Recruiting Glossary

Browse 6 recruiting terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

6 Recruiting Terms

Candidate Experience
The overall experience a job candidate has during the hiring process, including communication, interviews, scheduling, feedback, and respect for their time. In...
Cold Outreach
Direct contact initiated without an existing relationship, usually for sales, hiring, partnerships, or fundraising. Effective cold outreach depends on...
Hiring Pipeline
The sequence of stages candidates move through during recruiting, such as sourcing, screening, interviews, debriefs, and offers. Teams treat it like an...
Phone Screen
An early-stage interview, traditionally by phone and now often by video, used to assess basic fit, communication, and sometimes technical baseline before more...
Purple Squirrel
A recruiting term for an unrealistically perfect candidate who matches every desired skill, background, and experience requirement. It is usually used...
Unicorn Hire
A rare hire who is seen as combining unusually strong technical skill, domain fit, communication ability, and leadership potential in one person. The phrase...

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