{"id":2204,"date":"2022-02-03T16:16:11","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T16:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/?p=2204"},"modified":"2025-04-07T11:57:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T11:57:40","slug":"how-to-find-unadvertised-tech-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/working-abroad\/how-to-find-unadvertised-tech-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Find Unadvertised (Developer) Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 4<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to estimates, about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/forbeshumanresourcescouncil\/2023\/03\/21\/job-seekers-four-reasons-to-embrace-the-hidden-job-market\/?sh=77c5fc706a65\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">70%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of job openings never get posted on job boards. Is this true, or just another myth? Based on my experience running<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/relocate.me\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Relocate.me<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a job board for tech roles that offer relocation, I think this statement is true. There\u2019s, definitely, a hidden job market \u2014 but, thankfully, you can easily access it with boolean operators.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Companies typically advertise just a few of their jobs \u2014 the hottest or hardest-to-fill positions. You can use Google and Boolean search operators to find job opportunities not advertised or publicised on job boards. Keep reading as I explain how to find unadvertised jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content__item\">\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to find developer jobs that are unadvertised\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, understand the tools recruiters are using. When hiring, most employers use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to capture resumes for their job openings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An ATS is a sort of CRM for recruiters. Recruiters also create landing pages for open roles with this ATS tool. That\u2019s why there are specific websites with the ATS brand name but a particular subdomain\u2014such as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">apply.YourATS.com\/TargetCompany<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">boards.ATS.net\/CompanyWithJobs<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, where \u201capply\u201d and \u201cboards\u201d are subdomains, and the company name is a page\u2014that features jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Popular ATS systems that have subdomains with jobs include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Lever<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 https:\/\/jobs.lever.co<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jobs by <\/span><b>Workable<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 https:\/\/apply.workable.com<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Greenhouse<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 https:\/\/boards.greenhouse.io<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>SmartRecruiters<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 https:\/\/jobs.smartrecruiters.com<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Jobvite<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 https:\/\/jobs.jobvite.com<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Personio<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 https:\/\/jobs.personio.de (commonly used by German companies)<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Ashby<\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2192\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/jobs.ashbyhq.com<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Recruitee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 https:\/\/recruitee.com<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Breezy HR<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 https:\/\/breezy.hr<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Freshteam<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by Freshworks \u2192 https:\/\/freshteam.com\/jobs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Teamtailor<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2192 https:\/\/teamtailor.com\/jobs<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many job ads are duplicated on the websites of applicant tracking systems. Also, the ATS could feature job opportunities not advertised or publicised, at least actively. Moreover, this content is googleable, and that&#8217;s when Boolean search operators come in very handy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let me show you.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>site:https:\/\/apply.workable.com (frontend OR front end OR front-end) AND react AND london<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here&#8217;s a screenshot of the results that emerged when I typed this Boolean query into the Google search box:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2584 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-screenshot-boolean-search.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-screenshot-boolean-search.png 1200w, https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-screenshot-boolean-search-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-screenshot-boolean-search-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-screenshot-boolean-search-1024x768.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the first page alone, I managed to find seven relevant vacancies:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apply.workable.com\/plentific\/j\/B9916089E0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Frontend Engineer (React)<\/a><\/span> at Plentific<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apply.workable.com\/90poe-1\/j\/CFA79865C5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Frontend Developer<\/a><\/span> at Ninety Percent of Everything (90POE)<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apply.workable.com\/totallymoney\/j\/108CB95F44\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Experienced React and JavaScript Engineer<\/a><\/span> at TotallyMoney<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apply.workable.com\/builderai\/j\/BBC1A25387\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Senior Front End Engineer (React\/React Native)<\/a><\/span> at Builder.ai<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apply.workable.com\/zonedigital\/j\/E9E3030513\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Senior Frontend Developer<\/a><\/span> at Zone<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apply.workable.com\/wundermanthompsoncommerce\/j\/27011B4B2E\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Front End React Developer (Contract)<\/a><\/span> at Wunderman Thompson Commerce<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apply.workable.com\/iwoca\/j\/A6830A9225\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Frontend Developer<\/a><\/span> at iwoca<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Works pretty well, right? Here\u2019s a step-by-step approach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/job-search\/developer-job-search-tactics\/\"><b>Learn About Effective Developer Job Search Strategies \u2192<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content__item\">\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to find hidden jobs with Google Search, step-by-step<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using Google Search and our boolean formula, you will be able to access a hidden job market for software engineers. Follow these steps to uncover all the roles you might be missing out on:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0<\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 1: Choose your ATS<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Google search box, type <\/span><b>site: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">followed by the web address of any ATS mentioned in this blog post. Example: site:https:\/\/boards.greenhouse.io\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0<\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 2: Add the role\/position keywords that are of your liking<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Add search terms (<\/span><b>relevant tech keywords<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) to find what you&#8217;re looking for. For example, it could be: developer, engineer, or programmer.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0<\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 3: Add in where you\u2019ll be working from<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can add <\/span><b>locations or other details<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (e.g., a city where you want to work, or descriptive terms such as visa sponsorship, relocation, remote) to help filter out what you&#8217;re not searching for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0<\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 4: Use Boolean operators to narrow down your hidden job search<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use <\/span><b>Boolean operators AND, OR<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><b>NOT<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to connect and define the relationship between your search terms. For instance, \u201cPython AND Flask\u201d will produce results (job openings) that contain both keywords, while \u201cJava OR Scala\u201d will retrieve results that have either keyword. OR is best used for synonyms (e.g., developer OR engineer). NOT restricts specific things appearing in your search and can be used to exclude vacancies with unwanted keywords (e.g., react NOT React Native).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0<\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 5: Scan through your string and add parentheses<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you\u2019ve written your whole string, go back to it and use <\/span><b>parentheses ()<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to group similar or related terms together.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>site:https:\/\/boards.greenhouse.io (developer OR engineer) AND python AND (berlin OR munich OR amsterdam OR london OR paris OR tallinn OR zurich) AND (relocation OR visa sponsorship OR visa support)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2585\" src=\"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-boolean-search-3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-boolean-search-3.png 1200w, https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-boolean-search-3-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-boolean-search-3-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-boolean-search-3-1024x768.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This Boolean search string works well for finding Python jobs that offer relocation to popular European cities. Note how many jobs were posted recently. Here are some of the relevant vacancies from the search results page:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Analytics Engineer at Deliveroo in London<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Wayve in London<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">System Engineer at Leaseweb in Amsterdam<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can easily adjust this query string to suit your skills and location preferences. Just remember that <\/span><b>AND <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will narrow your search and limit results. The more specific you are, the fewer results Google will retrieve. Also, be aware that boolean searches are not case-sensitive.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>One more example:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(site:https:\/\/jobs.lever.co OR site:https:\/\/apply.workable.com OR site:https:\/\/boards.greenhouse.io) (developer OR engineer) AND (java OR golang OR go) AND remote<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this case, I mentioned several ATS at the same time and changed my location preferences from specific cities to \u201cremote.\u201d Here are the results generated:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2586\" src=\"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-boolean-search-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-boolean-search-2.png 1200w, https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-boolean-search-2-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-boolean-search-2-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/google-boolean-search-2-1024x768.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Pro tip:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> To see the most recent job opening, filter search results by date in the \u201cTools\u201d tab, located next to the search box.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This approach to your job search can be time-consuming, and you will find some jobs that are not quite what you are looking for or are no longer active. Unadvertised developer jobs might not be meticulously tracked down by HR recruiters, or not offer what you need.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, you\u2019ll notice soon enough that many roles in the locations you were seeking to settle down in, like Amsterdam or London, require you to manage your work permits and visas all by yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content__item\">\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to find hidden jobs with relocation packages<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best way to find a hidden job that can help you relocate is to match with a company that offers relocation services in exchange for your top talent. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/relocate.me\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Relocate.me<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a niche job board for techies that features companies that are willing to help you relocate. The companies we list are curated and interested in making international hires.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 4<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>According to estimates, about 70% of job openings never get posted on job boards. Is this true, or just another myth? Based on my experience running Relocate.me, a job board for tech roles that offer relocation, I think this statement is true. There\u2019s, definitely, a hidden job market \u2014 but, thankfully, you can easily access [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-working-abroad"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2204"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3429,"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204\/revisions\/3429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocate.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}