Resume Parsing - CV Parsing - HR-XML.org certified - Job Order Parsing - Semantic Matching

Technical FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Sovren's Recruitment Intelligence Components

Q. What is the Sovren Document Converter?

A. The Sovren Document Converter is a.NET Assembly and/or an ActiveX control that converts resumes from their native formats to a straight ASCII text format that is usable by the Sovren Resume Parser. The Sovren Document Converter does not require any of the authoring software (Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, etc.), as it is completely self-contained. The Converter can convert as many as 100 resumes per second (YMMV).

Q. What is the Sovren Resume Parser?

A. The Sovren Resume Parser is a component that performs the following functions:

Parses converted resumes to extract hundreds of pieces of important data.
Outputs that data in an open industry-standard HR-XML.org format, or to text, or to CSV.

For a detailed overview, see: Sovren Resume Parser Overview Whitepaper

For an overview of the entire product line, see: Sovren Recruitment Intelligence Products

Also see: Overview of the Sovren Semantic Matching Engine

Q. Is the Sovren Resume Parser compatible with COM environments? Can I use it from VB6?

A. Yes, and Yes. The Sovren Resume Parser is written completely in C# using the Microsoft .NET Framework. However, the Parser integrates seamlessly into COM-compatible environments such as Delphi 6-7 and Visual Basic 6. For clients who wish to integrate into COM environments, we supply the Parser as a late-bound COM control, and we supply the corresponding Type Library.

Q. Is the Sovren Resume Parser compatible with non-Windows environments like J2EE, Linux, and ColdFusion?

A. Integration with non-Windows environments is extremely simple and can be accomplished with any of our zero-code deployment options. However, as a Microsoft Windows .NET application, the Parser itself must be run on a Windows OS machine. About half of our customers primarily run non-Windows environments.

Q. Is the Resume Parser compatible with Microsoft.NET?

A. YES. The Sovren Resume Parser is a native C#/.NET component and the Sovren Document Converter is a .NET assembly and/or an ActiveX control that is fully .NET compatible.

Q. What sample applications are available?

A. We can supply over a dozen ready-to-run, fully-commented sample applications. Clients are free to modify and use the source code to these applications. These applications include:

A VB6 application.
A fully-working ASP.NET online resume submission/conversion/parsing/editing application. A users can upload her resume, and the application will convert it, parse it, and write the results back to sectioned editing screens (Contact Info, Skills, etc.) for the candidate to verify and edit, saving candidates incredible amounts of time and hassle.
Two versions of a zero-code ready-to-run File System Watcher application. This application monitors a client-designated incoming file folder. When a new resume is written to that folder, the application uses the Sovren Document Converter to convert the resume to ASCII text and then stores that converted text into a client-designated folder. This converted-text-output folder is also monitored for new files, and as soon as a new conversion file is written to that folder, the application reads the new file and parses it with the Sovren Resume Parser. The parsed HR-XML record is then saved to a user-designated output folder. This folder can in turn be monitored by an application that loads the HR-XML records and indexes them into a search engine and/or stores them into a database.
An interactive WinForms.NET desktop application that performs parsing and displays the results as human-readable text or as HR-XML.
A desktop or server batch processing application that can process whole folders of resumes, saving the converted text, the parsed text, and (optionally) performance and accuracy metrics.
A Sovren Document Converter Web Service.
A Sovren Resume Parser Web Service.
A no-database-required search engine Web Service that uses the Resume Parser and dtSearch (trademark of www.dtSearch.com) to index parsed resumes, perform extremely powerful searches, and manage files and indexes. dtSearch licenses are required.
A command-line (or, "console") application.
An email processor application that monitors a list of POP accounts and automatically determines what to process (it distinguishes between cover letters, resumes, and reference letters), converts and parses the resume, and stores it into a user-defined folder. [Extra cost application]

Q. What file types does the Sovren Document Converter support?

A. The Sovren Document Converter, which is included with the Sovren Resume Parser, provides lightning-fast conversion of Microsoft Word (including DOCX), Adobe PDF, Corel WordPerfect, HTML, MS Office HTML, Rich Text (RTF), and various other formats.

Optionally, the Converter Extended Edition can be configured to support over 60 file types, including Microsoft Excel, Zip files, Microsoft Outlook files, etc.

Q. How scalable is the Sovren Resume Parser?

A. The Sovren Resume Parser powers THE LARGEST career site on the internet. You can't get more scalable than that. The Sovren Document Converter typically can produce a single-CPU throughput of up to 100 resumes per second. On fast server hardware, the Sovren Resume Parser generally completes contact-info-only parsing in less than 300ms, and full HR-XML parsing and output in 500ms to 2-3 seconds. Higher quality resumes will parse faster than slower resumes. Parsing times can typically be halved by turning off skills parsing. Every single resume section type is configurable on-the-fly to be turned "on" or "off" as desired.

Q. How complicated is the product to install?

A. The Converter is a single file, and the Sovren Resume Parser is a single file. So, two files. Click-and-go, zero-code, ready-to-run solutions are available at no extra charge.

Q. In technical terms, how does the product accomplish its tasks?

A. Please see this whitepaper for a good summary: Sovren Resume Parser Overview (Whitepaper)

Q. How long as the product been around?

A. The earliest predecessor of the Sovren Resume Parser was built in 1996. We were the first company to be certified by HR-XML.org on the Resume 2.x standard.

Q. Does The Sovren Group compete with its clients in any way?

A. Absolutely not. Although most of our competitors are owned by recruiting organizations, we are not. Our entire business is providing recruitment intelligence components, not applications.

Q. Does the Parser have a built-in skills list?

A. Yes. The Parser ships with a built-in skills taxonomy covering approximately 65 top level categories (Legal, Retail, Accounting, HR, IT, etc.), approximately 500+ sub-categories, and 25,000+ skills, some of whcih are further grouped into synonym heirarchies.

Q. What if we want to use our own skills list?

A. No problem. The Parser allows you to create an unlimited number of custom skills taxonomies, and you can specify which taxonomies that you want the Parser to use on a per-resume-parsed basis. So, Application Service Providers can establish a separate skills list for each customer, and tell the Parser to use specific lists, or combinations of lists, on a per-resume-parsed basis. And best of all -- these lists are designed to be used and re-used as persistent objects, thereby saving on instantiation time and increasing throughput.

Q. Is the Parser multithreaded?

A. Yes. The Parser can run multi-threaded or single-threaded. In IIS webserver applications, IIS will automatically manage the thread pool for you since the Parser is a native .NET component.

Q. Can we purchase the source code?

A. Yes. Source code can be purchased for just the skills taxonomy, or for the entire Parser. In addition, source code escrow agreements are available. [Extra cost].

Q. What version of the .NET Framework is required?

A. Only the free runtime is required. The Parser runs on the .NET Framework v2.0 or higher runtime, which ships with MS Windows.

Q. What is the Sovren Semantic Matching Engine?

A. The Sovren Semantic Matching Engine provides a way to match candidates to job orders, job adverts, or other "ideal" candidates, automatically or interactive, using PROFILE matching, NOT KEYWORD matching. Profile matching is made possible by the data extraction, classification, and tagging technologies of the Sovren Resume/CV Parser and the Sovren Job Order Parser. Please see this whitepaper for more details: Overview of the Sovren Semantic Matching Engine and Comparison to Other Search Engines.

Q. I've heard you have a document that tells how to optimize an online application process. Where can I get that?

A. Please send an email request to info@sovren.com.

Q. I've heard you have a document that is geared toward candidates, to help them understand what to do and what not to do when submitting a resume to a job board, corporate application portal, or other automated not-emailed-to-a-human source. Where is that?

A. Please send an email request to info@sovren.com.

Did you know?

Only the Sovren Resume Parser passes the most stringent scalability test in our industry: it powers the largest career site on the internet, day in and day out.

Did you know?

Complete zero-code, click-and-go solutions are provided FREE with every Sovren Resume Parser license.

Did you know?

You do not need to store the Sovren Resume Parser's output into a relational database in order to be able to perform extremely fast, powerful SQL-like searches. The Sovren Group can provide zero-code Web Services that implement conversion, parsing, and searching/file retrieval that are lightning fast and require no database.