Applicant skills inference for a job

• US 10,380,552 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2017
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Zhang, Siyuan, Jamali, Mohsen, Wang, Qin Iris, Firooz, Hamed
• Primary Examiner(s): McCormick, Gabrielle A
• Application Number:
  US15/404,846
• Publication Number:
  US 20180121879A1
• Time in Patent Office: 943 Days
• Field of Search: 705319, 705320, 705321
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3344 using natural language analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1053 Employment or hiring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

Techniques for inferring a specific skill associated with a job posting are described. In an example, disclosed is a system that selects, from a jobs database, a specific job posting from a plurality of job postings. Additionally, job applicants for the specific job posting can be determined using indicators in the profile data of members. Moreover, a set of skills associated with the job applicants can be obtained. Furthermore, a percentage of the job applicants having a specific skill from the set of skills can be determined using the profile data of the job applicants. Subsequently, a confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting can be calculated based on the percentage of the job applicants having the specific skill. A user interface can display a presentation of the specific job posting to a first member when the confidence score transgresses a predetermined score.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a jobs database storing a plurality of job postings, a job posting in the plurality of job postings having a number of submitted job applications;

a member database storing profile data of a plurality of members in a social network system, the profile data of a member in the plurality of members having skills listed on a profile page of the member and an indicator that the member has applied to a job posting in the plurality of job postings;

one or more processors configured to;

select, from the jobs database, a specific job posting from the plurality of job postings, the number of submitted job applications for the specific job posting being above a predetermined threshold;

determine, using indicators in the profile data of the plurality of members, job applicants that have applied to the specific job posting;

obtain, using profile data of the job applicants, a set of skills associated with the job applicants;

determine, using the profile data of the job applicants, a percentage of the job applicants having a specific skill from the set of skills;

calculate a confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the percentage of the job applicants having the specific skill; and

select a first member from the plurality of members based on the first member having an indicator that the first member has not previously applied to the specific job posting; and

a user interface causing a presentation of the specific job posting to the first member when the confidence score transgresses a predetermined score, the specific skill being listed on a profile page of the first member.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to rank each skill in the set of skills based on a confidence score for each skill in the set of skills.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to select the first member from the plurality of members based on a predetermined number of top skills being listed on the profile page of the first member.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the top skills include three highest ranking skills from the set of skills.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the social networking service includes a job hosting service, and the specific job posting is posted on the job hosting service.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising a skills database storing an association between a skill and a job posting, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

store, in the skills database, an association of the specific skill with the specific job posting when the confidence score transgresses the predetermined score.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the skills database includes a title affinity score for a job title and a skill, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a specific job title associated with the specific job posting;

access, from the skills database, a title affinity score for the specific skill and the specific job title; and

update the confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the accessed title affinity score.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the skills database includes a company affinity score for a job title and a skill, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a company associated with the specific job posting;

access, from the skills database, a company affinity score for the specific skill and the company; and

update the confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the accessed company affinity score.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the skills database includes an industry affinity score for a job title and a skill, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine an industry associated with the specific job posting;

access, from the skills database, an industry affinity score for the specific skill and the industry; and

update the confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the accessed industry affinity score.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine that the specific skill is mentioned in a job title section of the specific job posting;

access, from the skills database, a job title coefficient for the specific skill when it is determined that the specific skill is mentioned in the job title section; and

increase the confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the job title coefficient.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine that the specific skill is mentioned in a job description section of the specific job posting;

access, from the skills database, a job description coefficient for the specific skill when it is determined that the specific skill is mentioned in the job description section; and

increase the confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the job description coefficient.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the confidence score is further increased based on a number of instances the specific skill is explicitly mentioned in the job description section.

13. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine that the specific skill is mentioned in a desired skills section of the specific job posting;

access, from the skills database, a desired skill coefficient for the specific skill when it is determined that the specific skill is mentioned in the desired skills section; and

increase the confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the desired skill coefficient.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a job title for the specific job posting;

determine, using the profile data of the plurality of members, a skill frequency score associated with the specific skill and the determined job title, the skill frequency score being based on the specific skill being listed on a profile page of one or more members in the plurality of members that are associated with the determined job title; and

update the confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the skill frequency score.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a user interface to present, on a display of a device of a recruiter associated with the specific job posting, a profile of a member having the specific skill when the confidence score transgresses the predetermined threshold.

16. A method comprising:

selecting, from a jobs database, a specific job posting from a plurality of job postings, a number of submitted job applications for the specific job posting being above a predetermined threshold;

determining, using profile data of a plurality of members of a social network system, job applicants that have applied to the specific job posting, profile data of the job applicants having an indicator of having applied to the specific job posting;

obtaining, using the profile data of the job applicants, a set of skills associated with the job applicants;

determining, using the profile data of the job applicants, a percentage of the job applicants having a specific skill from the set of skills;

calculating, using a processor, a confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the percentage of the job applicants having the specific skill;

selecting a first member from the plurality of members based on the first member having an indicator that the first member has not previously applied to the specific job posting; and

causing a presentation of the specific job posting to the first member when the confidence score transgresses a predetermined score, the specific skill being listed on a profile page of the first member.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

ranking each skill in the set of skills based on a confidence score for each skill in the set of skills; and

selecting the first member from the plurality of members based on a predetermined number of top skills being listed on the profile page of the first member, wherein the top skills include three highest ranking skills from the set of skills.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining a job title associated with the specific job posting;

accessing, from a skills database, a title affinity score for the specific skill and the job title; and

updating the confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the accessed title affinity score.

19. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine to:

select, from a jobs database, a specific job posting from a plurality of job postings, a number of submitted job applications for the specific job posting being above a predetermined threshold;

determine, using profile data of a plurality of members, job applicants that have applied to the specific job posting, profile data of the job applicants having an indicator of having applied to the specific job posting;

obtain, using the profile data of the job applicants, a set of skills associated with the job applicants;

determine, using the profile data of the job applicants;

a percentage of the job applicants having a specific skill from the set of skills;

calculate a confidence score of the specific skill being associated with the specific job posting based on the percentage of the job applicants having the specific skill;

select a first member from the plurality of members based on the first member having an indicator that the first member has not previously applied to the specific job posting; and

cause a presentation of the specific job posting to the first member when the confidence score transgresses a predetermined score, the specific skill being listed on a profile page of the first member.