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Resume Quality

This is an advanced level feature. Please ignore the data in the Resume Quality output unless/until you have discussed its proper use with Sovren, and been approved to use it.

The Resume Quality section output should NEVER IN ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER be used as an indication that the Parser has failed or performed poorly. The sole purpose of the Resume Quality section is to help you, the integrator, to understand substandard aspects of the candidate's resume. The majority of resumes will have at least one entry in this section. AGAIN, that does not mean that parsing "failed" or that the Parser needs fixing.

Please recall that candidates' resumes fall within a bell curve. Some resumes are really well done. Some are horrible. Most fall into the Good to Pretty Good range. The Resume Quality section is designed to help you understand where the resume falls in that bell curve. Great resumes will parse great. Horrible resumes will parse poorly. That is a limitation of the quality of the resume. The Parser cannot fix candidate mistakes.

For instance, the Resume Quality section may report that the candidate provided neither a phone nor an email address. Reporting that fact does not indicate that the Parser failed. The failure was that the candidate did not include a way to be contacted electronically. We cannot fix that, nor can you, the integrator. Only the candidate can.

You should not use the Resume Quality section to communicate problems/suggestions to candidates unless you have a very sophisticated workflow and step-by-step improvement process. Otherwise, you will frustrate candidates and do more harm than good.

The Resume Quality is a series of assessments of how well the resume conforms to best practices for constructing machine-readable resumes. Assessments are ordered by severity, from fatal problems (which nevertheless may not have caused an actual parsing problem), to suggested improvements. Each assessment contains a list of findings, describing the exact issue with the resume and a recommendation for how the candidate could resolve the issue.

"ResumeQuality": [
    {
        "Level": "Suggested Improvements",
        "Findings": [
            {
                "QualityCode": "111",
                "Message": "References section found in resume. References should not be included in a resume."
            },
            {
                "QualityCode": "113",
                "SectionIdentifiers": [
                    {
                        "SectionType:": "PATENTS"
                    },
                    {
                        "SectionType:": "SPEAKING"
                    },
                    {
                        "SectionType:": "OTHER_PUBLICATIONS"
                    }
                ],
                "Message": "Publications should not be included in a resume."
            },
            {
                "QualityCode": "132",
                "Message": "Multiple email addresses were found in the contact information. Only one email address should be included in a resume."
            },
            {
                "QualityCode": "133",
                "Message": "Multiple phone numbers were found in the contact information. Only one phone number should be included in a resume."
            },
            {
                "QualityCode": "151",
                "Identifiers": [
                    {
                        "SectionType:": "OBJECTIVE"
                    },
                    {
                        "SectionType:": "SUMMARY"
                    },
                    {
                        "SectionType:": "WORK HISTORY"
                    },
                    {
                        "SectionType:": "EDUCATION"
                    }
                ],
                "Message": "Every section should have a clear, unambiguous, commonly-used header on a separate line directly above the content associated with it."
            }
        ]
    }
]

Level

The level of severity of the findings for the assessment. Ranging from, in order of most severe to least severe:

  • Fatal Problems Found
  • Major Issues Found
  • Data Issues
  • Suggested Improvements

Findings

A list of information with a QualityCode, associated Identifiers, and a Message describing the issue or recommendation found. Use these findings to improve the resume and conform toSovren's Tips for Electronic Resumes.

Code

Unique code to identify a resume quality finding information (see the chart below with all codes and identifier meanings)

Section Identifiers

Identifiers for the associated data with the Section Type and, if applicable, the Education or Position Id

Message

The display message to understand the issue and recommendation

CodeDescriptionSection Identifiers
Fatal Problems Found (400-499)
408Indicates the the document was too long and was truncated prior to parsing.
411Indicates that parsing had to be stopped because the time limit was exceeded and some data may not have been processed.
412Indicates that no sections were found in the resume.
413Indicates that a WORK HISTORY section was not found.
414Indicates that an EDUCATION section was not found.
415Indicates that a WORK HISTORY information was found but had to be calculated as a section.
416Indicates that an EDUCATION information was found but had to be calculated as a section.
417Indicates that this document is likely a curriculum vitae and prone to errors due to the use of nonstandard headers and the vast amount of data describing patents, speaking engagements, research, advisory roles, publications, etc. Accordingly, only the first WORK HISTORY section was parsed, as that usually results in far greater accuracy.
418Dates ranges were found written vertically on multiple lines
419The Employment section did not provide dates for jobs
433We detected that this document contained data in columnar format. We rearranged this data to be machine readable with greater accuracy. It is a HUGE MISTAKE for candidates to represent data in columns rather than in a simple top-to-bottom, all-across-the-page format.
441Indicates that neither an email address nor a phone number were found in the contact information. A resume should include always include both.
Major Issues Found (300-399)
300Indicates that the document was PDF.
301Indicates that the document was Apple Pages.
302Indicates that the first and last name for the candidate was not found.
303Indicates that sections were found that appear to be longer than the WORK HISTORY and EDUCATION sections combined. This usually indicates an issue identifying the sections correctly and the majority of the content ended up being contained in the incorrect section.^
311Indicates if a contact information section was found somewhere other than the top of the resume. Contact information should only be found at the top of the resume.
312Indicates if a publications section with a significant amount of content appears in the resume. Publications should be avoided in a resume, but if necessary, they can be added but should absolutely be no longer than 10 lines.^
323Indicates if multiple sections of the same type have been found in the resume.^
324Indicates if any sections with no text, other than the header, have been found in the resume.^
325Indicates if any sections with no header have been found in the resume.^
331Indicates that the number of jobs found in the resume exceeds the threshold of 30 jobs.
Data Issues (200-299)
211Indicates if no email address was found to contact the candidate.
212Indicates if no phone number was found to contact the candidate.
213Indicates if no street level address was found for the candidate.
221Indicates if any jobs were found without job titles.^
222Indicates if any jobs were found without job company names.^
223Indicates if more than one current job was found with the same employer.^
224Indicates if any jobs were found without start dates.^
225Indicates if any jobs were found without end dates.^
226Indicates if no jobs were found within the past year of the document last modified date.
227Indicates that there is very old work history on the resume. No one cares. Could be harmful.
231Indicates if any educational degrees were found without degree names.^
232Indicates if any educational degrees were found without school names.^
233Do not put dates in your education section. Such dates are not relevant and may be harmful.
Suggested Improvements (100-199)
111Indicates if a references section was found. A resume does not need to include a references section.
112Indicates if a separate skills section was found. Skills should be included in the context of work history and education descriptions.
113Indicates if a publications section without a significant amount of content appears in the resume. Including a publications type section in a resume should always be avoided.^
121Indicates if a driving license number was found in the resume. Do not include this level of personal information in a resume. (Only applies to US, AU, NZ, and UK resumes)
122Indicates if a passport number was found in the resume. Do not include this level of personal information in a resume. (Only applies to US, AU, NZ, and UK resumes)
123Indicates if the candidates marital status was found in the resume. Do not include this level of personal information in a resume. (Only applies to US, AU, NZ, and UK resumes)
124Indicates if the candidates date of birth was found in the resume. Do not include this level of personal information in a resume. (Only applies to US, AU, NZ, and UK resumes)
131Indicates if multiple addresses were found in the contact information section. Only one contact address should be included in a resume.
132Indicates if multiple email addresses were found in the contact information section. Only one contact email address should be included in a resume.
133Indicates if multiple phone numbers were found in the contact information section. Only one contact phone number should be included in a resume.
141Indicates if any jobs or companies with a street level address were found. Never include a street level address for a job or company in a resume.^
142Indicates if any schools with a street level address were found. Never include a street level address for a school in a resume.^
151Indicates if any sections were found with the header not on a separate line above the content for that section.^
161Indicates the resume contains high school education as well as higher-level education.^