Global HR & Recruitment Glossary
Active Candidate
Also: Active Job Seeker
A job seeker who is aggressively and proactively searching for a new employment opportunity, applying to job postings, and available for immediate interviews.
Annual Wage Supplement
Also: AWS, 13th Month Pay, Year-End Bonus
A single annual payment made to employees on top of their regular salary, commonly known as a 13th-month payment in various international jurisdictions.
Applicant Tracking System
Also: ATS, Recruitment Software
A software application that streamlines the recruitment lifecycle by collecting, filtering, organizing, and tracking job applications from submission to onboarding.
Belbin's Team Roles
Also: Belbin Team Inventory
A behavioral model developed by Dr. Meredith Belbin identifying nine distinct team roles essential for balanced, high-performing organizational teams.
Blind Screening
Also: Blind Recruitment, Anonymized CV Screening
The recruitment practice of removing personally identifiable information from candidate applications to eliminate unconscious bias during initial resume evaluations.
Boolean Search
Also: Boolean Sourcing, Search Operators
A structured search technique using logical operators (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks, parentheses) to pinpoint highly specific candidate profiles across databases and search engines.
Case Interview
Also: Business Case Assessment
A job interview format where candidates are presented with realistic, complex business problems and asked to formulate a structured solution in real-time.
Coding Interview
Also: Technical Interview, Pair Programming Assessment
A technical evaluation where software engineering candidates write, test, and debug code to solve algorithmic and architectural challenges.
Compensation Package
Also: Total Rewards, Remuneration Package
The complete collection of cash and non-cash rewards an employee receives from an employer, including base salary, bonuses, equity, and statutory benefits.
Contingent Workforce
Also: Flexible Workforce, Gig Workforce
Non-permanent workers—including independent contractors, freelancers, gig workers, and agency staff—engaged on an on-demand, project, or temporary basis.
Contractor
Also: Independent Contractor, 1099 Worker, Freelancer
An independent professional or legal entity that provides specific services to a client under a commercial contract, rather than as a salaried employee.
Culture Fit
Also: Values Alignment, Cultural Add
The degree of alignment between a candidate's values, communication styles, and workplace behaviors and the prevailing culture of an organization.
DiSC Assessment
Also: DiSC Profile, Behavioral Style Assessment
A behavioral profiling tool based on four core personality styles: Dominance (D), Influence (i), Steadiness (S), and Conscientiousness (C).
Direct Hire
Also: Permanent Placement
A permanent employment arrangement where a candidate is hired directly onto an employer's internal payroll from day one, rather than through a staffing agency.
Direct Report
Also: Subordinate, Supervised Team Member
An employee whose position reports directly to a specific designated manager or supervisor within an organizational hierarchy.
Employee Leasing
Also: Staff Leasing, Co-Employment
An arrangement where a third-party organization officially employs personnel and leases them back to a client company on a long-term basis.
Employee Lifetime Value
Also: ELTV
A metric quantifying the net economic and operational value an employee delivers to an organization across their entire tenure, from onboarding to departure.
Employee Referral Program
Also: Referral Scheme, Internal Talent Sourcing
A structured talent acquisition initiative encouraging existing employees to recommend qualified candidates from their personal and professional networks.
Employee Value Proposition
Also: EVP
The unique set of benefits, career opportunities, culture, and rewards an employer promises to employees in exchange for their skills and performance.
Employer Branding
Also: Talent Branding, Workplace Reputation
The strategic management of an organization's reputation and perception as a workplace among potential candidates and current employees.
Employer of Record
Also: EOR, International EOR, Global PEO
A third-party legal entity that officially employs personnel on behalf of another company, managing statutory payroll, taxes, and compliance overseas.
Engaged Search
Also: Container Search, Priority Search
A hybrid recruitment model combining elements of contingency and retained search, involving a modest upfront commitment followed by a completion fee.
Entry Level Jobs
Also: Junior Roles, Graduate Positions
Employment opportunities designed for recent graduates or career changers requiring minimal prior professional experience in the field.
Executive Search
Also: Headhunting, C-Suite Recruiting
A specialized recruitment service focused on identifying, vetting, and securing high-level C-suite, VP, and Board-level organizational leaders.
FIFO (Fly-In Fly-Out)
Also: Fly-In Fly-Out, Roster-Based Work
An employment arrangement where workers are flown temporarily to remote work locations for operational shifts, then flown back home for rest periods.
First Mover Advantage
Also: Pioneer Advantage
The competitive edge gained by an enterprise that is first to enter a new market, recruit in a new talent hub, or adopt an innovative hiring model.
Global Immigration
Also: Corporate Immigration, Global Mobility Visas
The legal and administrative process of obtaining work permits, visas, and residency authorizations to legally deploy cross-border personnel.
Global Payroll Outsourcing
Also: International Payroll Outsourcing, Multi-Country Payroll
Contracting with an external specialist provider to process, disburse, and report multi-country payroll and statutory employee deductions compliantly.
Group Interview
Also: Assessment Center Exercise
An interview format where multiple candidates are evaluated simultaneously, or a single candidate is interviewed by a team of evaluators.
Hard Skills
Also: Technical Competencies
Teachable, measurable, and verifiable technical abilities required to perform specific professional tasks and job duties.
Hiring Pipeline
Also: Recruitment Funnel, Talent Pipeline
The visual, step-by-step recruitment stages a candidate moves through from initial application to final onboarding.
Imposter Syndrome
Also: Impostor Phenomenon, Perceived Fraudulence
A psychological pattern where high-achieving individuals doubt their accomplishments and harbor persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud.
Job Board
Also: Job Portal, Employment Website
An online platform where employers publish job advertisements and job seekers search, filter, and apply for open positions.
Key Performance Indicators
Also: KPIs, Performance Metrics
Quantifiable metrics used to gauge the operational performance and strategic success of employees, teams, and recruitment processes.
Lateral Move
Also: Internal Transfer, Horizontal Career Move
A career transition where an employee transfers to a different role or department with similar salary, status, and responsibilities.
Mock Interview
Also: Practice Interview, Interview Simulation
A simulation of an employment interview conducted for practice, coaching, and evaluation before formal candidate interviews occur.
Multi-hire Campaign
Also: Volume Hiring, Bulk Recruitment
A large-scale, coordinated recruitment initiative aimed at hiring multiple employees for identical or related roles within a condensed timeframe.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Also: MBTI, Personality Type Indicator
A self-report personality inventory categorizing individuals into 16 psychological types based on four cognitive preference dichotomies.
Onboarding
Also: Employee Induction, New Hire Orientation
The structured process of integrating a new employee into an organization, its culture, compliance requirements, and operational workflows.
Outplacement
Also: Career Transition Services
An employer-sponsored support service assisting departing employees in transitioning to new employment opportunities following layoffs or restructuring.
Panel Interview
Also: Committee Interview, Multi-Stakeholder Interview
An interview format where a single candidate is questioned simultaneously by two or more interviewers representing different stakeholders.
Passive Candidate
Also: Passive Job Seeker, Non-Active Talent
An employed professional who is not actively seeking a job change, but is receptive to considering compelling new career opportunities.
Per Diem
Also: Daily Travel Allowance
A daily monetary allowance provided to employees to cover lodging, meals, and incidental expenses incurred while traveling for business.
Permanent Recruitment
Also: Direct-Hire Recruiting, Full-Time Hiring
The recruitment process of identifying, screening, and hiring candidates for open-ended, salaried employment contracts within an organization.
Preferred Supplier List
Also: PSL, Approved Vendor List
An approved roster of recruitment agencies and staffing vendors that an organization officially partners with under pre-negotiated commercial terms.
Professional Networking
Also: Business Networking, Talent Networking
The ongoing practice of establishing and nurturing mutually beneficial professional relationships to exchange insights, opportunities, and talent.
Professional Search
Also: Mid-Management Search, Specialist Sourcing
Specialized recruitment focused on securing mid-to-senior level individual contributors, subject matter experts, and functional managers.
Quiet Quitting
Also: Working to Rule, Setting Work-Life Boundaries
The practice where employees limit their workplace efforts strictly to the defined duties of their job description, avoiding overtime and voluntary extra tasks.
Retained Search
Also: Retainer-Based Recruiting, Executive Headhunting
An exclusive, high-touch recruitment partnership where a search firm is paid upfront retainer fees to conduct an exhaustive, dedicated search for senior leadership.
Soft Skills
Also: Interpersonal Skills, Human Skills
Interpersonal, cognitive, and emotional attributes enabling individuals to communicate effectively, collaborate, and adapt within a workplace.
Structured Interview
Also: Standardized Interview
An interview methodology where every candidate is asked the exact same predefined questions in the same sequence, evaluated against a standardized rubric.
Talent Mapping
Also: Market Mapping, Competitor Talent Intelligence
The proactive process of researching and charting the external talent landscape within specific competitor organizations, industries, and geographies.
Talent Pool
Also: Talent Community, Candidate Pipeline
A centralized, organized database of qualified potential candidates—including past applicants, silver medalists, and passive prospects—ready for future opportunities.
Temporary Workforce
Also: Temp Staff, Short-Term Workers
Workers engaged through staffing agencies or short-term contracts to fulfill seasonal, project-based, or backfill workforce needs.
Third Shift Jobs
Also: Graveyard Shift, Night Shift
Work shifts operating through the overnight hours, typically spanning between 11:00 PM and 7:00 AM.
Unconscious Bias
Also: Implicit Bias, Cognitive Bias
Automatic, implicit stereotypes and cognitive shortcuts that influence human judgment, evaluation, and hiring decisions without conscious awareness.
Unicorn Candidate
Also: Purple Squirrel, Mythical Candidate
An idealized, rare candidate who purportedly possesses an improbable combination of elite technical, leadership, and domain competencies at a below-market salary.
Vacation Time (Paid Time Off)
Also: PTO, Annual Leave, Statutory Paid Vacation
Paid leave granted by an employer to employees for rest, relaxation, travel, and personal rejuvenation while continuing to receive regular compensation.
Vendor Management System (VMS)
Also: VMS, Contingent Workforce Management Software
An enterprise software application that automates and centralizes the procurement, onboarding, compliance, and payment of contingent and contract labor.
Virtual Interview
Also: Video Interview, Remote Interview
A job interview conducted remotely using video conferencing software, enabling real-time evaluation across different geographical locations.
Whiteboard Interview
Also: System Design Interview, Architecture Whiteboarding
A technical interview exercise where a candidate designs a system architecture or solves an algorithmic problem on a physical or digital whiteboard.
Winslow Personality Profile
Also: Winslow Assessment System
A comprehensive behavioral assessment measuring 24 personality traits across interpersonal, organizational, and dedication dimensions.
Yield Ratio
Also: Pass-Through Rate, Conversion Rate
A recruitment metric calculating the percentage of candidates who successfully advance from one stage of the hiring pipeline to the next.