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Glossary
Plain-language definitions for recruiting and career terminology.
A
- ATS parsing
- The process an applicant tracking system uses to read a resume and place details such as work history and skills into fields.
- Accomplishment statement
- A resume statement that explains a specific action and the result it produced, rather than only listing a duty.
- Achievement
- A meaningful result a candidate helped produce, such as improving a process, meeting a goal, or completing a project.
- Action verb
- A strong verb, such as led, improved, or created, that begins a resume bullet and describes what a candidate did.
- Applicant pool
- The group of people who have applied or are being considered for a particular role.
- Applicant tracking system (ATS)
- Software employers use to collect, organize, search, and review job applications.
- Application question
- A question an employer asks during an application to assess qualifications, availability, interest, or job-specific experience.
- Application status
- The current stage of a job application, such as submitted, under review, interviewing, or closed.
- Availability
- The dates, hours, or notice period that describe when a candidate can begin work or attend an interview.
B
- Background check
- An employer's review of information relevant to a role, which may include employment, education, criminal history, or other checks allowed by law.
- Behavioral interview
- An interview that asks for examples of past actions to understand how a candidate has handled relevant situations.
- Boolean search
- A search method that uses operators such as AND, OR, and NOT to combine or exclude terms when researching jobs or candidates.
C
- Candidate
- A person who is being considered for a job, promotion, program, or other professional opportunity.
- Candidate experience
- How a person experiences an employer's hiring process, including communication, interviews, timing, and feedback.
- Career change
- A move into a different role, occupation, or industry that usually requires candidates to explain their transferable experience.
- Career coach
- A professional who helps people clarify career goals and improve materials, interview preparation, or job-search strategy.
- Career fair
- An event where employers, schools, and job seekers meet to discuss roles, internships, and career paths.
- Career goal
- A professional direction a person wants to pursue, such as developing expertise, moving into leadership, or changing fields.
- Career summary
- A brief introduction near the top of a resume that highlights relevant experience, strengths, and career focus.
- Case interview
- An interview exercise in which a candidate analyzes a business problem and explains a structured recommendation.
- Certification
- A credential awarded after meeting defined requirements, often through an exam, training program, or assessment.
- Company culture
- The shared values, working habits, expectations, and behaviors that shape how people work at an organization.
- Cover letter
- A document sent with a resume that connects a candidate's experience and motivation to a specific role.
- Credential
- Evidence of a person's qualifications, such as a degree, license, certification, or completed training.
- Cross-functional
- Involving people or work from more than one department, specialty, or professional function.
- Curriculum vitae (CV)
- A detailed record of academic and professional background, commonly used for research, academic, and some international roles.
D
- DOCX
- A document file format commonly used by Microsoft Word and many other word-processing applications.
E
- Elevator pitch
- A short introduction that explains who a person is, what they do, and what kind of opportunity they are seeking.
- Employment gap
- A period between jobs or other professional activities shown in a candidate's work history.
- Endorsement
- A LinkedIn signal from another member that recognizes a skill listed on a person's profile.
F
- Freelance work
- Independent paid work completed for clients on a contract or project basis rather than as a permanent employee.
- Functional resume
- A resume format that emphasizes skills and accomplishments more than a chronological work history.
G
- Ghosting
- When an employer or candidate stops responding during a hiring process without explaining the change in communication.
H
- Hard skill
- A teachable, job-specific ability such as data analysis, accounting, coding, or operating equipment.
- Hiring manager
- The person responsible for filling a role and usually for managing the employee after they are hired.
- Hybrid resume
- A resume format that combines a skills-focused summary with a reverse-chronological work history.
- Hybrid work
- A work arrangement that combines time at an employer's workplace with time working remotely.
I
- Impact
- The meaningful effect of a candidate's work on a team, customer, process, revenue, quality, or other outcome.
- Informational interview
- A conversation to learn about a role, company, or field from someone with relevant experience, rather than a formal job interview.
- Internship
- A time-limited work experience that helps a learner or early-career candidate develop skills in a professional setting.
- Interview follow-up
- A timely message or action after an interview that confirms interest, answers a remaining question, or provides requested information.
- Interview panel
- A group of interviewers who evaluate a candidate together during one stage of the hiring process.
J
- Job alert
- A notification about newly posted roles that match saved search criteria such as title, location, or skill.
- Job application
- The materials and information a candidate submits to be considered for a specific role.
- Job board
- A website or platform where employers advertise open roles and candidates search or apply for them.
- Job description
- An employer's outline of a role's responsibilities, qualifications, skills, and working conditions.
- Job matching
- Comparing a candidate's skills, experience, preferences, and eligibility with a role's requirements.
- Job requisition
- An employer's internal request and approval to open a position, often represented by a requisition number.
- Job-search strategy
- A repeatable plan for finding opportunities, tailoring applications, networking, preparing for interviews, and following up.
K
- Keyword
- A role-relevant word or phrase that describes a skill, tool, qualification, responsibility, or industry concept.
L
- Leadership
- The ability to guide people, decisions, or work toward a goal, with or without a formal management title.
- LinkedIn headline
- The short line beneath a LinkedIn member's name that summarizes their professional identity, specialty, or target role.
- LinkedIn profile
- A professional profile on LinkedIn that presents a person's experience, education, skills, network, and career interests.
M
- Metrics
- Measurable results, such as revenue, time saved, error reduction, or people served, used to show the scale of work.
N
- Negotiation
- A discussion to reach agreement on employment terms such as compensation, start date, responsibilities, or flexibility.
- Networking
- Building and maintaining professional relationships that can lead to information, support, or opportunities.
- Notice period
- The amount of time an employee is expected to give an employer before leaving a job, subject to local law and an employment agreement.
O
- Offer letter
- A written proposal from an employer that describes the position, compensation, start date, and key conditions.
- Onboarding
- The process of helping a new employee begin a role, learn expectations, access tools, and become part of the organization.
- Open to work
- A LinkedIn setting or professional signal that indicates a person is interested in new job opportunities.
P
- Performance review
- A structured discussion or assessment of an employee's work, goals, strengths, progress, and development needs.
- Personal brand
- The professional impression created by a person's expertise, values, accomplishments, communication, and online presence.
- Phone screen
- A brief early interview, often by phone or video, used to confirm basic qualifications and interest before later stages.
- Portfolio
- A curated collection of work samples used to demonstrate skills, process, and results.
- Professional experience
- Relevant work, projects, internships, or other activities that demonstrate skills developed in a professional context.
- Professional network
- The group of colleagues, mentors, peers, clients, and contacts a person builds through work and professional communities.
- Professional profile
- A concise overview of a person's experience, strengths, and career focus, often used at the top of a resume or online profile.
- Professional reference
- A person who can speak to a candidate's work, skills, reliability, or professional character.
- Project
- A planned piece of work with a defined goal, scope, and outcome that can demonstrate relevant experience or skills.
- Promotion
- A move to a role with greater responsibility, scope, seniority, or compensation within an organization.
Q
- Quantifiable achievement
- A work result supported by a number, percentage, amount, time period, or other concrete measure.
R
- Recommendation
- A written or spoken statement that supports a candidate's qualifications, character, or suitability for an opportunity.
- Recruiter
- A hiring professional who identifies, contacts, screens, and guides candidates through an employer's recruitment process.
- Recruiter message
- A concise note to a recruiter that states why a role or conversation is relevant and makes a clear, respectful request.
- Recruitment
- The process employers use to attract, assess, select, and hire people for open roles.
- Reference check
- An employer's conversation with a candidate's listed references to confirm work history and gather relevant professional feedback.
- Referral
- A recommendation or introduction from someone who connects a candidate with an employer or specific opportunity.
- Remote work
- Work performed away from an employer's main workplace, usually through digital tools and agreed communication practices.
- Resume
- A concise document summarizing a candidate's relevant experience, education, skills, and achievements.
- Resume bullet point
- A concise statement that describes a responsibility, contribution, or achievement in a resume's experience section.
- Resume format
- The overall structure used to organize a resume, such as reverse-chronological, functional, or hybrid.
- Resume headline
- A brief, role-focused line near the top of a resume that identifies a candidate's professional specialty or target position.
- Resume keyword
- A term from a role or industry used accurately in a resume to connect experience with job requirements.
- Resume objective
- A short statement that names a candidate's target role and the value they hope to contribute, most useful when context is needed.
- Resume parsing
- The extraction of resume details into structured fields so a hiring system can store, search, and display the information.
- Reverse-chronological resume
- A resume format that lists the most recent relevant experience first and works backward through earlier roles.
S
- STAR method
- A way to structure an example by explaining the Situation, Task, Action, and Result.
- Salary expectations
- The compensation range or amount a candidate expects for a role, based on the position, location, and experience required.
- Salary range
- The minimum and maximum compensation an employer has budgeted or a candidate is considering for a role.
- Screening interview
- An early conversation used to confirm basic qualifications, interest, availability, and salary expectations.
- Skills assessment
- A test, exercise, or structured evaluation used to measure a candidate's ability in a specific skill area.
- Skills section
- A resume section that lists relevant tools, technical abilities, languages, or other capabilities in a scannable format.
- Soft skill
- A transferable behavior or interpersonal ability, such as communication, collaboration, or adaptability.
- Sourcing
- The proactive search for potential candidates by recruiters, often through professional networks, databases, or referrals.
- Stakeholder
- A person or group affected by a project, decision, or outcome, such as a customer, colleague, manager, or partner.
T
- Tailored resume
- A resume adjusted to emphasize the experience, skills, and evidence that are most relevant to a particular role.
- Technical interview
- An interview that assesses job-specific knowledge or problem solving through questions, exercises, or demonstrations.
- Thank-you note
- A brief message sent after an interview to thank the interviewer, reinforce relevant interest, and clarify any useful point.
- Transferable skill
- An ability developed in one setting that remains useful across different roles, teams, or industries.
U
- Unstructured interview
- An interview that uses a flexible conversation rather than asking every candidate the same planned questions.
V
- Video interview
- An interview conducted through video-conferencing software, either live or through recorded responses to employer questions.
- Volunteer experience
- Unpaid work for an organization or community that can demonstrate relevant skills, responsibilities, and results.
W
- Work authorization
- A person's legal eligibility to work in a particular country or region without an employer arranging further authorization.
- Work experience
- Paid, freelance, volunteer, or project-based work that demonstrates relevant responsibilities and results.
- Work history
- A chronological record of a person's jobs, employers, dates, titles, and relevant responsibilities.
- Work sample
- An example of completed work or a practical task used to show how a candidate applies relevant skills.
X
- X-ray search
- A web search technique that uses a search engine and site-specific queries to find public professional profiles or job listings.
Y
- Years of experience
- The amount of time a candidate has spent developing relevant skills or performing related responsibilities.
Z
- Zero-hour contract
- A work agreement, used in some countries, where an employer does not guarantee a minimum number of working hours.