Using Idealist to Look for Jobs? Take Advantage of These Search Hacks

Have you been using Idealist to search for jobs? We have almost 11,000 listed around the world, and you can sort them by issues you care about, job responsibilities, education requirements, and other features. But there are a few other search options you can use that aren’t listed in our filters. Here are some tips to help you find the perfect opportunity:

• To exclude certain words from your search results use “-” before a keyword. For example, if you’re looking for jobs that work with animals, but not dogs, try using these keywords: “animals -dogs”
• You can also use that “-” to exclude locations. For example, if you’ve got a case of wanderlust, and you’re happy to work anywhere outside of the U.S., add “-country:us” to your keyword search.
• If you’re looking for an exact word or phrase, use quotation marks. For example, “young professionals” will make sure you don’t find all young people or all professionals.
• Looking for a summer internship now? You can search by start date! Use the format “start_date:YYYMMDD.” For example, if you’d like to start on June 1st, use the keyword search “start_date:20140601” to see only internships that begin that day.
• If you’d like to broaden your search, you can use “OR.” For example, if you’re looking at Case Manager and Social Worker roles, you can enter “case manager” OR “social worker.” Including both terms without the OR would only give you results that included both terms.
• Play with different combinations of Areas of Focus and Job Functions in our filters at the left of the search results. Those are the lists that we provide organizations to categorize their jobs, so they’re the search terms that are most likely to pull up the most results.
• If you find a search that gets you the kinds of results you’re looking for, save it! If you’re logged in, click on the green Save this Search button to be able to access it later on the site. Or choose Get Email Alert to have a daily list of new opportunities matching your search delivered right to your inbox.

With thousands of opportunities to do important work around the world and lots of ways to find the perfect one for you, we’re sure you’re on your way to finding something amazing. Happy searching!

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by Kim Davidson