Resume Parsing Technology: Some Facts and Features

These days, recruiters and human resources professionals are flooded with applications and searching resumes often becomes a highly challenging task for them. Sifting through thousands of resumes for some of the job vacancies is something not as easy as it seems.

Therefore, to ensure the act of resume search becomes easier through the stacks of applications received on a daily basis, organizations have long resorted to Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and of late, they are focusing on more advanced HR technology to make the process of recruitment and hiring simpler.

Resume searches have been made much simpler with the help a technology named resume parser and the process is termed as resume parsing.

So, what is resume parsing?

Resume parsing is the name given to the technology that allows an employer to process resumes submitted online by extracting data from it and then converting those into appropriately structured information. To put it simply, parsing allows recruiters to search resumes in an intelligent manner and thereby focus on the right candidate.

How does resume parsing benefit recruiters?

Resume parsing technology helps create recruiters and HR professionals, a more convenient resume application as well as a screening process. It allows recruiters to organize resume data electronically by implementing semantic search technology in the background.

Key measures of a good resume parser

Needless to say, to make resume searches simpler and easier, there are some steps or features, which distinguishes a good resume parser from others. Some of the most advanced resume parsers possess the ability to even extract references, candidates’ interests/hobbies, desired location and compensation, demographics and other related information, just by implementing the process of resume searching.

As an employer, if you are looking towards buying a resume parser, you must look for the following two features:

#1. What does the resume parser cover/coverage abilities of the software?

The first essential feature while selecting a parser for resume searches is the coverage abilities of the software. While the primary task of a resume parser is to extract contact information of job candidates, some of the most advanced CV parsers are often empowered to obtain other information about candidates’ such as hobbies/interests, references, expected compensation, preferred job location, and even visa status.

It goes without saying that all these information is essential to create a full record for the candidate. So, it can be said that more information the parser extracts, the better it is.

#2. How accurate is the parser?

The accuracy of a parser is necessary for resume searches. Accuracy implies how often does the parser is right. For example, a precision of 95% on identifying names indicates that the CV parser extracts the name of the candidate in 95% among all incoming resumes. This measure is of significance because, lower the accuracy, the more it costs to correct the glitches that the resume parser can make.

Again, in general, if a parser is less than 90% accurate, the number of glitches will be too much to permit it to load data into a resume database without public human intervention.

Interesting fact: Although the variance between 89% and 95% may not seem vast, it embodies more than a replication in the rate of inaccuracies that will need to be modified, and hence a doubling of accompanying costs.

Resume parsing technology happens to be one of the most popular and sought-after expertise in the domain of human resources and has been instrumental in reshaping hiring process considerably.