Semantic Search Post 5: Profile: Trovix

Trovix is an example of putting semantic search to use in a specific vertical, in this case to the job hunt. Here is how the site describes its value to candidates and employers:

For working professionals, we provide a free and effortless way to stay aware of ideal career opportunities. We ensure access to the very best jobs based on work experience and goals, not just keywords. Our service combs through millions of current openings to find and present the most relevant career matches.

Companies use our services to find candidates with the exact skills, experience level, educational background and work history for the positions they want to fill. We then help speed them through the recruiting process with our full-featured applicant tracking system which includes collaborative workflow, streamlined communications, scheduling and custom reporting.

Clearly, their POV is that semantics offer a human-like touch to the issues involved in matching people to jobs and vice versa. Again, from their site:

We take the information contained in a job description as well as a person’s resume and expressed desires, and use that information to rank jobs based on how well they match. With Trovix, it’s like having a personal recruiter who really knows you searching for you and sending only the best jobs or candidates for you.

I like this idea immensely. In fact, I am going to dance a jig to celebrate its arrival. Let me put down the mouse for a sec and do my the dances of my people. Through the miracle of the Internets, I offer the following live webcam footage of me dance. Note: I borrowed the shirt from Jerry Seinfeld.

I’m back. My somewhat silly expression of glee is for the obvious reason. The search results on job sites are mindbogglingly bad. I made a search description using 9 words on one of the major job sites four years ago and never turned it off, in part because I find the dreadful results comical. I used title words, industry words, geography, etc. to describe a desired senior exec job in marketing for a tech company. Today’s best “result” was an offer for a 10-14 hours per week post demoing food in grocery stores.

Trovix analyzes resumes and job descriptions to create tagged versions of each, then matches you to likely relevant results.

Let’s hope the arrival of Trovix revolutionizes the job search sector in a big way.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to write.