Recruiting terms, defined plainly.
No jargon, no padding — a straight definition for every term, grounded in how it actually shows up in staffing and high-volume hiring.
ATS Fundamentals
Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
Software that manages the hiring pipeline end to end — job postings, applications, candidate communication, interview scheduling, and offers — in one system of record.
Read the definitionJob Requisition
A formal, approved request to fill a position — the record an ATS is built around, distinct from the job posting a candidate actually sees.
Read the definitionVendor Management System (VMS)
Software a company uses to manage its relationships with staffing agencies and other contingent-labor vendors — requisitions, rate cards, invoicing — distinct from the ATS a staffing agency itself uses.
Read the definitionCandidate Relationship Management (CRM)
The practice — and often the software feature — of tracking and nurturing relationships with candidates over time, including people not currently in an active pipeline.
Read the definitionJob Board Aggregator
A service that collects job postings from many individual job boards and career sites into one searchable listing, rather than a single standalone board.
Read the definitionWhite-Label Recruiting Software
Recruiting software built to run under a company's own branding — logo, colors, domain — rather than the software vendor's own name and identity.
Read the definitionFunnel Metrics
Time to Fill
The number of days between a job requisition opening and a candidate accepting an offer for it.
Read the definitionTime to Hire
The number of days between a candidate applying and that same candidate accepting an offer — a candidate-level clock, not a requisition-level one.
Read the definitionCost per Hire
The total recruiting spend (advertising, tools, staff time, agency fees) divided by the number of hires made in a given period.
Read the definitionQuality of Hire
A measure of how well a new hire actually performs and stays — usually tracked through performance ratings, ramp time, and retention at 90 days or one year.
Read the definitionSource of Hire
The channel a hired candidate originally came from — a job board, referral, agency, or direct application — tracked back to the applicant's first touchpoint.
Read the definitionSourcing & Pipeline
Candidate Pipeline
The full set of candidates currently moving through a requisition, organized by stage — applied, screened, interviewing, offered — at any given moment.
Read the definitionTalent Pool
A standing group of candidates — past applicants, referrals, or sourced leads — not tied to a specific open requisition, kept warm for future roles.
Read the definitionCandidate Sourcing
The proactive work of finding and reaching out to potential candidates, as opposed to waiting for them to apply to a posted job.
Read the definitionPassive Candidate
Someone qualified for a role who isn’t actively job hunting — reachable through sourcing, but not going to find a job posting on their own.
Read the definitionCandidate Rediscovery
Searching your own past applicants and talent pool for a fit to a new requisition, instead of sourcing from scratch every time a role opens.
Read the definitionBoolean Search (Recruiting)
Using logical operators (AND, OR, NOT) to build precise search queries — across resumes, a talent pool, or a job board — instead of a single plain-text keyword search.
Read the definitionCandidate Match Score
A rating that estimates how well a candidate's resume or profile fits a role's requirements, typically generated from a defined set of keywords or criteria rather than a subjective read.
Read the definitionSkills-Based Hiring
Evaluating candidates primarily on demonstrated skills relevant to the role, rather than defaulting to credentials like a specific degree or years of tenure as a first filter.
Read the definitionScreening & Interviewing
Screening Call (Phone Screen)
A short, early call to confirm basic fit — availability, requirements, salary expectations — before investing in a full interview.
Read the definitionStructured Interview
An interview format where every candidate for a role is asked the same set of questions, scored against the same criteria — as opposed to an unscripted conversation.
Read the definitionInterview Scorecard
A standard form used to rate a candidate against defined criteria right after an interview, so evaluations are recorded consistently across interviewers.
Read the definitionApplicant Disposition
Recording the specific reason a candidate exited the pipeline — not qualified, withdrew, filled by another candidate — rather than leaving the record blank.
Read the definitionApplicant Self-Scheduling
Letting a candidate pick their own interview time from a recruiter's real availability, instead of a back-and-forth of proposed times over email or text.
Read the definitionCandidate Experience & Retention
Candidate Experience
How a candidate perceives and reacts to every touchpoint in your hiring process — from the job ad to the offer, whether or not they get hired.
Read the definitionCandidate Ghosting
When a candidate stops responding mid-process without formally withdrawing — after applying, scheduling an interview, or even accepting an offer.
Read the definitionOnboarding & Compliance
Offer Letter
The formal written offer of employment sent to a candidate — role, pay, start date, and terms — that a candidate accepts to move from applicant to hire.
Read the definitionEmployee Onboarding
The process of turning an accepted offer into a working employee — paperwork, tax forms, eligibility verification, and orientation — before or on their first day.
Read the definitionPre-Employment Background Check
A verification of a candidate's history — criminal records, employment history, or other checks required for the role — usually run after a conditional offer.
Read the definitionReference Check
Contacting people a candidate has worked for or with previously to verify their history and performance, usually late in the hiring process.
Read the definitionE-Verify
The U.S. federal system employers use to confirm a new hire's employment eligibility by cross-checking Form I-9 information against government records.
Read the definitionRecruiting Marketing & Comms
Recruitment Marketing
Applying marketing practices — messaging, channels, and campaigns — to attracting candidates, treating the top of the hiring funnel like a marketing funnel.
Read the definitionEmployer Branding
How a company is perceived as a place to work — separate from its consumer brand — shaped by candidate experience, reviews, and how consistently a company presents itself to applicants.
Read the definitionRecruiting Drip Campaign
A pre-scheduled series of messages sent to a candidate or talent-pool segment over time, automatically, rather than a recruiter sending each one manually.
Read the definitionCandidate Nurture Campaign
An ongoing sequence of messages meant to keep a candidate or talent-pool segment engaged over time, even when there's no immediate open role to offer them.
Read the definitionTwo-Way Texting (Recruiting)
SMS conversation where a candidate can reply directly to a recruiter's text, as opposed to one-way blasts that go out but can't be responded to.
Read the definitionStaffing Models
Seasonal Hiring
Hiring for roles tied to a predictable seasonal spike in demand — retail holidays, summer tourism, agricultural harvests — usually on a compressed timeline before the peak hits.
Read the definitionTemp-to-Hire
An arrangement where a worker starts in a temporary role — often through a staffing agency — with the possibility of converting to a permanent, direct hire after a trial period.
Read the definitionDirect Hire (Staffing)
A placement where a staffing agency recruits and screens a candidate who is then hired directly onto the client company's own payroll, with no temporary or contract period.
Read the definitionContingent Workforce
Workers engaged on a non-permanent basis — temporary staff, contractors, or freelancers — as opposed to direct, permanent employees on a company's own payroll.
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