Hiring Manager's Cheat Sheet: Essential Recruiting Terms
Recruiting the right talent in high-growth startups can be a challenge, especially when navigating complex industries like AI, Biotech, Green Energy, and Cybersecurity. As a hiring manager, understanding the key recruiting terms and concepts is essential to streamlining your hiring process, attracting top candidates, and building a team that will fuel your company's success.
This Hiring Manager's Cheat Sheet provides you with valuable insights into the terminology you need to know to work efficiently with recruiters, make informed decisions, and ensure your recruitment strategies are tailored to the specific needs of your industry. Ready to sharpen your recruiting skills and grow your dream team? Let’s dive in!
Glossary of Essential Recruiting Terms
1. Boolean Search
A technique that uses operators like AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses to refine searches and help recruiters find the most relevant candidates based on specific keywords.
2. Passive Candidate
Someone who isn’t actively seeking a job but may be interested in new opportunities if approached with the right offer.
3. Time-to-Hire
The time it takes for a candidate to move through the recruitment process from application to offer acceptance.
4. Time-to-Fill
The total time it takes from when a job is posted to when the position is officially filled.
5. Cultural Fit
How well a candidate's values, behaviors, and work style align with the company’s culture, mission, and values.
6. Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
A software system that automates the hiring process by managing applications, sorting resumes, and tracking candidate progress through each stage.
7. Job Descriptions (JDs)
A document outlining the roles, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills required for a specific job, helping attract the right candidates.
8. Diversity and Inclusion (D&I)
Focuses on creating an inclusive workplace that values and promotes diversity in hiring and culture, leading to a more innovative and collaborative environment.
9. Skills Gap
The difference between the skills required by an employer for a position and the skills available in the talent pool.
10. Sourcing
Proactively identifying and reaching out to potential candidates, especially those who are not actively job hunting.
11. Offer Letter
A formal document provided to a candidate detailing the job offer, including the salary, benefits, and terms of employment.
12. Recruitment Marketing
Uses branding, content, and digital marketing techniques to promote job openings and attract the right talent by highlighting the company’s culture and values.
13. Candidate Engagement
The efforts made by recruiters to keep candidates interested and informed throughout the hiring process.
14. Candidate Assessment Tools
Tools used to evaluate a candidate’s technical, cognitive, and behavioral skills through various testing methods such as coding challenges or aptitude tests.
15. Offer Acceptance Rate
The percentage of job offers that are accepted by candidates compared to the number of offers extended.
16. Skills Mapping
The process of comparing the skills of candidates or existing employees against the skill requirements for a role to identify skill gaps or strong fits.
17. Workforce Planning
Involves assessing the current workforce and predicting future staffing needs based on business goals, growth projections, and skill requirements.
18. Hiring Freeze
A temporary pause in the recruitment process, often due to financial concerns, business restructuring, or organizational changes.
19. Remote Work Policy
A set of guidelines established by the company that dictates the terms under which employees are allowed to work remotely.
20. Onboarding Software
A digital tool used to streamline the new employee onboarding process, including document management, training modules, and introductions to company culture.
21. Screening Call
A brief initial phone call where recruiters assess a candidate’s qualifications, interest in the role, and overall fit before advancing them to the next step in the hiring process.
22. Technical Interview
An interview where a candidate's technical expertise is tested through problem-solving tasks, coding challenges, or technical discussions.
23. Employer Branding
The process of creating and promoting a positive image of the company as a great place to work, often through social media, employee testimonials, and company culture content.
24. Compensation Package
The total salary and benefits package offered to a candidate, which can include base salary, bonuses, stock options, insurance, and other perks.
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