Resume parsing is a crucial part of the recruitment process for agencies and in-house teams. The right resume parser can efficiently screen and load candidate resumes into a database, automating manual tasks and freeing up recruiters' time.
Understandably anyone looking to know what resume parsing is or considering some of the different resume parsing options on the market will have numerous questions on the topic.
Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions we get about resume parsing.
What is resume parsing?
Resume parsing is the process of software analysing and converting unstructured resumes and job descriptions from formats such as PDF, Microsoft Word Documents, Excel, and Raw Text files into structured XML or JSON data. This conversion ensures your incoming documents are ready to load into another application such as an ATS or CRM.
How do resume parsers work?
Resume parsers extract information such as a candidate's professional skills, work experience, education history, contact details, and achievements from their resume. Parsing software can also extract data from job descriptions such as the job title, job type, position location, salary details, contact information, required qualifications, and skills.
Why use resume parsing?
Different organisations use resume parsing for different reasons. Typically recruitment agencies work with resume parsing tools to automate the storage and analysis of resume data. This saves recruiters hours of work by eliminating manual processing of each job application and resume they receive.
In-house teams use resume parsing software for similar reasons. Open corporate vacancies can attract a high number of applicants, so if a company is hiring multiple roles at a time, the total number of candidate applications they receive annually can easily reach the tens of thousands or even the hundreds of thousands. High-quality resume parsing software helps organisations load, store and sort through all of these applications quickly and accurately.
In-house teams may also want to implement parsing software to ensure information from an applicant's resume is automatically loaded into the application form on their careers site when an applicant uploads their resume. This helps the applicant save time, as they don't need to spend time typing the same information contained within their resume into a company's application form.
ATS/CRM and job board providers will often want to implement parsing software as a component into the database or job board they’re building to give their end-users the best possible experience when using their product.
Does resume parsing work in multiple languages?
Some resume parsers can only extract resume and job data in one language, while others can parse in multiple. If parsing in multiple languages is a requirement for your business, you should ask any vendor you’re speaking to how many languages their parsing software can parse in.
How much does resume parsing cost?
The pricing for parsing software is typically determined by the number of documents you'll need to parse or the number of users that'll be using the software. Parsing software will usually prove more cost-effective and produce more accurate results than an individual or a team parsing resume and job data manually.
How can I add resume parsing to my tech stack?
If you’re using an ATS/CRM, it may already have a built-in parser. If the ATS/CRM you’re using doesn’t have a parser built into it and you want to add one to your tech stack, or you’re looking to upgrade the parsing software you’re using, then you’ll need to consider integrating parsing software into your ATS/CRM as a component. Any reputable parsing vendor should have API documentation that you can review so you can see how the parser would integrate with your system.
As we mentioned earlier, if you’re building a solution such as an ATS/CRM or a job board, you may want to implement highly accurate parsing software into your solution as a component to give your end users the best experience possible.
Looking for more information about resume parsing?
If you've read these FAQs and are looking for more information about resume parsing, we have two essential resources that will benefit you.
The Ultimate Guide to CV/Resume Parsing covers everything you need to know about resume parsing, including what different types of parsers are on the market today and a deeper look at the benefits a high-quality parsing solution can bring to your business.
The second resource How to Choose a CV/Resume Parser takes you through what you need to consider when selecting a parser. You can download the guide here.
