Whether you are a multimillionaire running a multinational company or a budding entrepreneur who has just started your venture, quality recruitment is an utmost necessity for the success of your organization. And with at least 250 applicants applying for the same job, it is a time and money-consuming process for any company. So, it makes only sense to have a structured way of identifying the right candidates from the lot who can best fit the job. Here is where a good resume parser comes into the picture in an attempt to minimize resource consumption for organizations.
Bring a recruiter you might have had at least one of those Sunday nights where you had to sit in for work and go through all the resumes. The role of recruiter seems much easier said than done. It is also quite hard to go through thousands of resumes and find those few perfect candidates who are fit for the role. However now with the help of resume parsing, this is all going to be just a click away! Curious enough to find out why resume parsing is actually an easier task than going through a load of resumes? Here is everything you might want to know about the same.
What is Parsing?
Parsing in its most simplified form means the process of conversion of a formatted text into structured data that will help you organize your information in any particular sort of representation. This process is done by a piece of program which is also called the Parser. Now your question would be what does this parser exactly do? This parser helps in the determination of information that is required in the HTML string and then in accordance with the pre-written rules and codes, it will take in information which is very important and convert them into JSON, CSV, or a table for better reference.
It is to be noted that these parsers are only capable of converting one format of data into another and the way it converts the data or the format you need the data in is dependent on the parser itself.
What is Resume Parsing?
According to Skillate, “Resume Parsing is the conversion of a free-form CV/resume document into structured information — suitable for storage, reporting, and manipulation by a computer”.
It is a process where a particular software or the parsers reads through thousands of resumes to capture the desired information and store them accordingly. The candidate information such as name, email, address, qualifications, experience, etc., are retrieved from the resumes of the candidate and are stored in the concerned filed of your Application Tracking Systems so that it allows you, the recruiter, to track and access the information about a candidate easily.
To put it in simple terms, it is sorting software where the candidates are sorted according to their given information and stored in the database for current and future purposes. For example, if a recruiter is hiring for a marketing position at an organization, the parser might scan the resumes for the keywords such as sales, marketing, communication, etc., and store the resumes accordingly in the database. So that when the recruiter searches for these keywords, the parser produces relevant resumes of suitable candidates in front of the recruiter. In this way, the recruiter does not have to spend hours going through all the resumes and finding the best-fitting candidate for the job.
A Technical Point of View
The definition of Resume Parsing can be provided as follows:
Resume parsing is a technology that converts the unstructured or raw data of resumes into the form of structured data which is much easier to handle.
The definition of a Resume Parser can be provided as follows:
A resume parser determines the resume data and extracts it into a format that can be easily read by the machines such as JSON, XML, etc.
How exactly are resumes parsed?
It is seen that when a candidate applies for a particular position they try their level best to add in most of the achievements and badges they have obtained to stand out as the most wanted candidate. However, reading through all the achievements of each candidate which may range from about 2 to 4 pages might seem a bit difficult task for a person. However, when this same information has been segregated in a much more detailed manner it is much easier to go through them and understand which information is quite necessary and which information can be skipped.
Resume parsing also allows a particular recruiter to go through a particular keyword and check information related only to that particular keyword and hence removing any other unwanted data. There are also various types of resume parsers available that will allow recruiters to work with their resumes and segregation. Some of the most common resume parsers can be provided as follows:
1. Statistical Parsers:
These types of resume parsers use the application of numerical models to interpret the data provided in the resumes. Different information provided is grouped together if they are repeated and they can also distinguish between certain words and phrases hence capturing a wide variety of details in the format of numbers.
2. Grammar-based parsers:
These types of resume parsers use grammatical rules to understand the information that is provided in the resume. They also combine certain words or sentences to make complex structures which will help capture the meaning of the information provided in the resume.
3. Keyword-based resume parser:
Some of the recruiters might need candidates based on their experience in a particular field. For example, those recruiters who are searching for a content writer can use this word as the keyword to search for the best candidate. This helps in the easier separation of data based on simple heuristic algorithms being applied.
How to choose a good resume parser?
The primary function of any resume parser is to create a structured document from an unstructured resume. However, the mere ability to structure the document shall not outclass any resume parser from its competitors. Along with structuring the document, it should have the following features:
- Ability to process different file formats: A good resume parser should have the ability to process all file formats such as PDF, Docx, zip, etc., which allows the users’ freedom to upload and parse the files in the format of their choice.
- Multilingual parsing: ALong with the ability to work with different formats, it should also have the capacity to identify and prase the information from different regions and languages.
- Customizable: It should allow the users to configure the parser based on their requirements.
- Extracting information from complex format resumes: The parser should be capable of extracting the information even from image files.
- Quick Processing: It should have the ability to finish the process in no time, irrespective of the document’s complexity.
- Bulk Import: It should provide the user with the feature to process multiple files at the same time.
- Resume Quality Score: The parser should be able to index the resume based on its pedigree.
Benefits of a Resume Parser
The biggest benefit of using a resume parser is it saves both time and money for the recruiters during the recruitment process. According to Daxtra, the use of an automatic CV parser saves at least 95% of the labor cost in comparison to when done manually. Along with saving time and money, it also reduces human errors that might have occurred during the manual data entry. Apart from these obvious benefits, there are several others too:
- You will not need to spend any money on human resources because everything you need to do can be done through the parser itself.
- If there are any issues that arise while parsing data you need not worry as it can be solved faster than reaching out to human resources.
- It is also highly likely that the parser will not have any issues as it is tested multiple times and made sure that it reaches the guaranteed quality to provide the best results.
- You will save a lot of time that will be needed to go through a ton of data and processing and decision making becomes a much easier task for you.
- It helps in improving the candidate experience. Candidates who need to fill in the forms for application of jobs can also fill them in less than 10 seconds and hence helping them to apply faster.
For whom is the resume parsing technology the best suited?
The resume parsing technology is a technology that is beneficial for not only recruiters but also for a lot of other categories such as follows:
- Job boards
- Staffing companies
- Startups
- Students
- Enterprises
- Applicant tracking systems
Does resume parsing technology allow for much-unbiased recruitment?
Biased recruitment is often seen in a lot of companies. It might sometimes be intentionally done and sometimes it can be done unintentionally. The bias is said to be an unintentional one when you a recruiter has to go through at least about thousand applications or so. In such cases, there are chances that the best candidate’s profile has not been viewed and hence they do not get a chance. With parsing technology, it is now possible to clear off this biased selection and hence provide an equal opportunity to all!
Final Words
A good resume parser is just like a vending machine where the details and data of the applicants are stored in a structured manner. Similar to the vending machine where you get the desired snack by pressing specific keys on the keypad, a resume parser also allows the recruiter to select a suitable candidate from the lot, depending on their instructions. It is an efficient way to minimize the time and money spent on recruitment. To learn more about resume parsing and how it boosts the candidate screening process: click here.
By Rose Mary Babu and Gururaj Naik.
