Oracle Taleo: What Job Seekers Need to Know About Its Scoring System

Most large employers use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to manage their hiring process. These systems enable recruiters to examine hundreds or thousands of applicants for the many jobs they are hiring for simultaneously. But they’re not without their drawbacks. Resumes and applications that aren’t optimized for these systems or workflows might never see the light of day in what many job seekers call the “resume black hole.”

Read more: What is an applicant tracking system?

If you’re job hunting, you’ve likely encountered an ATS: Oracle Taleo, or Oracle Cloud HCM. Here’s what you need to know about it.

What is Oracle Taleo?

Owned by Oracle, Taleo does more than simply organize inbound job applicants. Recruiters can use it to track communication with applicants, onboard new hires, generate reports, and much more. The system is highly customizable. So, two companies could use a totally different set of features.

Companies that use Taleo or Oracle Cloud

Taleo or Oracle Cloud is one of the most popular applicant tracking systems on the market. It’s used by 57 of the Fortune 500 companies and by over 5% of all the companies in Jobscan’s database.

A few of the companies that use Taleo include:

Does Oracle Taleo score applicants?

Yes, Oracle Cloud includes an AI feature that will automatically score candidates. The feature is called Suggested Candidates. Here’s how it works, according to Oracle’s documentation:

So candidates are automatically scored for four criteria – Profile, Education, Experience, and Skills. The candidate receives a score of 0-3 stars for each criteria. As explained by Oracle:

“So, for example, if a candidate’s title and description have a strong match to the job requisition, the candidate is assigned 3 stars on profile. […]If a PHD is a requirement for a job, looking at matches that have 3 stars for education can assist in the overall sourcing process.”

This feature uses machine learning algorithms. They analyze the job description and candidate data from the resume and application.

An important point is that because machine learning is used, “the terms don’t have to be an exact match for the feature to find similarities in data”.

It may lead to more rejections. But, you can list your skills with more flexibility. The system should (hypothetically) find you more easily.

Does Oracle Taleo automatically reject applicants?

Yes, candidates can be rejected without a recruiter or hiring manager seeing their application.

Oracle allows recruiters to set up workflows with automated steps. These are highly customizable. The system could autoreject candidates who didn’t meet several criteria. These include: not taking or passing a required test, lacking certain certifications or education, and having a low score (mentioned before).

We can’t know how each company has set up its systems. So, it’s important to fill out your application and tailor your resume for the job.

How does Oracle Taleo filter candidates?

Recruiters can search their Taleo applicant pool for specific skills and keywords. They can also use complex Boolean searches with “and,” “or,” and “not” to refine their results.

These searches are different from the intelligent Suggested Candidates feature. That feature can understand similar words and terms.

In our  testing, Taleo’s search is not very intelligent on its own. It cannot tell the searched term from common variants. These include tense, plurals, abbreviations, and acronyms. For example, a search for “project manager” won’t return results for “project management.” Also, a search for “Certified Public Accountant” won’t return results for “CPA.””

Because of this, it’s important to try and mirror the language found in the job description. If a recruiter used a specific keyword in the job ad, they will likely use that same version to search their applicant database.

If you have room on your resume, try using both forms of the keyword just in case. For example, “Master of Business Administration (MBA).”

How to optimize your resume for Taleo

Here are 5 tips to optimize your resume for Taleo and improve your chances of making it through the ATS:

1. Tailor Your Resume to the Job Description

• Carefully review the job description and mirror the exact language used for keywords, skills, and qualifications. For example, if the job description mentions “Certified Public Accountant,” include both “Certified Public Accountant” and “CPA” on your resume if applicable.
• Avoid using generic phrases; specificity helps Taleo’s search functionality recognize your qualifications.

Compare your resume to the job you’re applying for to see which skills and keywords to include:

2. Incorporate Keywords Thoughtfully

• Use keywords naturally throughout your resume in appropriate sections (e.g., summary, skills, and work experience). Include both variations of terms when space allows (e.g., “Project Manager” and “Project Management”).
• Use relevant job titles, tools, and technologies to align with the search queries likely used by recruiters.

3. Highlight Profile, Education, Experience, and Skills

• Optimize your resume to match Taleo’s scoring criteria:
  • Profile: Include a clear job title that matches the desired role.
  • Education: Clearly list your degree(s) and certifications in the education section.
  • Experience: Describe relevant roles and responsibilities using job description keywords.
  • Skills: Include both hard and soft skills relevant to the role.

4. Format Your Resume for ATS Parsing

• Use a clean, simple layout with standard section headings (e.g., “Work Experience,” “Education,” “Skills”).
• Avoid using tables, graphics, and complex formatting that might confuse the ATS.
• Save your resume as a Word document (.docx) or a PDF with ATS-friendly text.

5. Complete the Online Application Thoroughly

• Fill out all application fields when applying through Taleo, even if it feels redundant with your resume. Missing information could trigger an automatic rejection.
• Include certifications, assessments, and any other requested details explicitly, as some companies may have workflows that auto-reject incomplete applications.

By following these tips, you can better position yourself to pass through Taleo’s filters and increase your visibility to recruiters and hiring managers.