Recruiting glossary
The words of the trade, defined without jargon: what they mean, why they matter and how to apply them. Definitions that hold anywhere, with Canadian and Quebec examples where local rules change the practice.
Terms shown: 50
A
- Technology
AI in recruitment
Using AI systems to screen, assess, rank or contact candidates. Now regulated in places such as Ontario, Quebec and New York City.
- Technology
ATS (applicant tracking system)
An ATS is software that centralizes job openings, applications and hiring stages, from resume screening to the hire.
B
C
- Compliance
Candidate data privacy
Rules and practices governing how candidates' personal information is collected, used, retained and destroyed during recruitment.
- Candidate experience
Candidate experience
Candidate experience is everything a candidate goes through, from discovering the job to the final answer, whether or not they are hired.
- Technology
Candidate matching
Candidate matching compares profiles with a job to rank those that fit best, often with a match score.
- Metrics
Candidate response rate
Share of candidates who receive a clear answer, positive or negative, to their application. The most direct measure of recruitment silence.
- Selection
Candidate screening
Candidate screening is the stage where incoming applications are sorted to keep those that meet the role's requirements before interviews.
- Process
Collaborative hiring
An approach where recruiters, hiring managers and future colleagues assess candidates together, on shared criteria, before deciding.
- Selection
Competency-based interview
A competency-based interview asks candidates to describe real past situations to assess how they actually applied a competency.
- Metrics
Cost per hire
Total internal and external recruiting costs divided by the number of hires over the same period.
D
- Compliance
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
An approach aimed at fair, accessible hiring processes, so that candidates are judged on their skills rather than their background.
- Sourcing
Dormant talent pool
A dormant talent pool is the candidates already in your database but no longer contacted: past applicants, runner-up finalists, imported and forgotten profiles.
E
- Process
Employee onboarding
The process of welcoming and integrating a new hire, from offer acceptance through the first months, so they become productive and stay.
- Sourcing
Employee referral
Hiring candidates recommended by current employees, often with a bonus paid if the person is hired.
- Metrics
Employee turnover rate
Share of employees who leave the organization over a period, relative to average headcount. A key retention metric.
- Candidate experience
Employer brand
Employer brand is the image an organization has among candidates and employees as a place to work.
- Technology
Explainable AI
AI whose outputs come with an understandable explanation: which factors mattered and by how much. The opposite of a black box.
- Technology
Explained match score
An explained match score rates how well a candidate fits a role and shows which criteria raised or lowered the score.
H
- Agencies and staffing
Headhunting
Headhunting means directly approaching people who are already employed, for rare, specialized or executive profiles.
- Compliance
Hiring discrimination
Unfavourable treatment of a candidate based on a protected ground (origin, sex, age, disability, etc.), directly or through a seemingly neutral criterion.
I
- Process
Intake meeting
An intake meeting is where the recruiter and hiring manager (or client) define the role, the selection criteria and the process before any search starts.
- Sourcing
Internal mobility
Filling a role with someone already employed (promotion, transfer, role change) rather than through external hiring.
- Selection
Interview scorecard
An interview scorecard lists the role's criteria and describes what each answer level is worth, so every candidate is rated the same way.
J
- Process
Job description
A job description is the internal document that defines a role's purpose, responsibilities, requirements and reporting line.
- Process
Job offer
A formal proposal to the chosen candidate: role, pay, start date and conditions. It precedes the employment contract.
- Process
Job posting
A job posting is the public ad for an open role, written to attract candidates and give them the key information.
M
O
P
- Compliance
Pay transparency
The practice, sometimes mandatory, of stating expected pay or a pay range in job postings. Rules apply in Ontario, B.C. and several US states.
- Process
Probation period
A period at the start of employment during which the employer assesses the new hire. Its legal effect varies by province or state.
Q
R
- Technology
Recruiting CRM
A recruiting CRM manages long-term relationships with candidates, including those not applying to anything, so you can re-engage them at the right time.
- Metrics
Recruiting KPIs
A set of numeric indicators that measure the speed, cost, quality and fairness of a recruiting process.
- Technology
Recruiting software
Recruiting software is any tool that helps attract, screen, assess and hire candidates: ATS, CRM, matching, multiposting.
- Metrics
Recruitment funnel
A view of the hiring stages, from application to hire, with the number of candidates and the conversion rate at each stage.
- Candidate experience
Recruitment ghosting
Recruitment ghosting means going silent without warning: an employer who leaves a candidate without news, or a candidate who stops responding.
- Selection
Reference check
Contacting a candidate's former managers or colleagues to confirm their experience and skills before hiring.
- Candidate experience
Rejection feedback
Rejection feedback is a negative answer that tells the candidate, precisely and respectfully, why their application was not selected.
- Technology
Resume parsing
Resume parsing automatically extracts information from a resume, such as experience, skills and education, and turns it into structured data.
- Agencies and staffing
RPO (recruitment process outsourcing)
RPO hands all or part of a company's recruiting process to an external provider that acts as its recruiting team.
S
- Selection
Skills-based hiring
An approach that selects candidates on demonstrated, job-relevant skills rather than degrees, job titles or pedigree.
- Sourcing
Sourcing
Sourcing is the proactive search for candidates who have not applied, in databases, professional networks or on the web.
- Agencies and staffing
Staffing agency
A staffing agency finds candidates for client companies, for permanent or temporary placements, in exchange for fees paid by the client.
- Selection
Structured interview
A structured interview asks every candidate the same job-related questions and rates the answers on a scale defined in advance.
T
- Sourcing
Talent pool
A talent pool is a group of qualified candidates an organization keeps in touch with for future roles.
- Metrics
Time-to-fill
Number of days between opening a position and a candidate accepting the offer. It measures the overall speed of your hiring process.
- Metrics
Time-to-hire
Number of days between a candidate entering your process and accepting the offer. It measures how efficient your selection process is.