Software engineers are the most-searched-for people on LinkedIn and the hardest to reach — they get more recruiter spam than anyone, and they screen it ruthlessly. Finding them is a Boolean problem; reaching them is a relevance problem. Here's both.
The exact Boolean
Titles vary wildly, so lead with an OR group and layer the stack on top:
("software engineer" OR "developer" OR "software developer" OR "SWE" OR "programmer") AND ("Python" OR "React" OR "Go" OR "Kubernetes")
Swap the second group for the technologies you actually care about. To target seniority:
("senior software engineer" OR "staff engineer" OR "principal engineer" OR "lead developer")
And to cut the noise of recruiters and managers who mention engineering:
("software engineer" OR "developer") NOT ("recruiter" OR "manager" OR "coach" OR "instructor")
See Writing Boolean Searches for the full operator set.
The filters that matter
- Skills / keywords — the specific stack (languages, frameworks, cloud) is what separates a fit from a title match. This is the most important filter for engineers.
- Location — even for remote roles, time zone and work authorization usually constrain you. Set it early.
- Seniority — "engineer" spans a bootcamp grad and a 15-year staff engineer. Pair title with a seniority band.
- Company / company size — someone at a 10-person startup and someone at a FAANG are different hires and different conversations.
How to actually reach engineers
Engineers delete generic recruiter messages on sight. What works:
- Be specific and technical. Reference their actual stack or a project, not "your impressive background." Vague flattery is the tell of a mass blast.
- Lead with the interesting part. The problem, the team, the tech — not the process. Engineers care about what they'd build.
- Respect their time. Short, honest, no fake urgency. Say the comp range or the stack up front; it signals you're not wasting their time.
- Skip the buzzwords. "Rockstar ninja" and "fast-paced environment" actively repel good engineers.
Do it at scale without becoming spam
The tension in technical sourcing is volume vs. personalization — you need to reach a lot of engineers, but generic messages get you blocked and reported. Conextly resolves it: it finds engineers with LinkedIn search and your stack Boolean, tracks every candidate on a pipeline, and drafts a personal first message for each one from their actual profile — which you approve before it sends. You get the reach of a sourcing tool with messages specific enough that engineers actually reply, sent at a human pace that keeps your account safe. See the LinkedIn CRM for recruiters.