Many people who need a job rely on job boards to find things to apply to.

It’s common for a posting to receive hundreds of applications.

Many job seekers like TikToker @Giovanna.ventola are realizing it’s not an effective way to land a job.

“A lot of companies are using the job board as a marketing tool to drive traffic to their website.”

In a video that has over one million views, she shares a workaround to increase your chances of finding a job online.

It involves using LinkedIn search to find posts about jobs by people who are hiring for them. The idea comes from a former LinkedIn employee who was in her Slack community.

“A lot of companies don’t want to pay to put their jobs up,” she explains.

This means a lot of roles aren’t even posted, plus if you find a job that isn’t in a board, there will be far fewer applicants than if there was one.

The result is that you have a lot less competition, plus the hiring manager may be impressed by the initiative you’ve taken to search.

How does it work?

“People in the company will post a post… (You) put ‘I’m hiring’ in (double) quotations and then AND in capital letters, the job title you’re looking for in quotes” because these posts will often include that phrase.

She explains you can also search multiple options by substituting OR for AND.

These are called boolean operators. It’s how advanced search works in a lot of places.

The form you fill out to do the search converts it into boolean operators.

Boolean operators have been around forever, but you can use them online in many different ways for public information.

But aside from “I’m hiring,” how do you know what other phrases to search to narrow the results? Giovanna has an excellent tip.

“I still go into Google and I ask the question as it’s coming into my mouth… From my brain to my mouth to the keyboard.”

Giovanna isn’t exactly pleased that she needs to job hunt this way.

“I think LinkedIn is getting a little weird.”

Watch the full clip here.

@giovanna.ventola

tea time 🤭 #fyp #unemployed #unemployment #jobsearch #jobmarket #linkedin #work #careeradvice

♬ original sound – Giovanna

Check out what folks are saying.

A lot of fans of Boolean operators chimed in. I learned how to use them in university and I still geek out about new ways I can use them!

Some people found it depressing that they need to use social media to find a job.

This is a good question. I’ve seen both used, so I would try both.

I found these folks a little dramatic. There are worse problems. This is empowering!

I didn’t get why this attitude was all over the comments.

Research is fun. I swear.

Especially if it lands you your dream job.

If you liked that story, check out this video from a former Chipotle employee who reveals how the company cheats customers out of food.