How do I intelligently search and match resumes?

23 Feb, 2017

Intelligently searching and matching resumes against company job descriptions has never been an easy job for recruiters, and technology is yet to provide all the answers.

Take matching tools, for example. They have been created to speed up searching by providing a short-list of candidates, but it's inefficient to just match resumes strictly by priority keywords from job postings. There needs to be more focus on context – otherwise candidates could fluff up their application with choice words and game the system.

So how does intelligent searching and matching work, and should you be using it?

How does intelligent searching and matching work?

Intelligent searching and matching challenges the common assumption that a candidate's resume needs to contain leading job-posting keywords to even be considered.

Keyword sets can be considerably different between job postings and resumes because searching and matching is more complex than simply seeking out keywords and their synonyms.

According to recruitment research expert Irina Shamaeva, search criteria should also be based on things like:

• Location
• Years of experience
• Education requirements
• Certifications
• Job title
• Skills
• Licences

These additional criteria help you pinpoint candidates with skills and qualifications that are relevant to a job posting but may simply be missing job post keywords.

Should I use intelligent searching and matching?

As you can see, while a computer can't efficiently do the job of searching and matching alone, it can help. When you combine the power of technology with the power of your staff's extensive recruitment knowledge, you are near-guaranteed to get better job searching and matching results.

The key here is to be smart about how you construct your searches within the technology – don't default to simply searching for buzz words or general job posting keywords, expand your search to things like education, skills and past job titles. It's a process that needs to be fine-tuned over time but once mastered can leave you with some seriously appealing results.

TRIS Recruitment software can help you with the technology side of the equation. Our platform helps you more effectively scan resumes with specific intelligent searches. To learn more about how TRIS recruitment software can help you better locate and place candidates reach out to one of our Recruitment Systems reps today!