the moment you need OR, NOT, or variations.
3

Use phrases for exact matches

Quote anything that’s more than one word: "Head of Sales".
4

Add prefix wildcards for word families

engineer:* is shorter and more complete than engineer OR engineering OR engineers.
5

Exclude noise with NOT

Add NOT junior or NOT intern to keep your signal focused on the seniority level you care about. The seniority filter is a cleaner alternative when it applies.
6

Preview before saving

Click Preview in the dialog. If the first 5 results look right, the full signal will be clean.

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Quick reference

Back to the Job Search signal

Return to the full Job Search signal reference.