Recruiting Terminology for Job Seekers

Like any job, recruiting has its’ own industry jargon. I thought it might be worth compiling a list of terms for job seekers so that they have a lexicon when they see or hear something from a recruiter.

Recruiters (types of):

Agency: third party recruiter(s) that works with multiple clients. May offer temporary and/or full time placement services.

Executive Search, Recruiters: external agencies that specialize in leadership positions — C-level, VP, GM, and sometimes Directors.

Corporate/Internal Recruiter: a recruiter that recruits directly for an employer. They may be a FTE or a contractor, but they are specifically working with internal systems, hiring managers, HR, Finance, Legal, etc.

Campus/University Recruiter: an internal recruiter that focuses on students for entry-level and internship positions. (BTW, a “College Recruiter” is someone that recruits students FOR a particular school.)

Recruiting Coordinator: an administrative role that helps with scheduling and other administrative tasks for a recruiting organization.

Sourcer/Sourcing Recruiter: a specialization where a recruiter is focused on developing proactive external resources (via multiple methods including LinkedIn, job boards like Indeed, social media, may manage internal referrals/incoming applicants.)

Job Seeker:

Prospect: a job seeker that is potentially of interest to a recruiter or hiring manager. They may be actively contacted, or housed in a database for future potential.

Candidate: job seeker that has actively expressed an interest in a specific role.

New Hire: candidate that has received an offer and accepted. This designation will become “Employee” after they actually start their first day on payroll.

Systems/Functions:

TA/Talent Acquisition: another name for the recruiting function.

ATS/Applicant Tracking System: a database used by recruiting to manage the recruiting function. It can be an internally-developed system or a SaaS. Examples of 3rd party, off the shelf brands include Taleo, WorkDay, Lever, iCIMS, BrassRing, Bullhorn, JazzHR, Jobvite.

HRIS/Human Resources Information System: an HR database that ties into an ATS and manages new hire onboarding and subsequent HR functions.

Req (RECK)/Requisition: an actual job order/posting that has been approved to recruit on. Usually assigned a sequential number when opened.

Job Number: synonymous with requisition number; a unique identifier for an open, approved position.

Workflow: the repeatable steps used to move a candidate from one stage of the recruiting process to another.

BQ/Basic Qualification: the minimum requirements for a specific job. Specifically used for OFCCP-compliant organizations.

PQ/Preferred Qualification: “nice to have” qualifications that may increase a candidate’s likelihood of progressing in the recruiting process.

OFCCP (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs): a division of the EEOC that oversees government contractors/subcontractor compliance with various legal requirements, including fair hiring practices.

Phone Screen/Screen: an early-stage conversation between candidates and employers. It can consist of a conversation with a recruiter, a hiring manager, or a member of the hiring team. Usually it is an exploratory conversation to determine mutual fit, interest, and to establish whether expectations and abilities are in line with the role.

Process:

Headcount/Headcount Planning or Forecasting: Headcount is the financial assignation of budget as it relates to people (employees). Planning/forecasting is the annual process whereby each business unit/hiring manager is assessed in terms of new budget to hire.

Position Number: finance term that relates to the specific budget allocated under a hiring manager for a designated headcount. Every hire has an associated position number.

Compensation Analysis (Compensation Analyst is the professional title/role): A- the annual process of calculating salary amounts across a company involving industry, geographic, employer size, and title information, usually via comprehensive salary survey information. B — the ongoing “pricing” of roles in general.

Salary Survey: a tool used to determine the median or average compensation paid to employees in one or more jobs titles and family. Compensation data, collected from multiple employers, is analyzed to develop an understanding of the amount of compensation paid.

Intake Meeting: a discussion between a recruiter and hiring manager when a job is getting ready to open to discuss the role in depth.

Sourcing: the process whereby a recruiter actively looks for candidates proactively. (see “Sourcer”)

Candidate pipeline: the overview of all candidates either within an individual role or group of open jobs. Usually this refers to all candidates that are in play at every stage of the recruiting lifecycle.

Referral: a process where a professional is brought to the attention of recruiting/hiring manager outside of recruiting. Can be from an internal employee, a business or social contact.

Recruiting Screen: initial conversation with a candidate and recruiter to go over background, work authorization status, compensation, and answer candidate questions.

Informational Interview/”Coffee Chat”: a high level conversation between a candidate/prospect and hiring manager about either a specific job or jobs in general. Larger companies often have an informational interview as the first step in an internal transfer.

Functional/Tech Screen (see “phone screen” above): an in-depth conversation between either the hiring manager or a senior member of the hiring team to go into depth about a candidate’s skills/background. May involve a practical aspect to the conversation, ie solving a problem, or “whiteboarding” in a shared environment.

Interview: a 1:1 conversation between a candidate and someone representing the employer.

Interview Loop: a full set of meetings between a candidate and the hiring team. Comprised of individual interviews.

Panel Interview: an interview loop where the candidate meets with multiple people at once.

Pre-brief: a meeting of all interviewers before an interview loop where everyone is assigned areas of concentration based on the job description.

Debrief: a meeting after a loop has concluded where all interviewers discuss their individual conversations with a candidate and recommend to the team/manager whether they suggest hire/no hire.

Offer Call: a phone call where a recruiter or hiring manager presents the verbal offer to a candidate.

Offer/offer letter: legal document where an employer lays out the terms of hire for a specific applicant.

Offer Rescission (Rescinded): when an employer withdraws an already written tendered offer.

Accept: a candidate signs and offer letter.

Decline: a candidate decides not to accept an offer (verbal or written).

Renege/withdrawal: when a candidate has already signed an offer letter and then tells the employer they have changed their mind.

Onboarding: the process that bridges the gap between “offer” and “new hire” (see above).

Reference Check: a company contacts references provided by a candidate, usually at the offer stage.

Employment Verification: an employer (or a contracted 3rd party) contacts the information provided on a candidate’s application. This can include place of employment, dates, title, and supervisor.

Salary: the amount of money in an employee’s regular paycheck.

Equity (compensation): component including some sort of stock in a company.

Relocation: money/package provided for a new employee to move from one location to another based on the employer’s physical location.

Sign-on bonus: a one-time amount of money paid in conjunction with starting a new position.

Clawback clause: verbiage in an offer letter relating to paying back of bonuses (typically relocation and sign-on bonus; may or may not be pro-rated.)

Benefits: any part of the offer package that does not include a dollar amount; this could be health insurance, spending accounts, 401K plans, paid time off, gym membership, tuition reimbursement/training stipend, cell phone payment, car allowance, equipment allowance, etc.

Total Compensation: the complete offer package including wages, sign-on bonus, relocation benefits, and equity etc.