X-Ray search means using Google to look inside a website's public profiles, instead of using that website's own search. It finds people the site's search hides, and it costs nothing.
How it works
You tell Google to search only inside one part of one website, then add your normal search words from the last lesson.
| Site | What to type first | Good for |
|---|---|---|
site:linkedin.com/in | Job titles, employers, career shape. The widest coverage | |
| GitHub | site:github.com | Proof of actual work, languages, activity |
| Behance | site:behance.net | Design portfolios, work you can see |
| Stack Overflow | site:stackoverflow.com/users | Depth in one technology, and how well someone explains |
Add a country version where one exists — site:in.linkedin.com/in — when you want to
narrow by country without relying on what people typed in their location field.
What each site really tells you
LinkedIn has the most people and the least proof. A profile is what someone says about themselves. That is fine for finding people and useless for judging them.
GitHub is the opposite: fewer people, real evidence. You can see what someone builds and how they write about it. The trap is treating activity as ability — how much someone posts depends on their free time and their employer's rules at least as much as their skill. Judging people on it quietly penalises anyone with caring responsibilities.
Behance and portfolio sites show the work directly, which makes them the fastest to review and the easiest to be fooled by good presentation.
Stack Overflow shows depth, and unusually it shows how someone explains things — genuinely useful for senior roles.
Results can be out of date
Google shows you what it saved last time it visited, not what is there now. A profile can be months old, and the person may have moved on.
Always open the live profile before contacting anyone. Never put a detail from a Google preview into a message without checking it. Nothing kills a first message faster than congratulating someone on a job they left last year.
The part that matters for fairness
X-Ray only finds people who keep a public profile. That is not a random selection of capable people.
It leans towards people whose work is public anyway, people in industries where promoting yourself is expected, people with time to keep a profile updated, and people who have no reason to stay private online.
Search only this way and your candidate pool will be shaped by that — and the shape will not show up anywhere in your numbers. Your funnel will look completely normal.
The fix is to mix sources: applications, referrals, community groups, alumni, and your own database of past applicants, which Module 5 covers.
Build each search once
For every site you use often, save a template with the site: part and your
exclusions already in place, leaving the titles and skills blank. You will use it hundreds of
times.