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Documentation Index

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Nova gives each candidate a 1-10 screening score for a specific role. The score summarizes how strongly the available evidence matches your configured criteria, so your team can prioritize review. Use Nova scores to decide what to review first. Your team should review the evidence, criteria, and context before making hiring decisions.

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How Scoring Works

1

Nova reads the role

Nova uses the job description, your screening criteria, the importance of each criterion, and any setup context you provide about priorities, deal-breakers, or trade-offs.
2

Nova reads the candidate evidence

Nova reviews the candidate’s resume or fallback profile, application answers, and any additional application context your ATS sends to Nova, such as cover-letter text. A LinkedIn profile can be used as a fallback when no resume is attached, if enabled.
3

Nova assesses the criteria

Nova marks each criterion as supported, partly supported, or contradicted. Missing evidence creates uncertainty. Clear evidence against a requirement creates a stronger concern.
4

Nova creates a score and assessment

Nova combines the evidence into one role-specific score, then writes an assessment with the verdict, strengths, concerns, and interview focus areas.
Criteria guide the assessment, but they are not a simple points checklist. The final score reflects evidence alignment, evidence quality, seniority expectations, and the importance of each requirement.

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Score Scale

ScoreMeaning
9-10Very strong evidence alignment. Clear evidence for the core role needs and meaningful strengths beyond the baseline.
8Strong evidence alignment. Resume-verifiable essentials are evidenced, with only minor or interview-stage questions left.
7Promising evidence alignment. Useful to review, but there is real uncertainty about at least one important requirement from the available evidence.
5-6Mixed or borderline evidence alignment. Some relevant signals, but important gaps, thin evidence, or weaker alignment.
3-4Weak evidence alignment. Significant gaps, contradicted requirements, or limited role relevance.
1-2Very limited evidence alignment. Little relevant evidence for the role.
The most useful line is often 7 vs 8. A 7 usually means “talk to this person only if the gap is acceptable.” An 8 means “the resume and application evidence already support the main screening requirements.”

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What Affects The Score

  • Criteria text: Nova scores against the criteria you configure. Vague criteria create vague scoring.
  • Importance level: Must have, Preferred, and Nice to have requirements affect the score differently.
  • Evidence quality: Direct evidence is stronger than an indirect proxy. Equivalent experience can count when the criterion allows it.
  • Role seniority: A senior role needs stronger evidence than an entry-level role.
  • Application answers: Answers can confirm requirements that are not visible on a resume, such as work authorization or shift availability.
  • Explicit exclusions: Clear deal-breakers are treated as strong screening rules when the evidence verifies the excluded fact.
Nova does not compare candidates to historical hires. It assesses the available evidence against the current role and criteria.

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What The Assessment Includes

  • Verdict: A short screening summary, not a decision.
  • Strengths: The strongest relevant evidence Nova found.
  • Concerns: Gaps, thin signals, or contradicted requirements.
  • Interview Focus: Questions the hiring team should verify next.
When available, the Nova dashboard also shows per-criterion analysis with Pass, Partial, or Fail status. Treat that breakdown as the evidence trail. The overall score still reflects the full profile, not just a count of passed criteria. Talent Search uses a shorter candidate review: a summary for every scored candidate, plus strengths and concerns for candidates scored 7 or higher.

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Human Review

Nova helps your team decide what to review first. Keep a person in control of hiring decisions, check the evidence before taking action, and provide any notices required by your policies and applicable law.

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Ranking And Filtering

For inbound applicants, Nova posts the score and assessment back to your ATS so your team can sort, filter, and review candidates consistently. For AI Talent Search, Nova groups sourced candidates into review bands:
  • 8-10: Best Fit.
  • 7: Strong Fit.
  • 5-6: Consider.
  • 1-4: Not a Fit.
For Talent Pool Search, Nova uses broader review bands:
  • 9-10: Highest-priority matches.
  • 7-8: Strong candidates worth review.
  • 5-6: Consider.
  • 1-4: Unlikely or Not a Fit.
Ranking is a review order. It helps your team decide what to review first, but it should not replace human review.

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Common Scoring Skip Reasons

Most skips are document or profile access issues:
ReasonWhat happened
No usable profileNo resume and no usable fallback profile were available.
Encrypted PDFThe resume is password-protected.
Corrupted fileThe file is damaged or unreadable.
Unsupported formatThe file format cannot be processed.
File too largeThe file exceeds the supported size limit.
Download failedNova could not retrieve the document from your ATS.
Skipped candidates are not charged. Attach a valid resume, then reprocess the application. Other processing or configuration issues can also prevent scoring; contact support if the reason is unclear.
No. Nova supports screening by summarizing evidence against your criteria. Recruiters and hiring teams make employment decisions after reviewing the evidence and context.
Yes. Changes apply to future scores. If reprocessing is enabled for your workspace, a Nova admin can use Reprocess Applications from the job actions menu to update existing scores.
Yes. Enable Exclude application question answers from scoring in Company Settings if you want resume-only scoring.
Read the concerns and criteria analysis first. The usual causes are missing resume evidence, a criterion that is too strict, or a requirement marked Must have when it should be Preferred.

Configure Criteria

Write criteria that steer scoring

Understanding Scores

Interpret scores and diagnose issues

Bias Testing Methodology

See how Nova checks for adverse-impact signals