Whether you're creating a Company, Contact, Candidate or Vacancy query, the tool itself has the same layout and uses the same functions; it's only the information or records that you are searching for that changes.

By familiarising yourself with the functionality and ways of searching available, you will quickly master the Query Builder and be able to search across your entire data base.

Once you open your Query Builder of choice, you will see a series of tabs across the top which will allow you to search in different ways, meaning you can either focus on individual types of search or combine them across tabs to create complex and in depth Queries.

Preferences

This section is all about the preferences or requirements specified on the record and allows you to quickly create complex queries across multiple fields. 

Using the Candidate Query Builder as an example, the preferences tab will allow you to find candidates who have specified their preferred location, department or positions to work in, as well as salary requirements and a postcode based radius search. This gives you lots of flexibility to build up your search as required.

Hint - When building your search, you can use View Count at the bottom of the Builder to see how many records will match your search. If you're happy with the result, you can click Apply to see the records or continue tweaking your search. 

Availability

Availability applies to candidates only and allows you quickly exclude any candidates who have been placed already or have been flagged with an inactive status. The tab will be active as default, so you don't even need to do anything to include this in your search, but can be turned off by unticking the Availability tick box.

Skills

The Skills tab gives you access to all of your skills and skill groups, allowing you to create complex boolean queries using different AND / OR operators. 

To learn more about using Skills, please see these articles.

Free Text

Free Text allows you to make use of your boolean searching skills, as you can search for keywords and phrases within the candidate CV directly. Practise using AND / OR / NOTs / Brackets to help create detailed queries & find your most suitable candidates.

Hint - This will automatically search all of the candidates CVs you have for them, not just the latest. This can help to ensure that nothing is missed!

All Fields

This tab allows you to search within any specific field stored against your selected record type. This means you can be very specific with your search, rather than just blanket searching in skills or free text.

When you click into the All Fields tab, a second row of tabs will appear which will break down the different fields by how the data is stored:

• Text - All of the free text fields stored on the record, such as names, email addresses or contact information.
• Numeric - Any salary fields, as well as anything else stored as a numerical value, will be available within this tab.
• Yes / No - These are all of the standard boolean options, as well as some additional special filters.
• Dates - This tab allows you to search based on any date fields which relate to the record type.

• Options - Any drop down lists can be found within Options, where you can pick singular or multiple options.
• Languages - If you work with multi-lingual candidates or roles, you can search on language proficiency here.

Running a Query

Once you have explored the tabs and found your preferred method of searching, you can use the AND / OR buttons to add the search into your query, which is shown at the bottom of the query builder. You can then use View Count and Apply to access the records.

Hint - Built a query you will need to run again? Learn more about Saving and Sharing your Queries here.