Plain-English definitions of the recruiting, hiring and HR terms talent teams use every day.
The Pitch N Hire Recruiting & HR Glossary defines the terms hiring teams use every day — from applicant tracking system, cost-per-hire, and time-to-fill to structured interview, staff augmentation, and quality of hire. Each entry gives a plain-language definition, why the term matters, and how it fits the modern recruiting workflow, with links to related tools and guides.
Recruiting and HR are full of overlapping jargon — ATS, CRM, RPO, EVP, sourcing, screening, structured interviewing, time-to-fill, quality-of-hire — and the same word often means slightly different things to a recruiter, a hiring manager and a vendor. This glossary defines the terms that actually come up when you are hiring or buying hiring software, in plain language, with the context and examples that make each one useful rather than just a dictionary line.
Every entry opens with a short, citable definition, then goes deeper: why the concept matters, how it works in practice, a concrete example, the mistakes teams commonly make, and how it connects to related ideas. The goal is that someone new to recruiting can read a single page and genuinely understand the concept, while an experienced practitioner can use it to align a team on shared language. Terms are grouped by theme — the hiring process, sourcing and candidates, interviewing and assessment, recruiting metrics, HR software, and staffing models — so you can browse by area or search for a specific term.
The definitions are vendor-neutral: the aim is to explain the concept honestly, not to sell a tool. Where a term relates to something Pitch N Hire does — applicant tracking, AI screening, structured interviews, sourcing — the entry says so plainly and links to more detail, but the explanation stands on its own whether or not you ever use the platform.
Use the glossary alongside the recruiting answers hub for how-to questions, the ATS comparisons when evaluating tools, and the blog for deeper guides. Pick any term above to start reading.
The terms cluster into a few themes. The hiring process covers the stages of recruiting — sourcing, screening, shortlisting, interviewing, offer and onboarding — and the workflow terms around them. Sourcing and candidates covers how you find and engage people, from active and passive candidates to talent pools and candidate experience. Interviewing and assessment covers structured interviews, scorecards, skills tests and the signals that actually predict performance. Recruiting metrics covers the numbers leaders track — time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, quality-of-hire, offer-acceptance and funnel conversion. HR software covers the tools — ATS, CRM, HRIS and the AI features now built into them. And staffing models covers how work gets resourced, from permanent hiring to staff augmentation, contract staffing and Employer of Record.
An applicant tracking system manages people who have applied — the active pipeline for open roles. A recruiting CRM nurtures people who haven't applied yet — passive candidates and talent pools you keep warm for the future. Many modern platforms, Pitch N Hire included, combine both.
Recruiting vocabulary evolved across HR, agencies and software vendors, so words like "sourcing", "screening" or "quality-of-hire" carry slightly different meanings depending on who's speaking. Each entry here gives the plain, widely-accepted definition and flags where usage varies, so a team can agree on shared language.
Pair the definitions with the recruiting answers hub for how-to questions, the recruitment and interview statistics for the evidence behind the concepts, and the ATS comparisons when a term relates to a buying decision.
Precise language prevents expensive misunderstandings. When a hiring manager, a recruiter and a vendor all mean different things by "screening" or "quality-of-hire", roles get briefed loosely, metrics get compared unfairly, and tools get bought for the wrong reasons. A shared vocabulary is the cheapest way to make a hiring process consistent — everyone scores the same things, tracks the same numbers, and knows what a term commits them to. These definitions are written to be that shared reference: plain enough for someone new to recruiting, precise enough to settle a disagreement, and honest about where usage genuinely varies across the industry.
No — the definitions are vendor-neutral and explain each concept on its own terms. Where an idea maps to something Pitch N Hire does, such as applicant tracking, structured interviewing or sourcing, the entry says so and links to more detail, but the explanation stands whether or not you use the platform. The goal is a reference you would happily send to a new team member, not a sales pitch dressed up as a definition.
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