About This Glossary
Recruitment has a language of its own. From ATS and resume parsing to semantic matching and talent pools, the vocabulary can be overwhelming — especially for hiring managers, founders, and HR technology buyers evaluating new tools.
This glossary brings together the most commonly used recruitment terms in one place. Wherever a term has a dedicated Knowledge Graph page, we link directly to it so you can go deeper. Think of this page as the central hub of the Empikalyze Knowledge Graph.
How to use this glossary
Recruitment Technology Terms
Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software that helps recruiters manage job postings, applications, candidate profiles, interview scheduling, and collaboration throughout the hiring workflow. The ATS is typically the system of record for active hiring processes.
Resume Parsing
Resume parsing is the process of extracting structured data from a resume — such as name, contact details, skills, work experience, and education — so it can be stored, searched, and compared by software. Parsing is the foundation of modern ATS and AI resume screening systems.
Read the full Resume Parsing guide →
Recruitment CRM
A Recruitment CRM (Candidate Relationship Management) is software that helps recruiters build, nurture, and engage long-term candidate relationships and talent pools. While an ATS manages active applications, a CRM focuses on future-oriented candidate engagement.
See also: Talent Pool.
Structured Candidate Profile
A structured candidate profile is a normalized, searchable representation of a candidate created by resume parsing. Instead of free-text resumes, structured profiles let software filter, search, and rank candidates by skills, experience, and other attributes.
Candidate Lifecycle Terms
Applicant
An applicant is a person who has formally applied for an open job requisition. Every applicant is a candidate, but not every candidate is an applicant — sourced and referred individuals may be candidates without having formally applied.
Candidate
A candidate is any person being considered for a role, including applicants, referrals, and passively sourced prospects.
Passive Candidate
A passive candidate is a professional who is not actively job hunting but may be open to the right opportunity. Passive candidates are central to a long-term talent pool strategy.
Silver Medalist
A silver medalist is a strong candidate who reached the final stages of a hiring process but was not selected. Silver medalists are high-value members of a talent pool for future roles.
Hiring Funnel
The hiring funnel describes the stages candidates pass through, from application to offer. A typical funnel includes applied, screened, interviewed, shortlisted, offered, and hired.
Offer Acceptance Rate
Offer Acceptance Rate (OAR) is the percentage of job offers a candidate accepts. It is a key indicator of offer competitiveness and candidate experience.
Screening & Evaluation Terms
Resume Screening
Resume screening is the process of reviewing resumes to decide which candidates should advance in the hiring process. It is typically the first and most time-consuming stage of recruitment.
Read the full Resume Screening guide →
AI Resume Screening
AI resume screening applies artificial intelligence — typically semantic matching and large language models — to evaluate and rank resumes against a job description. AI screening helps recruiters process more candidates accurately while keeping humans in control of decisions.
Read the full AI Resume Screening guide →
Candidate Screening
Candidate screening is the broader process of evaluating candidates using resumes, applications, assessments, and other inputs. It includes but is broader than resume screening.
Read the full Candidate Screening guide →
Candidate Evaluation
Candidate evaluation is the structured assessment of candidates against defined criteria — typically after initial screening. Evaluation may include scoring, scorecards, interviews, and assessments.
Read the full Candidate Evaluation guide →
Candidate Ranking
Candidate ranking orders candidates by relevance or fit for a role, helping recruiters prioritize who to contact first. AI-assisted ranking uses semantic matching to compare candidates at scale.
Read the full Candidate Ranking guide →
Search & Sourcing Terms
Boolean Search
Boolean search is a structured search technique that uses operators like AND, OR, NOT, parentheses, and quotation marks to find precise combinations of keywords. It is widely used in recruitment sourcing across ATS, LinkedIn, Google, and GitHub.
Read the full Boolean Search guide →
Semantic Matching
Semantic matching is an AI technique that compares the meaning of text rather than exact keywords. In recruitment, it matches resumes to job descriptions by understanding skills, context, and synonyms — reducing false negatives that keyword and Boolean search produce.
Read the full Semantic Matching guide →
X-Ray Search
X-Ray search is a sourcing technique that uses Google to search within a specific website (such as LinkedIn) using the site: operator. It is a core Boolean search skill for recruiters.
Sourcing
Sourcing is the proactive process of identifying and engaging candidates — especially passive candidates — before they apply. Sourcing combines search techniques like Boolean search with outreach and relationship-building.
Candidate Nurturing
Candidate nurturing is the ongoing practice of keeping talent pool members engaged through relevant content, job updates, and personalized outreach — so they are ready when a role opens.
Talent Strategy Terms
Talent Pool
A talent pool is a structured, searchable database of candidates an organization has engaged with — including past applicants, passive prospects, referrals, and alumni — who may be suitable for future roles.
Read the full Talent Pool guide →
Talent Pipeline
A talent pipeline is a curated, role-specific group of candidates being nurtured for a defined hiring need. Pipelines are drawn from the broader talent pool.
Talent Community
A talent community is an opt-in group of candidates who want ongoing communication from an organization, even when not applying for a specific role. It is the engagement layer on top of a talent pool.
Candidate Relationship Management (CRM)
Candidate Relationship Management is the strategic practice of building and maintaining long-term relationships with candidates — treating them as people to engage over time rather than transactions to process.
Talent Acquisition
Talent acquisition is the strategic, end-to-end function of attracting, identifying, and hiring talent. It encompasses sourcing, employer branding, screening, evaluation, and offer management.
Hiring Metrics Terms
Time to Hire
Time to Hire measures the speed from when a candidate enters the hiring process (apply or source date) to offer acceptance. It reflects how fast you move once the right candidate is identified.
Time to Fill
Time to Fill measures the total time from when a job requisition is opened to offer acceptance. It includes sourcing time and reflects the overall speed of a hiring process.
Quality of Hire
Quality of Hire measures the value a new hire brings to an organization, typically assessed through performance ratings, ramp-up time, retention, and hiring-manager satisfaction.
Cost per Hire
Cost per Hire (CPH) is the total cost of filling a role divided by the number of hires. It includes advertising, agency fees, recruiter time, tools, and referral bonuses.
See the full Hiring Metrics guide for deeper definitions and benchmarks.
AI & Automation Terms
AI Recruitment
AI recruitment refers to the use of artificial intelligence across the hiring process — including resume screening, candidate matching, ranking, chatbots, and interview analysis — to help recruiters make faster, better-informed decisions.
Recruitment Automation
Recruitment automation is the use of software to automate repetitive recruitment tasks — such as resume intake, parsing, screening, scheduling, and communication — while keeping recruiters in control of decisions.
Read the full Recruitment Automation guide →
Recruiter Productivity
Recruiter productivity measures how efficiently a recruiter converts effort into hiring outcomes. AI and automation improve productivity by handling repetitive tasks so recruiters can focus on evaluation, relationship-building, and decisions.
Read the full Recruiter Productivity guide →
Embeddings
Embeddings are numerical vector representations of text that capture meaning. They are the technology behind semantic matching and allow software to compare resumes and job descriptions by meaning rather than keywords.
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