Thirty terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Applicant tracking system (ATS) | Software that manages the people who applied or were referred for a job: job posts, the pipeline of stages, interviews, feedback and offers. |
| AI-native ATS | An ATS designed so that AI does the routine work (job posts, screening, replies, scheduling) and every action is open to AI agents with permissions and approvals, while people decide. See ai native ats. |
| Recruiting CRM | Software for people you approach before they apply: sourcing lists, outreach sequences and nurturing. See ats vs crm vs hris. |
| HRIS | Human resources information system: records for employees after they sign, such as payroll, time off and documents. |
| Pipeline | The ordered stages a candidate moves through for one job, for example applied, intro call, technical interview, onsite, offer, hired. |
| Stage | One step in the pipeline. Each stage has an owner and usually a scorecard. |
| Requisition (req) | An approved opening to hire for, often with a budget and a hiring manager. Larger companies require one before a job is posted. |
| Hiring manager | The person the new hire will report to, who owns the decision for the role. |
| Screening brief | A short written description of who should get an interview: must-haves, either/or profiles and bonuses. Used by people and by AI screening. See screening brief. |
| Must-have | A requirement a candidate cannot miss, phrased so it can be checked against a resume. |
| AI resume screening | A language model reads each application against the role's requirements and scores or ranks it. Good tools show the evidence for each requirement. See ai resume screening. |
| Knockout question | An application question that disqualifies a candidate on a clear rule, such as work authorization or location. |
| Scorecard | A short form an interviewer fills in after an interview: three to five criteria with a rating and a written example each. See interview scorecards. |
| Structured interview | An interview in which every candidate for a role gets the same questions and is rated on the same criteria. |
| Debrief | The meeting or written summary after the interviews where every interviewer's ratings are compared and a decision is made. |
| Sourcing | Finding and contacting people who have not applied. |
| Referral | A candidate recommended by an employee or a contact. |
| Agency submission | A candidate sent by an outside recruiter or agency, who may be owed a fee if that person is hired. See recruiting agency submissions. |
| Candidate ownership | The rule that decides which agency is owed a fee when the same person is submitted twice, usually the first valid submission for a fixed claim period. |
| Pass-through rate | The share of candidates in a stage who move on to the next stage. A low rate shows where the process filters, or loses, people. |
| Time to hire | Days from a candidate entering the pipeline to accepting an offer. |
| Time to fill | Days from opening a role to an accepted offer. |
| Offer acceptance rate | The share of offers made that are accepted. |
| Careers page | The page on a company's website that lists open jobs and takes applications. |
| Job feed | An XML or JSON file of open jobs that job boards and Google read to list them. |
| MCP server | A server that speaks the Model Context Protocol, the open standard that lets AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT use a piece of software's actions as tools. See ats with mcp server. |
| Proposal | In Evander, a change an AI agent or automation wants to make that waits for a person's approval, such as emailing a candidate. |
| Data retention period | How long candidate data is kept after the process ends before it is deleted. GDPR expects a defined period. See gdpr recruiting. |
| Data subject request | A request from a person to see, correct or delete the data a company holds about them. |
| EEO self-identification | Voluntary questions on US application forms about gender, race or ethnicity, veteran and disability status, stored apart from the application and not used in the decision. |
To see the terms in order, read a hiring process for startups in seven steps.
Questions
What does ATS stand for?
Applicant tracking system: software that manages job posts, applicants, interviews, feedback and offers in one place.
What is the difference between time to hire and time to fill?
Time to hire counts from when a candidate enters the pipeline to their accepted offer. Time to fill counts from when the role is opened to an accepted offer, so it is always the longer of the two.
What is a good pass-through rate?
There is no universal number; it depends on the stage and the role. Track it per stage over time. A sudden drop shows a stage that filters too hard or loses candidates, for example through slow replies.
What is a screening brief?
A short written description of who should get an interview, with must-haves, either/or profiles and bonuses. It works for a person reading resumes and as the criteria for AI screening.