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Pluckd Recruiting

Recruiter Speak, Translated

Recruiter speak, translated

All posts For recruiters & hiring managers Recruiter Speak, Translated A field guide to the phrases you’ll hear in hiring, and what they usually mean. Every industry has a dialect. Recruiting’s is mostly euphemism. Since we’re new here and would like to be trusted, it seemed fair to start by translating the phrases you’ll hear from job postings, recruiters, hiring managers, and (in the interest of balance) candidates. From the job posting “Competitive salary.” There isn’t an exact range on this one. It will come up eventually. Let’s chat first. “Fast-paced environment.” There’s a lot going on, and the team is a little smaller than the workload. “We’re like a family.” Run for the hills.   “Wears many hats.” The role is broad. Worth asking which hat takes up most of the week. “Self-starter.” Onboarding is a work in progress. You’ll be figuring some of it out as you go. Not a ton of direction and oversight from leadership. “Rockstar,” “ninja.” This job description may be due for a refresh. “Exposure to.” Familiar with it, not necessarily fluent. Which is usually fine. “Requirements: 5–7 years of experience, PhD preferred, fluent in Python, R, SQL, Tableau, conjoint, MaxDiff, qual moderation, and executive storytelling.” A wish list. Very few people check every box, and the ones who do are rarely looking. From the recruiter “I came across your profile and was really impressed.” Something on your profile matched the search. A good start. “The client is moving quickly.” There’s a gap on the team, and they’d like it filled sooner rather than later. “What are your salary expectations?” We’re hoping you’ll go first. “Just checking in.” No news yet, but you haven’t been forgotten. “They went in a different direction.” Often an internal candidate. Rarely a reflection on you. “Let’s stay in touch.” Usually meant. Occasionally just polite. From the hiring manager “We’d like to see a few more candidates.” We’re still sharpening what we want. More résumés may not be the fix. “We’ll know them when we see them.” The job description could use another pass. “Culture fit.” Someone who’ll work well here. “Not a lot of budget, but huge upside.” The salary is modest. The case is being made on what comes later. Typically these have stability that outweighs immediate compensation. From the candidate “I’m open to new opportunities.” I’m already having a few conversations. “I’m looking for a new challenge.” Something about the current role has run its course. Possibly the manager. “Comp isn’t the main driver.” It’s one of the drivers. “I’ll think it over.” I’d like to compare this with another offer. WHY BOTHER TRANSLATING? Most of these phrases exist because the plain version feels risky to say. In our experience, the vague version is usually the expensive one. It’s the strong candidate who drops out because nobody would name the range, or the search that drags on for four months because the brief was “we’ll know them when we see them.” So here’s the plain version of us. We share the range early. We’ll tell you when the job description is the problem. And if we’re “just checking in,” we’ll have something to say. If more than two lines from your own job posting appear above, we can help with that. — Pluckd Keep reading