Glossary
AI hiring terms, defined plainly.
A reference for the terminology that comes up across ATS platforms, AI hiring tools, and talent acquisition teams — from ATS to Vibe AI.
A
AI Interview
A structured interview conducted by an AI system rather than a human recruiter — the AI asks a fixed set of questions and the candidate responds on camera, at any time, without scheduling. See AI Interviews.
AI Screening
The process of scoring a resume against a job description automatically, using AI rather than manual review, to rank candidates by fit before a human ever opens the file.
Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
Software used to post jobs, collect applications, and move candidates through hiring stages. Most ATS platforms track a pipeline but don't evaluate candidates themselves — see JIA vs Greenhouse.
Assessment (Technical Assessment)
A structured exercise — typically a coding or skills task — used to evaluate a candidate's ability before an offer. See AI Assessments.
B
Bulk Resume Screening
Screening a large batch of resumes (hundreds at once) against a single job description in one pass, rather than reviewing them one at a time. See Bulk Resume Screening.
C
Campus Recruitment
Hiring conducted through college placement drives — typically coordinating multiple campuses, training and placement officers (TPOs), and cohorts of student applicants at once. See Campus Recruitment.
Candidate Experience
The overall impression a candidate forms of a company during the hiring process — from application through offer or rejection — regardless of outcome.
Candidate Relationship Management (CRM)
A system for managing and nurturing a pool of past applicants or passive candidates over time, so a company can re-engage them for future roles instead of starting sourcing from zero.
Cost per Hire
The total recruiting cost (tools, advertising, agency fees, recruiter time) divided by the number of hires made in a given period — a common efficiency metric for TA teams.
F
Fit Score
A numeric score representing how well a candidate's resume, interview, or assessment result matches the requirements of a specific role.
H
Hiring Pipeline
The sequence of stages a candidate moves through from application to offer — commonly Source, Screen, Interview, Assess, Schedule, Select, and Offer. See How JIA Works.
HRIS (Human Resources Information System)
A system of record for employee data — payroll, benefits, and personnel records — typically separate from the recruiting tools used before someone is hired.
I
Interview Scorecard
A structured form interviewers fill out after a candidate interview, recording ratings against specific criteria so hiring decisions can be compared across interviewers.
J
Job Board
A third-party site where job postings are listed for candidates to discover and apply — e.g. LinkedIn, Naukri, or Indeed. See Integrations.
Job Requisition
A formal request to fill an open role, typically requiring internal approval before recruiting activity — sourcing, screening, posting — can begin.
O
Offer Letter
The formal written offer of employment sent to a selected candidate, specifying role, compensation, and start date.
P
Passive Candidate
A person who fits a role but isn't actively job-searching — reaching them typically requires outbound sourcing rather than waiting for an application.
Q
Quality of Hire
A measure of how well a new hire performs and retains after joining, used to evaluate whether a hiring process is selecting for the right things, not just filling roles quickly.
R
Recruiter
The person responsible for running some or all of a hiring pipeline for a role — sourcing, screening, interviewing, and coordinating toward an offer.
Requisition
See Job Requisition.
Resume Parsing
The automated extraction of structured data (name, experience, skills, education) from an unstructured resume file, typically a prerequisite for automated resume scoring.
S
Screening Call
A short, typically unstructured, first-round conversation used to filter candidates before a full interview loop — often the highest-volume, lowest-signal stage of manual hiring.
Shortlist
The reduced set of candidates who have cleared initial screening and are considered qualified enough for a hiring manager or panel to review.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
An authentication method letting users log into multiple systems (including a hiring platform) with one set of enterprise credentials, typically via SAML or OAuth. See Security & Compliance.
Sourcing
The stage of finding and attracting candidates for a role — posting jobs, searching talent pools, or reaching out to passive candidates — before any application is received.
Staffing Agency
A company that recruits and places candidates on behalf of client companies, typically running parallel hiring mandates across multiple clients at once. See For Staffing Agencies.
Structured Interview
An interview format where every candidate for a role is asked the same set of questions in the same order, used to produce more comparable, less biased evaluation signal than an unstructured conversation.
T
Talent Acquisition (TA)
The function within a company responsible for the end-to-end hiring process, typically distinguished from broader HR by its focus on sourcing, evaluating, and closing candidates. See For Talent Acquisition Teams.
Time to Fill
The number of days between a job requisition being approved and a candidate accepting an offer for that role.
Time to Hire
The number of days between a candidate applying and receiving an offer — a narrower measure than time to fill, focused on pipeline speed rather than requisition approval. See The State of AI Hiring 2026.
V
Vibe AI
JustInterview.ai's technical assessment engine, which evaluates a candidate's coding and reasoning quality — not just whether the final answer is correct. See AI Assessments.
W
White-Label
A product or pipeline that can be branded as the reseller's own rather than the vendor's — relevant for staffing agencies presenting a hiring pipeline to their own clients under their own brand.
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