Employment, Staffing, Recruitment, Temporary Help Industry Terminology

Active Candidate

A job seeker who is actively looking for work and is available to interview and start soon; typically applies to postings, updates profiles, and responds quickly to outreach. Examples: We focused the campaign on active candidates on major job boards; This role needs active candidates who can start within two weeks; Our recruiter sourced mostly active candidates from the career fair.

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

Recruiting software used to manage requisitions, candidates, workflows, communications, compliance, and reporting across the hiring process. Examples: All resumes must be parsed into the ATS for EEO tracking; The ATS triggers automated reminders for interview feedback; We integrated our ATS with a background check provider.

Background Check

A pre-employment screening process that verifies a candidate’s criminal history, identity, employment and education, and may include drug testing or MVR checks as required. Examples: Offers are contingent on passing the background check; Healthcare assignments require a Level 2 background check; The client’s SLA mandates background results within 72 hours.

Bill Rate

The hourly rate a staffing firm charges the client for a worker’s time; typically derived from pay rate plus burden and markup or margin. Examples: We negotiated a bill rate of 42 per hour for that skill set; Weekend shift differential increased the bill rate by 10 percent; Our pricing model sets the bill rate using a 55 percent markup on pay.

Boolean Search

A sourcing technique using operators like AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks, and parentheses to refine search queries in databases and search engines. Examples: Use Boolean to exclude interns by adding NOT intern; The recruiter ran a Boolean string with synonyms to expand results; Parentheses help group terms and control the logic of the search.

Candidate Experience

The total perception candidates have of an employer’s hiring process, from job discovery through onboarding; impacts offer acceptance and employer brand. Examples: We simplified the application to improve candidate experience; Delayed feedback hurt our candidate experience scores; Text reminders reduced no-shows and boosted candidate experience.

Co-Employment

A situation where both the staffing firm and client share certain employer responsibilities for a worker, potentially creating liability for employment practices. Examples: The MSA clarifies co-employment responsibilities; An MSP program helps manage co-employment risk; Treating temps like FTEs for benefits may create co-employment exposure.

Contingency Search

A fee model where the recruiter is paid only if the client hires a presented candidate; often non-exclusive and competitive with other firms. Examples: We engaged two agencies on a contingency search at 22 percent; Contingency searches move quickly but have less guaranteed focus; The client switched from retained to contingency for mid-level roles.

Contract Staffing

Supplying workers on a temporary, project, or time-limited basis where the staffing firm is the employer of record and the client directs daily work. Examples: Peak season contract staffing covers holiday surges; The IT project will be staffed with six contractors; Contract assignments can extend or convert to direct hire.

Cost-per-Hire (CPH)

A metric that divides total recruiting costs by the number of hires; includes advertising, technology, recruiter labor, assessments, travel, and agency fees. Examples: We cut CPH by shifting spend to referrals; Quarterly reviews track CPH by business unit; Programmatic ads lowered our CPH for warehouse roles.

Direct Hire

A permanent placement where the candidate is hired onto the client’s payroll from day one; agencies typically charge a one-time fee based on salary. Examples: This is a direct hire role with relocation assistance; The direct hire fee is 20 percent of first-year base; We converted a contractor to direct hire after six months.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

An organizational commitment to building a diverse workforce, ensuring fair processes, and fostering a culture of belonging; often tied to hiring goals and practices. Examples: The job ad was updated with inclusive language as part of DEI; We require diverse slates for leadership searches; Interviewer training supports our DEI objectives.

E-Verify

A U.S. government system that electronically verifies employment eligibility by comparing I-9 information to DHS and SSA records. Examples: Federal contractors must use E-Verify for new hires; A tentative nonconfirmation requires follow-up by the worker; Our onboarding team runs I-9 and E-Verify on day one.

Employer Brand

The market’s perception of what it is like to work for an organization; shaped by reputation, employee stories, candidate experience, and messaging. Examples: We refreshed the careers site to elevate our employer brand; Social content featuring employees boosted employer brand reach; Negative reviews hurt our employer brand in tech roles.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

Laws and practices that prohibit discrimination in employment based on protected characteristics; requires fair, consistent hiring processes and reporting. Examples: Every posting includes the EEO statement; Structured interviews support EEO compliance; We submitted our EEO-1 data on time this year.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

U.S. law governing minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and child labor; sets rules for exempt vs non-exempt classification. Examples: Classifying analysts as non-exempt ensures OT under FLSA; Misclassification risks back pay and penalties; Temps must track hours for FLSA compliance.

Fill Rate

The percentage of job orders or requisitions that are successfully filled; commonly tracked by client, segment, or recruiter. Examples: The team improved fill rate from 72 to 86 percent; A tight labor market lowered our light industrial fill rate; We set an SLA for an 80 percent monthly fill rate.

Gross Margin

In staffing, revenue (billings) minus direct labor costs and payroll burden, often expressed as a percentage of billings; indicates profitability per hour. Examples: The branch targets a 24 percent gross margin; Higher workers’ comp rates compressed gross margin; We priced the role to maintain gross margin at 22 percent.

Headhunting

Proactive outreach to passive candidates who are not actively applying, often involving market mapping and direct sourcing from competitors. Examples: The recruiter headhunted a director from a rival firm; Headhunting yielded a stronger leadership slate; We used headhunting for niche engineering roles.

I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification

A required U.S. form and process where employers verify the identity and work authorization of each hire within specific timelines. Examples: Remote I-9 verification follows DHS guidelines; Section 2 must be completed within three business days; We retain I-9s per the mandated retention schedule.

Independent Contractor (1099)

A self-employed worker providing services under a contract, not on the company’s payroll; must meet legal tests to avoid misclassification. Examples: The role’s control and schedule make 1099 risky; We shifted the worker from 1099 to W-2 via payrolling; The client uses an IC compliance checklist before engagement.

Job Board

An online platform where employers post openings and candidates search and apply; includes general, niche, and aggregator sites. Examples: We posted on a niche job board for RNs; Aggregators increased our reach for entry-level roles; Performance by job board is tracked weekly.

Job Description (JD)

A document outlining duties, requirements, skills, and reporting lines for a role; used to set expectations and guide sourcing. Examples: The JD was revised to emphasize shift flexibility; We trimmed the JD to must-have requirements; The JD feeds our structured interview guide.

Job Requisition (REQ)

An internal request and authorization to open and fill a position; includes budget, headcount, location, and hiring manager details. Examples: The REQ was approved in the ATS this morning; We held an intake meeting to clarify the REQ; Each REQ must have a target start date and pay range.

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

A quantifiable metric used to measure performance against goals in recruiting and staffing operations. Examples: Time-to-fill and submittal-to-interview are core KPIs; The MSP’s KPIs are defined in the SLA; Recruiters review KPIs in the weekly standup.

Labor Category

A standardized role classification used in rate cards and SOWs to define scope, skills, seniority, and pricing bands. Examples: We priced the Software Engineer II labor category; The client added a new lab tech labor category; Rate negotiations occur at the labor category level.

Managed Service Provider (MSP)

A third-party program that centralizes and manages an organization’s contingent workforce, suppliers, compliance, and reporting, often via a VMS. Examples: The MSP runs supplier scorecards and quarterly reviews; All reqs flow through the MSP for distribution; The MSP standardized screening requirements across vendors.

Markup

A pricing method that adds a percentage to pay rate to set the bill rate; distinct from margin, which reflects profit after burden. Examples: With a pay rate of 25 and a 50 percent markup, the bill rate is 37.50; We adjust markup for overtime and shift premiums; The client prefers fixed markup by labor category.

Master Vendor Model

A staffing program where a primary supplier fills roles first and may manage secondary suppliers to cover remaining demand. Examples: The master vendor handles on-site coordination; Secondary suppliers receive releases only after the master vendor; The model simplified timesheets and consolidated invoicing.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

A measure of satisfaction and loyalty calculated from responses to how likely someone is to recommend your company; used for candidates, clients, or workers. Examples: Candidate NPS improved after faster feedback; The MSP tracks supplier NPS quarterly; Our client NPS rose from 38 to 52 this year.

Offer Acceptance Rate (OAR)

The percentage of offers extended that are accepted; reflects competitiveness of compensation, speed, and candidate experience. Examples: Our OAR dipped due to counteroffers; We raised OAR by pre-closing candidates on salary; Shortening approvals helped improve OAR.

Onboarding

The process of integrating a new hire or temp, including documentation, verifications, provisioning, training, and cultural orientation. Examples: Digital onboarding cut cycle time by two days; The client requires safety training before start; Onboarding checklists ensure compliance items are complete.

Pay Rate

The hourly wage paid to the worker by the employer of record; distinct from the bill rate charged to the client. Examples: The pay rate is 28 per hour plus shift differential; We adjusted the pay rate to meet market minimums; Overtime is based on the regular pay rate per FLSA.

Payroll Burden

The additional costs on top of pay rate, such as payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and certain benefits; used in pricing and margin analysis. Examples: Rising SUTA rates increased our payroll burden; We modeled bill rates using updated workers’ comp; Payroll burden varies by state and industry risk class.

Programmatic Job Advertising

Automated, data-driven buying of job ad traffic that optimizes distribution, bidding, and budget in real time to achieve hiring goals. Examples: Programmatic cut wasted spend on underperforming sites; We shifted to CPC bidding for high-volume roles; Budget pacing ensures ads run steadily through month-end.

Quality of Hire (QoH)

An index of post-hire outcomes, often combining performance, ramp time, retention, and hiring manager satisfaction. Examples: We track 90-day retention as part of QoH; Hiring manager surveys feed our QoH score; Strong QoH helped justify higher sourcing investment.

Reference Check

The process of verifying a candidate’s prior job performance, responsibilities, and behavior through previous supervisors or colleagues. Examples: Two professional references are required before offer; Automated reference checks accelerated hiring; We asked competency-based questions during the reference call.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

An arrangement where an external provider manages all or part of a company’s recruiting function, often with embedded recruiters, SLAs, and shared KPIs. Examples: We launched a project RPO for a plant opening; The RPO runs sourcing while we handle interviews; Quarterly governance meetings review RPO performance.

Retained Search

An exclusive search engagement where the client pays fees in installments (retainers) for dedicated effort, typically for executive or niche roles. Examples: We signed a retained search for the CFO; The retainer is one-third upfront, one-third at shortlist, one-third at offer; Retained search ensures deeper market mapping.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A documented set of performance commitments between parties, defining metrics, targets, timelines, and responsibilities. Examples: The SLA requires first submissions within 48 hours; Supplier fill rate and cycle time are tracked in the SLA; Noncompliance with SLA metrics triggers remediation plans.

Source of Hire

The channel or origin through which a hire entered the pipeline (e.g., referral, job board, agency, career site), used to optimize spend and strategy. Examples: Referrals are our top source of hire for sales; We reallocated budget based on source-of-hire ROI; The ATS dashboard shows source-of-hire by role.

Statement of Work (SOW)

A deliverables-based contract defining scope, milestones, pricing, acceptance criteria, and governance, distinct from time-and-materials staff augmentation. Examples: The SOW includes a fixed price for each phase; We converted some contractors to an SOW for outcomes; Milestone sign-off triggers SOW invoicing.

Talent Acquisition (TA)

The strategic function that plans, sources, attracts, assesses, selects, and onboards talent to meet business needs; broader than transactional recruiting. Examples: TA partnered with FP&A on workforce planning; Our TA team owns employer branding and sourcing; TA metrics feed the quarterly business review.

Temporary Staffing

Placing workers on short-term or seasonal assignments to cover peaks, projects, or absences, with the agency as employer of record. Examples: Holiday temporary staffing doubled headcount in fulfillment; A leave of absence prompted a six-week temp assignment; Temps can be extended or converted based on performance.

Time-to-Fill (TTF)

The number of days from requisition approval to offer acceptance (or start, depending on definition); a core speed and efficiency metric. Examples: Our TTF target for hourly roles is 10 days; Bottlenecks in approvals increased TTF; We cut TTF by pre-scheduling interviews.

Unemployment Insurance (UI)

Employer-funded benefits that provide temporary income to eligible workers who lose their jobs; rates are impacted by claims experience. Examples: Accurate job-separation coding helps manage UI claims; Seasonality in staffing can affect UI rates; We contest ineligible UI claims with documentation.

Vendor Management System (VMS)

Software that centralizes contingent workforce processes such as distributing requisitions, managing suppliers, timekeeping, approvals, and invoicing. Examples: All submissions must go through the VMS; The VMS enforces rate cards and compliance rules; Supplier scorecards are generated from VMS data.

Vendor on Premise (VOP)

An onsite staffing partner that manages high-volume workforce needs at the client location, often handling scheduling, onboarding, and daily coordination. Examples: The VOP maintains an on-site office at the plant; Safety briefings are conducted by the VOP each shift; The VOP coordinates same-day backfills.

W-2 Employee

A worker employed by a company or staffing firm with taxes withheld and employer-paid payroll taxes and insurance; receives a Form W-2 for tax reporting. Examples: All temps are W-2 employees of the agency; We converted a 1099 to a W-2 for compliance; W-2 status enables benefits eligibility under plan rules.

Worker Classification

Determining whether a worker is an employee (W-2) or an independent contractor (1099), and whether a role is exempt or non-exempt, based on legal tests. Examples: The ABC test suggests employee status for this role; Misclassification can trigger back wages and penalties; We use a standardized questionnaire for worker classification.