Recruitment marketing glossary
Every field has its own jargon, and in recruitment marketing the terms are constantly mixed up on top of that. Below are the terms you run into in quotes, reports and conversations, explained in plain language.
Field & positioning
Labor market communications
- Labor market communications is all communication through which an organization positions itself on the labor market as an employer, aimed at active and passive candidates, current employees and alumni.
Recruitment marketing
- Recruitment marketing is applying marketing techniques to hiring: campaigns, funnels, sourcing and follow-up, measurable per euro spent.
Job marketing
- Job marketing is putting one specific vacancy in front of the right audience. Also called vacancy marketing.
Talent acquisition
- Talent acquisition is the strategic, long-term approach to hiring, building a continuous flow of candidates instead of recruiting vacancy by vacancy.
Direct hire
- Direct hire is attracting candidates and assessing which of them is the right one. In the Netherlands it is also the name of the agency model where you pay per placement.
RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing)
- RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) is outsourcing part of or the entire recruitment process to an external party.
Retainer
- Retainer is A fee paid up front to start a search assignment, rather than only on a successful placement.
No cure no pay
- No cure no pay is A payment model where you only pay if delivery actually happens. The risk sits with the supplier instead of the client.
Corporate recruiter
- Corporate recruiter is an in-house recruiter who hires exclusively for their own organization.
Agency recruiter
- Agency recruiter is A recruiter working from an agency who hires for several clients at the same time.
Staffing consultant (intercedent)
- Staffing consultant (intercedent) is A staffing agency employee who matches candidates to assignments and maintains both sides of the relationship.
Hiring manager
- Hiring manager is the manager who ultimately decides who gets hired.
Vacancy intake
- Vacancy intake is the conversation in which recruiter and hiring manager pin down what the role really requires, before recruiting starts.
Contract staffing
- Contract staffing is placing an employee with a client while they remain employed by the contract staffing firm.
Temporary staffing
- Temporary staffing is supplying staff to a hirer, with the staffing agency acting as the formal employer.
Employer branding
Employer branding
- Employer branding is building your employer brand: what you stand for as an employer and why anyone would want to work for you.
Employer brand
- Employer brand is the image people hold of you as an employer.
EVP (Employee Value Proposition)
- EVP (Employee Value Proposition) is the total package of value you offer an employee: pay, development, atmosphere, flexibility and meaning combined.
Employer identity
- Employer identity is the norms, values and ways of working that actually apply internally - the foundation any credible employer brand is built on.
Employee advocacy
- Employees who speak positively about their employer within their own network, of their own accord.
Ambassadors
- Ambassadors is people with a positive experience of you as an employer who talk about it with others, whether they still work there or not.
Employee testimonials
- Employee testimonials is stories from current employees about their experience at work, used as proof in campaigns.
Creative concept
- Creative concept is the central idea and tone of voice that let an employer communicate recognisably and consistently across multiple campaigns.
Careers site
- Careers site is the website, or the section of it, where you present yourself purely as an employer, separate from your commercial site.
Job video
- Job video is A short video showing a role or what it is like to work at an organization, usually used in social campaigns.
Persuasive job ad copy
- Persuasive job ad copy is job ad copy written to persuade rather than merely inform: the offer first, the requirements later.
Audience & campaigns
Audience analysis
- Audience analysis is research into who your ideal candidate is, where they can be found and what they base their decision on.
Recruitment campaign
- Recruitment campaign is A time-bound, usually paid effort to attract candidates for specific vacancies.
Cross-media campaign
- Cross-media campaign is A campaign that combines several channels, online and offline, around the same concept.
Candidate journey
- Candidate journey is the route a candidate travels from first contact to signing, including every moment where they might drop out.
Candidate experience
- Candidate experience is how a candidate experiences dealing with your organization, rejection included. It determines whether they come back later or recommend you.
Recruitment funnel
- Recruitment funnel is the funnel from reach to application to interview to placement, making drop-off visible at every step.
Full funnel
- Full funnel is an approach that serves every stage of the funnel, from awareness to application, instead of only the bottom step.
Inbound recruitment
- Inbound recruitment is attracting candidates to you through visibility, content and your employer brand.
Outbound recruitment
- Outbound recruitment is actively approaching candidates yourself through sourcing and direct messages.
Passive candidate
- Passive candidate is someone who is not actively looking but is open to a better offer. By far the largest group on the labor market.
Active candidate
- Active candidate is someone who is searching right now and applies of their own accord.
Email nurturing
- Email nurturing is keeping candidates who are not ready for a next step warm through a series of automated messages.
Talent pool
- Talent pool is A collection of candidates you spoke to or approached earlier who stay in view for future assignments.
Referral recruitment
- Referral recruitment is recruiting through referrals from your own employees or network.
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
- ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) is the profile of the client you most want to work with, used to aim your outreach and advertising.
Channels & technology
Job board
- Job board is A website where vacancies are posted and candidates can search in a targeted way.
Multiposting
- Multiposting is publishing one vacancy automatically to several job boards and channels at once.
Google for Jobs
- Google for Jobs is the feature that lets Google show vacancies directly in search results, fed by structured data on your vacancy page.
Programmatic job advertising
- Programmatic job advertising is automated buying and steering of job advertising based on results per channel.
SEA
- Search Engine Advertising: paid ads in search engines, charged per click.
SEO
- SEO is search Engine Optimization: making sure your pages are found organically in search engines.
ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
- ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is software in which applications, candidates and hiring processes are tracked.
Candidate CRM
- Candidate CRM is A system for maintaining the relationship with candidates who cannot be placed yet.
Recruitment marketing automation
- Recruitment marketing automation is automation of recurring marketing and follow-up steps towards candidates.
Recruitment chatbot
- Recruitment chatbot is an automated conversation partner on your site that answers questions and captures applications.
AI sourcing
- AI sourcing is continuously and automatically searching sources such as LinkedIn for matching profiles, with automated outreach.
Media budget
- Media budget is the advertising budget itself, usually a separate line on top of an agency's fee.
Landing page
- Landing page is the page an ad leads to, built around one action instead of around information.
Sourcing
Sourcing
- Sourcing is actively searching for and approaching suitable candidates instead of waiting for applications.
Boolean search
- Boolean search is searching with the operators AND, OR and NOT to define results precisely.
X-ray search
- X-ray search is A sourcing technique where you use a search engine to search inside one specific website.
Search string
- Search string is the exact combination of search terms and operators used to run a sourcing assignment.
Hunting
- Hunting is approaching candidates in a targeted, personal way, usually for scarce or senior roles.
KPIs & measurement
Cost per hire
- Cost per hire is the total cost of hiring one new employee, including media, tooling and internal hours.
Cost per applicant
- Cost per applicant is advertising budget divided by the number of applications. The most direct measure of campaign efficiency.
Time to hire
- Time to hire is the number of days between the first application and the eventual hire.
Time to fill
- Time to fill is the number of days between opening a vacancy and filling it.
Quality of hire
- Quality of hire is A measure of how well new hires turn out to perform and stay.
Offer acceptance rate
- Offer acceptance rate is the percentage of candidates who actually accept an offer.
Source of hire
- Source of hire is the channel the eventually hired candidate came from.
Fulfilment ratio
- Fulfilment ratio is the percentage of assignments or vacancies that actually get filled. For agencies the key gauge of commercial success.
Recruiter workload
- Recruiter workload is the number of vacancies one recruiter handles at the same time. A higher workload structurally coincides with worse results.
Conversion rate
- Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors, clickers or approached candidates who take the next step.
Selection & onboarding
Assessment
- Assessment is A structured examination of a candidate's abilities, personality or skills.
STARR method
- STARR method is an interview technique that probes Situation, Task, Action, Result and Reflection to make behaviour concrete.
Cultural fit
- Cultural fit is the extent to which a candidate fits the way work actually gets done inside the organization.
Skill-based hiring
- Skill-based hiring is selecting on demonstrable skills instead of on diplomas or previous job titles.
Preboarding
- Preboarding is the period between signing the contract and the first working day, in which you prevent someone from dropping out after all.
Onboarding
- Onboarding is the process by which a new employee gets up to speed and connected to the organization.
Retention
- Retention is keeping employees. For agencies often the cheapest form of recruiting.
Let's fill your next vacancy
and win your next client.
A concrete plan for your vacancies and your client acquisition
A review of your current channels
Clear next steps
30.000+
leads delivered.
5.0
rating on Google.
From the very first moment it was clear we were dealing with a professional, reliable partner who understands what it takes in recruitment and talent acquisition.
Yves van Rey
HeadStaffing
We get back to you within 1 working day.
- A concrete plan for your vacancies and your client acquisition
- A review of your current channels
- Clear next steps
