Every industry and profession carries with it its own distinct jargon. In fact, it is the measure of recruiters’ worth to be able to pick up on the unique lexicon of the positions for which they recruit.
Being able to spout off the verbal equivalent of Google Adwords also preempts most candidates’ assumptions that as recruiters, we’re slightly above amoeba but slightly beneath bonobo monkeys on the evolutionary ladder. (The monkeys do admittedly win by default, though like recruiters, they have been known to eat their young, although most of us do this figuratively through the invention of the concept of “entry-level” employment.)
There’s been a lot of attention paid to the banalities of “corporate speak,” those words such as synergy, deliverables, scalable, and, my personal favorite, paradigm shift, which sounds suspiciously like a Led Zeppelin cover band or a Tom Clancy novel.
Additionally, there is a preponderance of words that have absolutely no meaning whatsoever to anyone outside of a specialized functional area.
As an accounting and finance recruiter, I am able to speak quite convincingly about Tier One ERPs, f(x) hedging, and econometrics. In fact, I can come across sounding a bit like a wonk, which I will consider a professional asset, given my inability to do simple arithmetic.
I feel a little bit like an expatriate; I’m able to speak the language with some proficiency, but throw in an idiom or colloquialism, and I’m rooting around for my dictionary.
Meaningless Catch-Phrases Take Off
Slowly but surely, these buzzwords have trickled into the public consciousness because most of these words are reserved for candidates specifically. The overwhelming majority of our etymology, in fact, was specifically created for less-than-desirable candidates.
As recruiters, it is vocational anathema to create a negative impression on a candidate, or to in any way create a negative reflection on the organization we represent. A successful recruiter strives to make each candidate feel like his or her interaction with the company was a successful one, even if it was, in fact, the worst disaster since the Hindenburg.
To prevent further confusion, I’ve provided a quick guide for candidates to decipher recruiter-speak with the hope that it eases the search process by providing the subtext of the terminology recruiters use the most.
While corporate recruiters are honest, we are never brutally honest. Our errors are of omission, and we tend to accentuate the positive, whether in presenting an opportunity, rejecting a candidate, or even closing an offer.
A Growing List
This list is by no means definitive, but it is a start. Any suggestions or additions are greatly encouraged.
- Sourcing (v) Usage: “I sourced your resume and thought that you might be a great fit?” Definition: The entry of keywords onto a job board.
- Exciting (adj.): Usage: “We’ve got an exciting opportunity currently available?” Definition: An open headcount that needs to be filled as quickly as possible.
- Prescreen (n) Usage: “I’d like to set up a brief, exploratory prescreen.” Definition: The conversation by which recruiters ascertain if they can afford the talent in question.
- Visibility (adj.): Usage: “This role has high visibility to all levels of management throughout the organization.” Definition: The phrase most often used to describe a position with the smallest margin for error and highest turnover rate in the company.
- Growth (n): Usage: “This position is really a great growth opportunity.” Definition: The naturally occurring phenomenon by which workers find fulfillment doing exactly the same job in a different company.
- Ad-hoc (adj.) Usage: “There will also be some ad-hoc projects required.” Definition: A catch-all phrase used by corporations to describe the countless hours of manpower invested in activities unrelated to one’s job function, generally evoked at the whim of departmental heads.
- Expectations (n) Usage: “What are your expectations for your next position?” Definition: The test commonly used during the screening process to see whether the candidate is capable of reading a job description and changing tense from third- to first-person.
- Stable (adj.) Usage: “It’s a very stable business unit.” Definition: When the collective tenure of a department’s employees preempt any consideration of change or improvement upon the status quo.
- Reinventing (v) Usage: “We’ve had challenges in the past, but we’re reinventing ourselves and our processes.” Definition: A commonly used tactic employed by recruiters to explain recent or forthcoming layoffs (see: derecruit, reorganization, shared services, offshoring, outsourcing, et al).
- Competition (n) Usage: “You’ve got some pretty stiff competition for this position.” Definition: A word used by recruiters to preempt disappointment for the candidate by establishing expectations upfront. Alternative definition: A tactic employed to make an extremely undesirable position appear more enticing.
- Team (n) Usage: “We’re looking for a team player.” Definition: The intangible qualities associated with a candidate who will not make waves and demonstrates the willingness to accept abuse by supervisors and fellow staff.
- DOE (acr.) see also depending on experience.Usage: “I am unable to provide a salary range for the position as it is DOE.” Definition: Whereby a company unable to pay market rate for a position compensates by placing the blame on candidate deficiencies.
- Best practices (n): Usage: “We’re a best practices organization.” Phrase has not yet been defined. See meaning of life, UFOs.
- Work-life balance (phrase): Usage: “We put a real premium on work-life balance.” Definition: The ratio of one’s time at home to one’s time at work. The smaller the ratio, the more likely the employee is paid on an hourly basis.
- Overtime (n) Usage: “There may be some slight overtime involved.” Definition: An institution imposed by corporations to increase shareholder value without increasing headcount by maximizing working hours of employee population, up to and including Saturdays, holidays, and seminal life events.
- Feedback (n) Usage: “I’ll provide feedback from my hiring manager as soon as I get it.” Definition: Generally construed as a one- or two-word answer by which hiring managers summarily reject top candidates.
- Next steps (phrase) Usage: “We’ll be in touch regarding next steps.” Definition: A phrase used to put off rejecting marginal candidates for as long as possible until an offer is accepted by a more qualified party.
- References (n) Usage: “We’re going to begin checking your references.” Definition: The process by which a recruiter contacts previous coworkers of a potential hire from a list provided by the candidate in an attempt to bring objectivity to the hiring process.
- Background check (n) Usage: “You’re our final candidate, but I can’t extend an offer until your background check clears.” Definition: A control imposed by corporations in order to slow recruiters’ ability to extend an offer for a period of time that perfectly coincides with a candidate’s extension and acceptance of other offers. Alternate definition: An industry whose practitioners continue to thrive despite the Internet’s abilities to perform the same functionality at a fraction of the cost.
- Benefits (n) Usage: “We are proud to offer a comprehensive, competitive benefits package to all employees.” Definition: A tactic used by corporations to attract full-time employees and entice temporary ones into menial labor.
- Offer letter (n) Usage: “Congratulations on joining our team. I’m sending over an offer letter that contains all the information you’re going to need.” Definition: A document or set of documents that contains all information relevant to one’s employment with a company, denoting the last communication between recruiter and candidate until the candidate becomes eligible for transfer consideration.