How candidate scores are calculated

Calculating a candidate's score involves four steps: resume enrichment, individual requirement scoring, subscore calculation, and total score calculation. 

Step 1: Resume Enrichment

An enriched resume is created when a candidate applies for an open job. The enriched resume contains data necessary for scoring, which the candidate does not typically provide.

Note: SquarePeg does not enrich resumes for rejected candidates.

Step 2: Individual Requirement Scoring

Next, a score is generated for each job requirement, ranging from 0 to 100.

• An exactly matching or synonymous value in the enriched resume is scored 100.
• A partially matching or related value in the enriched resume is scored between 1 and 99.
• No matching or related value in the enriched resume is scored 0. 

Step 3: Subscore Calculation

Once individual requirements are scored, they are aggregated to create subscores. Each tab on the score table on a candidate's profile represents a subscore (shown below.)

Some requirement types are calculated as a single subscore, and others are bundled. If a job does not contain requirements of a specific kind, it does not affect the bundled subscore.

For example, Job Titles and Management Levels are bundled together to create the "Job Titles" subscore. However, if a job contains Job Title requirements but does not contain Management Level requirements, the "Job Titles" subscore equals the average of all job title scores.

Skills

The subscore for skills is equal to the average of all individual skill scores, except when multiple similar skills are detected, in which case only the highest score is used.

For example, if the candidate receives 65% for "JS" and 100% for "JavaScript," the 65% for "JS" will be ignored because "JS" is a common abbreviation for "JavaScript."

Job Titles (Job Titles + Management Levels)

The subscore for job titles is equal to the average of all individual job title scores, except when multiple similar job titles are detected, in which case only the highest score is used.

For example, if the candidate receives 65% for "Product Owner" and 100% for "Product Manager," the 65% for "Product Owner" will be ignored because it is synonymous with "Product Manager."

This subscore is combined with management levels to calculate the final subscore for job titles.

Industries

The subscore for industries is equal to the highest individual industry score.

Companies

The subscore for companies is equal to the highest individual company score.

Education (Schools + Degree Types + Majors)

The subscore for schools is equal to the highest individual school score.

The subscore for degree types is equal to the highest individual degree type score.

The subscore for majors is equal to the highest individual major score.

School, degree type, and major subscores are averaged to calculate the final subscore for education.

Experience (Relevant Experience + Total Experience)

The subscore for relevant experience depends on how the requirement is set:

• When only a minimum value is set for relevant experience, the subscore can only be "100" or "0". If the candidate's relevant experience is above the minimum requirement, the score is "100". If it is below the minimum requirement, the score is "0".
• When a range is set for relevant experience, the subscore is "100" if the candidate's relevant experience is within the required range. If outside the required range, the score is reduced by 10 for each year above or below.

Relevant experience equals the sum of the years and months worked at any job in the candidate's resume where the title matches or is similar to a required job title.

The subscore for total experience can only be "100" or "0". If the candidate's total experience is above the required years, the score is "100". If it is below the required years, the score is "0".

Total experience equals the sum of the years and months of all jobs in a candidate's resume.

Screening Questions

The subscore for screening questions is an average of the scores for all screening questions.

The score for a screening question can only be "100" or "0". If the candidate answers the question correctly, the score is "100". If answered incorrectly, the score is "0".

Click here to learn more about screening questions.

Step 4: Total Score Calculation

Once subscores are calculated, they are averaged to calculate the candidate's total score.