Technical Overview

Integrated Resume Search Flowchart

Development

RSX Search Parameters

Integration Testing

Integrated Resume Search (IRS)

Technical Overview

Integrated Resume Search (IRS) allows clients to use web services that allow their systems to call into Monster databases to search and retrieve job seeker resumes. This type of interface allows clients to search Monster and other vendor databases simultaneously and to save retrieved resumes locally.

Integrated Resume Search Flowchart

Below is a flowchart that shows the steps and calls that take place between Monster and the clients system.


Integrated Resume Search Application Flow
 

Development

 

Key points to be aware of during development
  • All system calls to Monster are developed by the client.
  • Client is responsible for testing their implementation.
  • Client shall use Monster's test environment known as MITE (Monster's Integrated Test Environment). It is available for use by the client development team to test and debug system calls. In most instances, it takes a number of iterations to test the calls, and debug all scenarios for the systems. A separate guide containing additional information about MITE will be provided.
  • Resume queries can be done against Monster's core board and Diversity board. Clients need to decide which boards will be queried.
  • A resume query goes against Monster's RSX server. Resume retrieval is done against Monster's BGW.
  • Monster's RSX server is IP restricted. Therefore, the client will need to provide IP address(es) for test and production.
  • A CAT (Company Access Ticket) is an encoded token, representing a user, that is used for authentication within a request to Monster web services.
  • The client's implementation must support multiple CAT's.
  • Resume query results provide a resume preview which is used to determine whether to download a seeker's complete resume.
  • Resume query results include a unique Id ( <Resume SID>) and a <DateModified> which can be used to determined if a resume was previously downloaded.
  • Job seekers have the option of marking their resumes as confidential. Therefore, resume query results may include confidential resumes. Once the resume is retrieved, a confidential method of contacting the job seeker is provided.
  • Retrieving a resume, every time it is retrieved, will decrement the resume view inventory. Monster does not track whether a resume has previously been downloaded, so client needs to track that to avoid using up inventory.
  • Resume inventory levels can be retrieved by using the queries described at: https://partner.monster.com/inventory-query-guide. It is strongly recommended that this information be presented to the recruiter such that they are aware of their available inventory.
  • Clients should only allow searches based on license locations and types of license(s) available for a recruiter. Otherwise, attempting to retrieve a resume will fail if a resume view license for the location does not exist.
  • EEO letters cannot be generated through the IRS. The assumption is that the partner's system, which is integrated with Monster, becomes the end customer's system of record and all EEO data should be stored there. Additionally, since the sourced resume is not stored on Monster in association with the customer, Monster has no place to record the relevant EEO data for that interaction.

Integrated Resume Search - Calls

  1. CLIENT creates Inventory Query request.
    • Details on how to create this query can be found at:
      https://partner.monster.com/inventory-query-guide
    • Inventory query request samples can be found at:
      https://integrations.monster.com.com/Toolkit/. Once at this URL, select “InventoriesQueries” under “select XML type”. Also, a sample is shown below.
      • Sample XML Inventory Query Request (Click to Expand XML Code)
  2. Monster provides Inventory Query response.
    • A response to the inventory query is provided in Monster's standard XML format. The response includes information such as the types of licenses available, the quantity of inventory for each type of license, the locations of the resume view inventory, etc. Monster core resume views and diversity board resume views are displayed separately and aren't combined in the results. This information should be presented to the user such that they know their available inventory.
      • Sample XML Inventory Query Response (Click to Expand XML Code)
    3.  
  3. CLIENT creates and invokes resume search query (request).
    • This is done through a web browser HTTP POST and not the BGW.
    • The specification for developing your resume query using RSX parameters is located HERE.
    • A CAT is required as part of the query string.
    • Monster's RSX server is IP restricted and the IP's from where queries will originate must be registered with Monster. Otherwise, the query will fail.
      • An example of a query is shown below (Click to Expand XML Code)
  4. Monster provides resume search query response.
    • A response to the resume search query is provided in Monster's standard XML format. The response includes the amount of resumes found based on the query criteria, the job seeker's ID and a resume preview. From here, it is up to the recruiter to decide which resumes are of interest and that they'd like the complete job seeker resume retrieved from Monster.
      • Sample XML Resume Response (Click to Expand XML Code)

      SThe schema for the response is shown below (Click to Expand XML Code)
  5. CLIENT calls Monster to request resume
    The resume request is made up of a SOAP envelope, header and body. Below is some additional information on these sections of the resume request.
    1. SOAP envelope information can be found at:
      http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope
    2. The header information can be found at
      http://schemas.monster.com/Current/XSD/MonsterHeader.XSD
      1. The header requires a CAT for submission. Information on authenticating by a CAT can be found at:
        http://schemas.monster.com/Current/XSd/AuthenticateByCompanyAccessTicket.xsd
    3. Schema location attribute (optional)
      1. Monster's namespace instance is described at:
        https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance
    4. The body information can be found at:
      http://schemas.monster.com/current/xsd/query.xsd
      1. Requires the resume seeker ID ("Resume SID" in the RSX response). This value is referred to as "textResumeId" in the request.
    Sample XML Resume Request (Click to Expand XML Code)
      Key points in this area:
    • Resumes should be retrieved one at a time. Attempting to retrieve multiple resumes at a time will cause “Transport https does not allow payload”errors. Therefore, don’t use the <Queries> tag in the XML.
    • The <StoreRenderedTextResume> element of the XML provides the option to receive the <TextResume> element in the response file populated for resumes created using Monster’s resume builder. This element, along with <ResumeRestriction>, is optional and defaults to false if not included in the request.
  6. CLIENT receives resume from Monster.
    The returned resume will be in the following format:
    http://schemas.monster.com/Current/XSD/JobSeeker.xsd
    Key points in this area:
    • If a failure happens during the resume retrieval process, the client system shall take the appropriate action and re-attempt resume retrieval some time in the future.
    • Client needs to be able to parse this information such that it can be displayed appropriately to the recruiter.
    • It is recommended that the client automatically track the resume source.
    • For troubleshooting purposes, it is highly recommended that the MessageId  (example: <MessageId>47984530119430872116160_jweba201</MessageId>) in the response file be stored on the client side.
    • Document type of resumes, such as MS Word, are automatically returned in the XML response if the seeker uploaded one. They are returned in the element in base 64 Binary format, as defined in this schema http://schemas.monster.com/Current/XSD/Common.xsd
    Sample XML Resume ResponsesONE (Click to Expand XML Code)

    Sample XML Resume ResponsesTWO (Click to Expand XML Code)
 

Integration Testing

  1. Monster Business Gateway URL: https://gateway.monster.com:8443/bgwBroker
    NOTE: Monster's BGW uses port 8443; this is not an industry standard port so in some cases it needs to be configured in your firewall. If issues are encountered, be advised that it is not necessary for clients to use port 8443 to exit their systems.
  2. A Web Service Toolkit is available to verify the client's XML, post a job to MITE and to request and retrieve resumes. This can be found at: https://integrations.monster.com.com/Toolkit/.
  3. Test the following activities that are part of Integrated Resume Search:
    1. Create Inventories query to request and retrieve resume inventory levels.
    2. Create and POST a resume query.
    3. Receive and view response (results).
    4. Select resumes of interest.
    5. Create and submit request to BGW for resumes of interest.
    6. Receive and view response (results).