ResearchGoddess

By definition, an X-ray search (also known as a site: search) is the process of exploring a company’s servers and/or website or domain. X-raying occurs when you conduct a search across a web site’s domain or server. (thanks for the def., Moises!)

Depending on what search engine you use, you will use different ‘operators’ to conduct an x-ray search:

Google – site:
Live (MSN) – domain: or site:
Yahoo – domain: or site:

To create an x-ray search string, simply choose one of the operators depending on what search engine you are working on, add your domain after the colon (:), and then add your search terms. For example, if you wanted to search MySpace for a .NET developer, this is what your search string might look like:

site:myspace.com “.NET” developer -inurl:classifieds

Adding the -inurl:classifieds will eliminate the job posting pages that MySpace has available, and will only give you the MySpace profile pages of people who have the terms .NET and developer on them. By the way, you do not need to have a MySpace account in order to run a search like this.

Here’s another example, using LinkedIn:

Please feel free to copy these examples and paste them into your search engines to test them out. This is one of the passive searching techniques I use on a daily basis.

I was tagged this morning from Andrew at Jobacle, and thought this might provide some entertainment value at the very least!

Worst Boss. I can’t remember her name (shows how ‘awesome’ she truly was), I think it was Michelle. She was my boss at the fitness club I worked at in Tampa. She had it in for me from the day I started. I always got the crappy leads and the bad hours. She didn’t hide her pleasure when I told her I was quitting either. That’s always something you want to see come from an employer!

Best Boss. Hands-down, my boss when I was a lifeguard. Bruce had also been my first swim coach when I was 8 years old. Later, he became my boss when I got certified as a lifeguard and I worked for him for 4 summers. Great guy – lots of fun (how could lifeguarding NOT be fun!?) and he always treated us with respect. If/when he needed to discipline any of us, he would always do it privately so as not to embarrass us in front of our peers, and he always praised us not just in front of each other, but in front of our pool patrons as well so they knew they were in good hands.

Most Innovative Colleague. This is a tough one because I have worked with a lot of unique individuals. I will give this honor though to a girl who is still my good friend today, Jennifer. She was a host at a restaurant I worked at in college, and she was just such a shining personality; she was always coming up with fun ways to entertain our patrons while they waited to be sat, and everyone loved her.

Most Rewarding Task. This would be a toss-up between teaching swimming lessons as a lifeguard or helping high school kids get athletic scholarships to college. I taught swimming lessons to children from age 3 up to teenagers. The teens I was more of a swim coach than I was an instructor. I loved doing that. I worked as an athletic recruiter for a few months back in 2001, and in that position I would help high school kids with mediocre grades and decent athletic ability find athletic scholarships to DII and NAIA colleges. These were mostly basketball kids. I loved helping them out and they were very thankful for our help.

Best Item You “Permanently Borrowed”. This would have to be my little Monster squeeze toy. He is a stress reliever for me and a trophy from my first researching job. The box came to my desk addressed to my boss, but I figured he couldn’t possibly get as much enjoyment out of this little guy as I could, and have!

Most Embarrassing Moment. I must do a good job at blocking those from my memory because I can’t remember any offhand. I’m sure there were some goofy lifeguarding moments, or some incident where I slipped in the kitchen and landed on my rear. Sorry

Lowest Pay. If we’re going by ANY job, it would have been my first job ever which was as a kennel ward in a veterinary clinic. I made $4.25/hr. there when I was 15. If we’re talking post-higher education, then it would be my first job after moving to Tampa, FL. I worked as a sales consultant for a fitness club and I made $7/hr. I left that position after a month because I could make better money waiting tables.

Worst Holiday Gift or Bonus. I guess I could say ‘no bonus’ is the worst. But as for years when I’ve actually received a Christmas bonus: when you go from $500 cash down to a $30 popcorn box, that’s pretty bad. A few years ago, my Christmas gift was one of those popcorn towers. We weren’t even given them individually; we each found them on our desk one morning with no note or anything. I don’t even know if that WAS our Christmas “bonus”; I just assumed it was because we never received anything else that year. I don’t even like popcorn….I think I let my mother have it when she visited me.

Bonus: Your Typical Day. I won’t write all of this out here! Instead, I will shamelessly refer you to a post I made on recruiting.com several months ago – here’s what I do all day.

“…I am attempting to provide some help to my step-son in a fund raising project he is doing to raise money to be part of a basketball tour this summer.

He needs to sell 30 more units of this back-yard-game to hit is target. So I am sending out a very soft note to see if you have any interest. His website is pretty engaging and fairly innovative for a fourteen-year-old; it even has a few links to a video of him explaining the game.

I remember a coworker of mine bringing in a Girl Scout cookie order form to work and laying it out on the break room table. A week later, only a small handful of people had signed up to buy cookies. I knew there were more people that liked Girl Scout Cookies than just that small handful of folks (the Tagalongs have always been my favorite!!), but this “marketing” method was 1) not getting the word out effectively and 2) not building the character of the girl who was selling the cookies because her parents were doing the work for her.

I admire the girls and boys who stand outside the grocery store and ask us as we walk in if we’d like to support their troop and buy some cookies. Just last week, I was meeting my brother at Buffalo Wild Wings here in Cincinnati and two people from a local church were outside raising money for a youth athletic program by selling chocolate candy. I told them I didn’t need the candy but gave them the last $2 I had in my purse because I remember being that person standing outside the store trying to raise money, or walking up and down the streets of my neighborhood selling Girl Scout cookies.

Steve’s stepson is learning a very valuable lesson here: he’s learning, as Steve points out, that instead of asking for handouts, he would do well to provide a product (or a service) in exchange for the financial assistance he needs in order to attend his basketball camp. He will also be able to appreciate attending the basketball camp this summer much more than the other kids because he earned his ticket there by his own merit.

I don’t know if Steve’s stepson has reached his financial goal yet, but I would still encourage you to check out this young man’s website and support him. In fact, I would encourage everyone to buy a candy bar or a box of cookies from the kids who are selling outside the grocery store instead of passing them by saying “I’ll catch you on my way out” or “I don’t have any money” (oh please – come on, we’ve all blown them off with this line at some point in our lives!) If you don’t want/need what they have, give them a couple of bucks anyhow and encourage them. Stop at the neighborhood kids’ lemonade stand this summer and when they charge you a dollar for a glass, give them ten and watch their eyes light up. Ask them what they are earning money toward. Encourage their work ethic and entrepreneurship; they are the ones who will not grow up stricken with victim mentality, always looking for someone else to foot their bill. They are the ones who will value the things they have in life because they worked to earn them.

Steve – I know your stepson will reach his goal! Congratulations!