Note: This article provides the iCIMS' Talent Cloud AI release notes for the Winter 2021 release; for Winter Release information for other iCIMS Talent Cloud products, review the Monthly Update Release Notes: February Updates & Winter Release 2021 article.

iCIMS' Talent Cloud AI 

• Products: iCIMS’ Applicant Tracking (formerly Recruit)
• Requirements:
  • Requires iCIMS' new user experiences enabled within iCIMS' ATS, as well as a subscription for iCIMS' Talent Cloud AI.
  • Currently only available for customers hosted in the US and whose language of business is English. 
• Default state: Disabled; requires separate subscription and implementation.
• Default permissions: Once implemented, configurable by iCIMS Technical Support.

Discover the best qualified candidates for your organization and reduce your overall time-to-fill with iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI.  Offering a set of intelligent, data-driven features, Talent Cloud AI helps recruiters easily manage and prioritize the volume of candidates in their iCIMS’ Applicant Tracking (formerly Recruit) system through automated candidate comparison, ranking, and job matching. 

To add iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI to your subscription, contact your iCIMS account manager. 

Note: Features included with iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI are only available via iCIMS’ new user experiences, such as Candidate List. In order to leverage these features, a user must first enable the New iCIMS toggle available in iCIMS’ Applicant Tracking (ATS). For more information about this toggle, review the New iCIMS User Experience Toggle entry within the February Updates & Winter Release 2021 article.

Additional information about iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI is provided in the following sections:

• Using Candidate-to-Job Matching
• Using Candidate Ranking
• Understanding the Talent Cloud AI Job Fit Score

Using Candidate-to-Job Matching

iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI offers a set of intelligent, data-driven tools that help users quickly identify and take action on the best candidates for their organization’s jobs. As part of this set, a new Talent Discovery tool that offers candidate-to-job matching is available for all jobs within iCIMS’ ATS. 

Via the Talent Discovery tool, users can source applicants for specific jobs from candidate profiles that already exist within their iCIMS’ system. Using a proprietary matching engine, this tool analyzes information from a Job profile and identifies existing candidates that may have experience and skills that are a good fit for the role. 

Users with access to iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI can launch the Talent Discovery tool for a specific job by navigating to the job’s Candidate List experience and selecting the new Talent Discovery option available in the hiring stages menu.

Upon clicking the new option, a Talent Discovery table immediately replaces the job’s Candidate List table. Each row of the Talent Discovery table represents a candidate from the system that may be a good fit for the job being sourced. 

An example Talent Discovery table

Notes:

• The Talent Discovery tool automatically excludes any candidates who have already applied or been submitted to the job being sourced. Candidates who are already in consideration for this job can be reviewed using candidate ranking; for more information, review the Using Candidate Ranking section below.
• Via the Filters menu available to the top right of the Talent Discovery table, the list of suggested candidates can be filtered by candidates’ distance from the job (i.e., the distance between a candidate’s default address and the primary location on the Job profile). 

Once accessed, the Talent Discovery table contains the following columns:

• Job Fit: A visual indicator representing the candidate’s Job Fit score and tier for the specific job being sourced
  • Tip: A candidate’s score and tier is determined on a per-job basis according to their unique qualifications for each position. A high Job Fit score indicates that a candidate has skills and experience that match the requirements of the job. For more information, review the Understanding the Talent Cloud AI Job Fit Score section below.
• Name: The name of the candidate
  • Tip: Clicking a candidate’s name directs users to the candidate’s Dynamic Candidate Profile.
• Current Role: The candidate’s most recent job title and employer name, if available
• Education: Details from the candidate’s highest or most recently completed level of education (e.g., their degree and major), if available
• Location: The candidate’s home city, state/province, and country

By default, the Talent Discovery table is sorted by the Job Fit column with the highest scoring candidates at the top. Additionally, candidates are grouped into tiers with similarly scored candidates to help users quickly identify those with the best experience and skills for the job being sourced. 

Candidates placed into higher tiers (e.g., tier 1 is higher than tier 3) have scores that indicate they are stronger matches for the job than candidates in lower tiers. For more information on candidates’ Job Fit scores, review the Understanding the Talent Cloud AI Job Fit Score section below.

Notes: 

• The Talent Discovery table can be sorted by data in other columns by clicking the desired column header. However, the tier groupings are only available when the table is sorted by the Job Fit column. 
• For a specific job, the number of tiers that candidates are grouped into depends on the volume of potential candidates for that job and the range of their Job Fit scores. As tiers are based on candidates’ relative scores and do not represent specific numerical ranges, some jobs may have more or less tiers than others. Talent Cloud AI does not provide specific (i.e., absolute) candidate scores. 

For each candidate in the Talent Discovery table, the last column includes an Actions menu. Clicking this menu presents users with the following options:

• Email: Launches the traditional Compose Email popup with the candidate prepopulated in the To field.
• Share: Launches the traditional Compose Email window with the standard Send Job by Email template preselected and the candidate prepopulated in the To field.
• Submit to Workflow: Launches a popup that asks the user to confirm the submission of the candidate to the job currently being sourced; upon clicking Submit, the candidate is immediately submitted to the job.
  • Note: Candidates submitted to jobs via this option are placed into the system’s default submission status (e.g., Recruiter Submitted); user admins can configure the system’s default status via the existing Status for Default Submission setting available via Admin > System Configuration > Applicant Tracking > Workflow. 

In addition to the individual Actions menus, candidates can be selected for bulk action by checking the box to left of their Job Fit score. Multiple candidates can be selected at once via the following options:

• Checking the box available in the table’s header row selects all candidates currently displayed on screen.  

• Checking the box available within a specific tier grouping’s header selects all candidates within that tier. 

After selecting one or more candidates, the Email, Share, and Submit to Workflow action icons display to the top left of the table. 

Note: Taking action on multiple candidates at once is not currently supported on mobile devices.

Using Candidate Ranking

In addition to candidate-to-job matching (i.e., the Talent Discovery tool), iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI also offers automated candidate ranking. Where candidate-to-job matching helps users source potential applicants from their iCIMS’ system, candidate ranking helps users review and prioritize incoming candidates on their open jobs. 

Similar to candidate-to-job matching, candidate ranking also leverages Job Fit scores and tiering to identify which candidates on a specific job have the best skills and experience for that role. 

Once iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI has been implemented, candidate ranking is automatically available for jobs in iCIMS’ ATS via their Candidate List experience. To facilitate candidate ranking, each job’s Candidate List table now includes a Job Fit column and tier groupings. 

An example Candidate List table containing the Job Fit column and tier groupings

For each candidate within a specific job’s Candidate List table, the Job Fit column contains a Job Fit indicator that represents their Job Fit score and tier for that job. 

By default, a job’s Candidate List table is sorted by the Job Fit column, with the highest scoring candidates at the top. Additionally, candidates on the job are grouped into tiers with similarly scored candidates to help users quickly identify those with the highest Job Fit scores (i.e., the candidates with the best skills and experience for the job). For more information on candidates’ Job Fit scores, review the Understanding the Talent Cloud AI Job Fit Score section below.  

All candidates within a specific tier can be selected for bulk action by checking the box available in that tier grouping’s header. The standard actions available via a job’s Candidate List experience can then be completed for those candidates, such as updating their workflow status or sending an email. 

Notes: 

• The Candidate List table can be sorted by data in other columns by clicking the desired column header. However, the tier groupings are only available when the table is sorted by the Job Fit column. 
• For a specific job, the number of tiers that candidates are grouped into depends on the number of candidates on that job and the range of their Job Fit scores. As tiers are based on candidates’ relative scores and do not represent specific numerical ranges, some jobs may have more or less tiers than others. Talent Cloud AI does not provide specific (i.e., absolute) candidate scores. 

To help boost users’ efficiency within the system, candidates’ Job Fit indicators are also available on their Application Profiles and Dynamic Candidate Profiles. The Job Fit indicators available in these locations allow users to easily review a candidate’s potential fit for a specific job directly from their profile.  

• On the Application Profile, a candidate’s Job Fit indicator is available to the right of their contact information in business card section.

• On the Dynamic Candidate Profile, individual indicators (labeled as Role Fit) are available for each application card within the Applications section of the Overview tab. 
  • Note: The indicators available on Dynamic Candidate Profiles do not currently include tier information.

Understanding the Talent Cloud AI Job Fit Score 

To help users quickly identify the best candidates for their organization’s jobs, iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI leverages a proprietary engine to generate Job Fit scores for candidates; these scores represent how well a candidate’s skills and experience fit the requirements of a specific job. 

The following sections contain additional information regarding the Job Fit scores available in both candidate-to-job matching and candidate ranking: 

• Reviewing Candidates’ Job Fit Scores
• Understanding Job Fit Scoring Data

Reviewing Candidates’ Job Fit Scores

As part of both candidate-to-job matching and candidate ranking, candidates are assigned Job Fit scores that indicate how well their skills and experience match the requirements of individual jobs. Candidates’ scores and tiers are determined on a per-job basis according to their unique qualifications for each position.

iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI generates scores for candidates in the following scenarios:

• Candidate-to-job matching: Upon launching the Talent Discovery tool for a specific job, the Talent Cloud AI matching engine compares Job profile data with existing candidate profiles in iCIMS’ ATS. Candidates identified as potential matches for the job are then assigned a Job Fit score and presented to users within the job’s Talent Discovery table. 
• Candidate ranking: When a candidate applies or is submitted to an open job, the Talent Cloud AI ranking engine compares Job profile data with the candidate’s profile and determines their Job Fit score for that position. The candidate’s score is then presented to users via the job’s Candidate List table. 

In both scenarios, candidates’ Job Fit scores are represented by a Job Fit indicator located in the Job Fit column of the Talent Discovery or Candidate List table, as applicable.

Example Job Fit indicators

A candidate’s Job Fit indicator for a specific job consists of the following elements:

• The external (dark blue) ring represents the candidate’s Job Fit score for that job.
• The internal (teal) ring represents the candidate’s assigned tier for that job.

The completeness of the external and internal rings indicates the candidate’s Job Fit score and assigned tier, respectively. A more complete ring represents a higher score or tier and suggests that the candidate’s skills and experience are a potential strong fit for a particular job.   

For example, an external ring that is 75% complete indicates a higher Job Fit score than an external ring that is 25% complete. Similarly, an internal ring that is 100% complete implies that a candidate was assigned to the highest tier of candidates available for a job (i.e., the tier of candidates with the highest scores for the job). 

Hovering over (or tapping via mobile device) a candidate’s Job Fit indicator displays a popup that provides additional insight into their Job Fit score, including their individual Skills Match and Experience Match scores. 

An example Job Fit indicator popup

As indicated by the popup, a candidate’s Job Fit score is based on two factors: a Skills Match score and an Experience Match score. These two factors are weighted evenly when determining the candidate’s Job Fit score for a particular job. 

• The candidate’s Skills Match score indicates how well the skills from the candidate’s resume fit the requirements of the job.  
• The candidate’s Experience Match score indicates how well the candidate’s previously held job titles and other work history details (e.g., length of employment) match the description of the job.

The Job Fit indicator popup also lists which tier the candidate has been assigned to out of the total number of tiers available for the specific job. 

Notes:

• Talent Cloud AI does not provide specific (i.e., absolute) scores for candidates. Candidates’ scores are relative based on their own fit for a job as well as the scores of other potential candidates. As additional candidates are added to the system, a candidate’s score and tier for a specific job may change. 
• In some cases, it may take up to 24 hours for the candidate ranking engine to score a candidate for a specific job they have applied or been submitted to. If a score has not yet been calculated for a candidate, the candidate’s indicator displays as a single gray ring, and their indicator popup contains a Score Pending message. Candidates who have not yet been scored are assigned to a tier labeled Score Pending; this tier displays last in the list of candidates.

• In order to determine candidates’ Skills Match, Experience Match, and Job Fit scores, certain job and candidate data must be available in iCIMS’ ATS. If there is insufficient data, candidates’ scores may be impacted, as outlined below. To learn more about the data leveraged by iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI, review the Understanding Job Fit Scoring Data section below.  
  • If a candidate’s Skills Match or Experience Match score cannot be determined for a specific job, the candidate’s overall Job Fit score for that job is based solely on the available match score. If a Skills Match or Experience Match is unavailable for a candidate, the indicator popup displays a No data available message for that score.  

• If neither a Skills Match nor an Experience Match score can be determined for the candidate, an overall Job Fit score is not generated for the candidate. If a candidate does not have a Job Fit score for a specific job, their Job Fit indicator displays as a single gray ring, and the popup contains an Insufficient data to score message. Additionally, candidates without Job Fit scores are automatically assigned to the Score Pending tier. 

Understanding Job Fit Scoring Data

To determine candidates’ Job Fit scores, iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI compares Job profile data with candidate profiles in iCIMS’ ATS. The specific data used to determine candidates’ scores for candidate-to-job matching and candidate ranking are listed below.

Note: The ability for iCIMS’ Talent Cloud AI to score candidates is dependent upon the availability of the data outlined in the sections below. If certain data is incomplete or unavailable, candidates’ scores may be impacted. For example, if a candidate does not have a resume and the Professional Experience fields on their Person profile are blank, a Job Fit score cannot be determined for that candidate for any job. 

Candidate-to-Job Matching Scoring Data

To identify potential applicants for a job being sourced via candidate-to-job matching (i.e., the Talent Discovery tool), the Talent Cloud AI matching engine compares Job profile data with existing candidate profiles in iCIMS’ ATS. 

The specific information used to determine candidates’ Job Fit scores is outlined below.

• The specific Job profile data leveraged by the Talent Cloud AI matching engine varies between jobs that are currently posted to an iCIMS’ career site and jobs that are not posted. The data used for each type of job are as follows: 
  • Posted jobs: If a job is currently posted to a career site, the matching engine uses the fields configured for that career site’s Description section via the Job Posting Field Mapping tool. If you are unsure which fields have been configured for a given career site, contact iCIMS Technical Support for assistance. 
    • Note: If an organization has multiple career sites, the matching engine uses the fields configured for the career site the job was most recently posted to.
  • Unposted jobs: If a job is not currently posted to an iCIMS’ career site, the matching engine uses the following standard Job profile fields:
    • Title
    • Overview
    • Responsibilities
    • Qualifications
• The Talent Cloud AI matching engine uses candidates’ full resume texts and the standard Professional Experience fields on Person profiles in iCIMS’ ATS.

 Candidate Ranking Scoring Data

When a candidate applies or is submitted to a job, the Talent Cloud AI ranking engine automatically compares that candidate with the Job profile to determine if the candidate is a potential good fit for the position. 

The specific information used to determine the candidate’s Job Fit score is outlined below.

• The ranking engine uses the following standard Job profile fields from iCIMS’ ATS: 
  • Title
  • Overview
  • Responsibilities
  • Qualifications
• The ranking engine uses the candidate’s full resume text and the standard Professional Experience fields on their Person profile in iCIMS’ ATS.  

If any of the above Job profile fields are updated for a specific job, candidates on that job are automatically rescored at that time using the new job data. However, if a candidate’s information is updated at any time (e.g., if the candidate uploads a new resume), that candidate will not receive an updated Job Fit score for any jobs they have already applied or been submitted to.