There will be situation to write search query in hibernate using like keyword. SQL: select * from users where username like '%test%'; the above in hibernate query: "select u from User u where u.userName like :username" pass parameter as "%searchstring%" the code will look like: List<User> userList = getEntityManager().createQuery("select u from User u where u.userName like :username").setParameter("username", "%"+q+"%").getResultList();