Determining requirements and considering results.

Fuzzy searches yield a greater selection of applicants.
For the matching of job advertisements and candidate profiles, BeeSite® uses technology provided by the matching engine “ELISE®”, developed by WCC Smart Search & Match (www.wcc-group.com). Based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and Palo Alto, California, WCC has been developing state-of-the-art search and matching technology since 1996. WCC is universally recognised as the current market leader in this field of industry. milch & zucker is official partner and reseller of WCC in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Applicants profit greatly from this proven matching technology. Not only can they browse through a career website for suitable vacancies, they may also weight their search criteria as required. The search results show how well a particular job matches up with the weighted search criteria, while also providing detailed information on each result.

Recruiters also have much to gain from the advantages offered by ELISE®. They are able to determine criteria, affinities, gliding scales and weightings for each job advertisement and, once the matching process is complete, receive result lists featuring the most suitable candidates, clearly sorted in descending order, with the best-suited listed first. Recruiters also have the option of obtaining a breakdown of the individual criteria.

Matching versus searching. 
Conventional searches require criteria to be met precisely in order for a match to be depicted. There is no room for “near misses”. Matching processes, on the other hand, allow for so-called “fuzzy” searches, i.e., search criteria are given varying degrees of relevance. As opposed to customary “searching”, “matching” takes into consideration that some criteria need not be met 100 percent and that certain criteria are more important than others. This procedure increases the matching accuracy of candidates selected. Key requirements are weighted more strongly than secondary criteria. ELISE® procures search results from huge amounts of data (in under one second), mathematically generating results lists in descending order. These lists are based on all predetermined search criteria and their respective weightings. It is also possible for companies to fine-tune search criteria, weightings etc., thereby individually depicting the respective business processes.

Matching techniques.
Three techniques are employed during matching processes:

Affinities: Definition of similar requirements in comparison to those stipulated precisely. For example, it is possible to determine that “C++ or PHP Knowledge” is acceptable if the primary requirement – “Java Programming Knowledge” – is not fully met. Applicants that do not specify knowledge of the primary programming language requirement are thereby not automatically rejected, but simply ranked somewhat lower than applicants that fulfil the primary requirement.

Gliding Scales: This method does not determine fixed boundaries, but rather a possible spectrum, such as for wages and salaries, location proximities, years of work experience, for example.

Weightings: Here, priorities are defined. Let’s say a position requires good language skills in English and French. However, French is the primary language spoken at the respective job site. It is therefore possible (and perhaps recommendable) to weight French skills higher than English skills. Thus, applicants disposing over excellent French skills but only average English skills are ranked higher than candidates who speak average French but excellent English.

ELISE® works primarily with structured data, an advantage when implementing SOA systems based on existing XML standards for web services and data exchange formats such as HR-XML.

References:
JobStairs, the first commercially oriented German-language job board that offers the use of the ELISE®-powered ranking and selection functions - to applicants (frontend) as well as to recruiters (backend) .

The timeframe of realisation: A milch & zucker speciality.
WCC’s matching engine “ELISE®” is a primary component of the BeeSite® Recruiting Edition. And, as official partner and reseller, milch & zucker disposes over the appropriate technical know-how required to integrate this comprehensive ranking and selection software into your existing recruiting or applicant management solutions. Experience shows that approximately two to three months are required for the integration of these matching components into an external system.