Tech Show and Tell

A working demonstration walks through building a Google Custom Search Engine from scratch, using nothing more than a free Gmail account and cse.google.com. Rather than typing out repetitive Boolean strings against LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok or other sites, the tool is configured once to search only the domains that matter, then reused indefinitely without licensing limits or profile view caps.

The build covers the practical steps: naming the engine, restricting it to specific sites such as instagram.com or tiktok.com, turning on safe search and image search, and setting the search to a specific country. From there, "refinements" are added as clickable filters, built using natural language rather than formal Boolean strings, to surface candidates by traits such as disability status, female leadership language, or public email domains like Gmail, Yahoo, or iCloud found in bios.

Key ideas covered:

• How a Google Custom Search Engine functions as a legal, InfoSec-friendly workaround to paid recruiting seats, since it runs on standard Google search rather than scraping
• Building refinement buttons that let a recruiter pivot a single search across diversity, leadership, or contact-method filters without rewriting the query
• Using natural language phrasing instead of Boolean operators to find candidates who self-identify through bio language such as "she built" or "she led"
• Applying the same search engine structure to sites like ZoomInfo to pull profile data directly
• Using a free note-taking AI tool to compile a research dossier on a candidate or executive, pulling mentions from forums, case studies, and other public sources into one place
• Generating a summary podcast, quiz, slide deck, or short video from that research to prepare for a hiring manager conversation or challenge assumptions about a candidate's fit
• Using a call-transcription tool during manager intake and candidate screening calls, with attention to getting consent from both hiring managers and candidates and setting data retention expectations
• Early approaches to building simple automation agents that trigger notifications, such as a Slack alert summarizing why a new candidate fits an open role

The throughline across every tool shown is cost: each one is free or nearly free, requires no engineering background, and can be set up in minutes by anyone willing to experiment.