Database Upgrade

I have a online (website) recruitment database (mysql) which was created by a programmer in here and additions have been done by another, However, this last programmer has disappeared half way through a project and I need it completed, On the database, each person has their own record and CV's attached. I am able to conduct a search via tags on their skills and also location. What I also want to be able to do, is Boolean search the attached CV's along with the location and skill tags. So if I were to be looking for a programmer, in India I would select these two tags but if I wanted one with Java experience I would be able to type this into a box and the database would search firstly, the 2 tags and then the CV's of the results for Java. I have been told that this may take the database a while to perform so I am interested in hearing thoughts on this, ALSO I am able to save searches but what i want to be able to do is, re-run a old search BUT what it will also do, is display any NEW candidates that have been added to the database since the search was LAST ran, are displayed at the top of the results screen and maybe in a slightly different colour. ALSO In some screens, I am able to sort some columns in alphabetical order but I want this to be copied into other screens