Keyword Expansion

Keyword Expansion is a feature of Bullhorn Search & Match. Bullhorn Search & Match is a premium add-on. If you are interested in enabling Bullhorn Search & Match, please reach out to your Account Manager.

To learn more about Bullhorn Search & Match, check out our Bullhorn Launch Course.

The Keyword Expansion feature helps you broaden your search by including related terms grouped with your selected keyword. When you enter a keyword into the Keywords field when building an Advanced Candidate Search, Bullhorn will automatically search for a pre-defined group of related keywords.

For example, entering “Software Engineer” as a keyword will also search for “SW Engineer”, “Software Developer”, “Software Coder”, and other similar terms. You can drag and drop keywords within your search to behave as a Boolean search.

Using Keyword Expansion

To use Keyword Expansion, enter your keyword into the Keywords field and select it from the dropdown to add it to your search.

If your keyword belongs to a group, you'll see "(Part of __)" next to it. Hover over a grouped keyword in the dropdown to view all related terms included in that group. These additional keywords will be included in your search using an “OR” condition.

To view or edit the keywords in a group, simply click on the keyword within the Keywords field.

To remove a keyword from your search, click the X next to it.

Merging Keyword Groups

Each new keyword group you add will enter the search string as an “AND” (meaning the search will look for records containing all of those keyword groups). Everything within a keyword group will be entered as an “OR” (meaning the search will look for records that contain at least one of the keywords in that group).

You can merge keyword groups by dragging one group on top of the other. Merging keyword groups turns the “AND” between the two groups into an “OR”.

Excluding Keyword Groups

You can exclude keyword groups to prevent any candidates containing those keywords from appearing in the search results. To exclude a keyword group, click on the keyword group and set the switch at the top of the group to Exclude.

Keyword groups that you exclude will be indicated with a red icon ():

Managing Keyword Groups

Creating a Keyword Group

If you have the Manage Keyword Groups user entitlement, you can create new keyword groups that will be available company-wide.

To add a new keyword group:

  1. Enter a keyword into the Keywords field, then click +ADD NEW KEYWORD at the bottom of the dropdown.

  2. The name of the keyword group will default to the keyword you entered, but you can rename the group by clicking the pencil icon.

  3. Add related keywords to the group by entering them in the Type to add keyword to group field and pressing Enter or clicking +ADD after each one.

    • Each keyword in a group will be treated as an "OR" in the search. For best results, include:

      • Synonyms

      • Alternative spellings

      • Related job titles or skills

  4. Click SAVE to create the keyword group.

  5. A confirmation message will appear, reminding you that this keyword group will be available across your entire organization. Click OKAY to confirm.

Adding and Removing Keywords

You can customize keyword groups by adding and removing individual keywords.

If you have the Manage Keyword Groups user entitlement, you can save your changes so that they apply company-wide. Without this entitlement, you can still add and remove keywords for a single search, but you cannot save changes company-wide.

  1. In the Keywords field, click on the keyword you wish to customize.
  2. Add or remove keywords as required.
    • To add a keyword, enter it into the Type to add keyword to group field and click ADD +.
    • To remove a keyword, click the X icon () against the keyword you wish to remove.
  3. Click CONTINUE to apply these changes to the current search only, or click SAVE to save your changes to the keyword group permanently.

Saved changes to keyword groups will apply company-wide. If you don't have the Manage Keyword Groups user entitlement, you will not see a SAVE option.

Renaming a Keyword Group

If you have the Manage Keyword Groups user entitlement, you can rename a keyword group for your organization. To rename a keyword group:

  1. Click on a keyword in the Keywords field to expand its group.

  2. Click the pencil icon next to the group name.

  3. Enter a new name for the keyword group, then click SAVE.

  4. A confirmation box will appear. Click OKAY to proceed.

    • If a keyword group with that name already exists, you’ll be prompted to choose a different name.

If you don't have the Manage Keyword Groups user entitlement, you can still modify a keyword group name, but this will only apply to the individual search query and will not impact the rest or the organization.