X-Ray Search In The GCC: A Practical Guide

X-ray search means using a search engine to look inside a site, usually LinkedIn, for public profiles that match a role. It is free, fast and often finds people that paid databases miss. In the GCC it also has traps.

The Basic String

A typical search combines the site, the title and the location:

site:linkedin.com/in ("Group HR Director" OR "Chief People Officer") (Dubai OR "Abu Dhabi")

Each part matters: quotes keep a title together, OR widens the net, and the location narrows it.

Where It Goes Wrong In The Region

• Titles vary by company. A Head of HR at a family group may run more than a Director at a multinational. Search several titles at each level.
• Locations are written many ways. Riyadh, Ar Riyad, KSA, Saudi Arabia. Include the common forms.
• Names have several spellings. Mohammed, Mohamed and Muhammad are the same person on three profiles. More on that in our piece on name spellings.
• Profiles are thin. Many senior GCC leaders keep a short profile. Judge the company and the title, not the word count.

From String To Shortlist

The search is the easy part. Reading two hundred results, judging fit and finding a way to reach the right ten is where the days go. That is the work Sircho does: it builds the strings from your brief, runs them, scores every person against the brief and shows the reasons.