Understanding Findem's Resume Parsing Workflow and Statuses

Table of Contents

Overview

Why is This Important? 

Understanding Resume Parsing States

Workflow States and Behavior

Resume Processing States

Edge Cases and Special Conditions

Overview

Findem provides a sophisticated resume parsing solution to help you better assess candidates by extracting relevant information from resumes uploaded through the inbound application process. Here, we'll talk about different states of resume processing in Findem, what you can expect to see at each stage, and how Findem handles different scenarios like parsing errors, missing resumes, and more.

Why is This Important?

We want to provide clear visibility into the resume processing workflow so that users can easily understand the progress and outcome of each candidate's resume parsing. Parsing a candidate's resume is an important step, as we use the results of the process to compute our match scores and to provide an easily digestible representation of the candidate's qualifications.

Understanding Resume Parsing States

Findem's resume parsing workflow uses a state machine with two key fields: Progress and Outcome.

1. Progress: Indicates whether the resume is still being processed or whether the parsing is complete.

   • Processing – The resume is still being processed.
   • Completed – The resume parsing is finished, with either a successful or failed outcome.

2. Outcome: Shows whether the resume parsing was successful or failed.

   • Success – Resume parsing was successful and relevant data is available.
   • Failure – There was an error during parsing or the system couldn't interpret the data.

Workflow States and Behavior

No Resume Available

• Status: No resume in the application.
• Action: The candidate's profile will not show any resume information. Instead, it will prompt you with a message like “No Resume Available.” This status should also redirect you to the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) for further action.

Processing

• Status: Resume is being parsed.
• Candidate Row: Shows a processing symbol with no candidate profile data visible.
• Candidate Profile: The profile will be blank or will show partial data if any application form data exists. A "Processing Resume" label is displayed.
• Action: You are notified that the system is working on the parsing and will update with the parsed data once complete.

Completed - Success

• Status: Parsing is complete with a successful outcome. We will also show the full resume attachment AND the parsed version
• Candidate Row: Displays parsed resume data. The candidate's profile is populated with the extracted resume information, including work experience, education, etc.
• Candidate Profile: Full resume data is available. The score, if applicable, will be shown.
• Action: The candidate’s profile is now enriched with the parsed data, making it easier for users to assess the candidate's fit for the role.

Completed - Failed to Parse

• Status: Parsing failed due to errors (e.g., file errors or timeouts).
• Candidate Row: Shows the resume attachment, but no parsed data is displayed. The parsing status will be marked as "Failed to Parse."
• Candidate Profile: Displays the original resume attachment and a note stating "Couldn’t parse resume."
• Action: Users can download the resume for review, but no parsed data or score will be available.

Resume Processing States

State: Fetching Attachments

• Description: The system is fetching attachments but hasn't started parsing yet.
• Candidate Row: Displays application form data if available. If there’s a previously processed and scored attachment, it will not show until the fetch is complete.
• Candidate Profile: If application data is available, it will be shown, but no parsed data will be available yet.
• Action: Users are notified that the resume attachments are still being fetched.

State: Parsing Resume (Processing)

• Description: The resume is being parsed.
• Candidate Row: Displays a processing symbol and no parsed data.
• Candidate Profile: Displays the resume that is currently being processed, and shows any available application form data. No score is shown until parsing is complete.
• Action: Users are made aware that the system is parsing the resume and will update once parsing is finished.

State: Failed Parsing

• Description: An error occurred while parsing the resume.
• Candidate Row: Displays a “Failed to Process” message, along with any error information (e.g., fetch or parse error).
• Candidate Profile: Displays the resume attachment and a message about the failure. No parsed data or score is available.
• Action: Users can download the resume or return to the ATS for further actions.

State: Limited Info

• No attachment was ever submitted with the candidate's application, so Findem cannot find any attachments
• In this case, Findem will show public profile data as opposed to resume data

Edge Cases and Special Conditions:

Limited Info

• Action: If no resume is found, the candidate profile will not show resume data. Instead, users are redirected to the ATS. If application data is available and relevant, it can be displayed.

Sorting and Filtering

• Sorting: Users can sort candidates based on the resume processing status, with the following priority:
  1. Scored (meets all criteria)
  2. Completed - No Resume
  3. Processing Resume
  4. Fetching Attachments
  5. Failed Parsing
• Filtering: Users can filter candidates by their processing status to focus on specific groups (e.g., stuck applications, resumes that failed to parse).

Application Data Priority

• If no resume is available, application form data can be used as fallback, but it should not be used for scoring or matching.
• The resume will always take priority over application form data for scoring purposes. If a resume exists, it will be used to populate the candidate profile.
• Resume Parsing in Progress: If parsing is in progress, a "Processing Resume" symbol will be displayed, and no parsed information will be visible until the process is complete.
• Parsing Failure: In cases of failure (e.g., errors or timeouts), the resume attachment will be shown, but no parsed data will be available, and a "Failed to Parse" message will indicate the issue.