Recruitment Jargon Buster: 10 Essential Hiring Terms and Acronyms Explained

In this mini glossary, written by Eploy, a market leader in Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), we cover below terms:

1. Applicant Tracking System (ATS) 
2. HCM Suite
3. Recruitment CRM
4. Candidate Experience
5. Employer Branding
6. Job Requisition 
7. Talent Pooling
8. Pre-Employment Screening
9. Onboarding 
10. Talent Acquisition

1. Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

An Applicant Tracking System is recruitment software that helps organisations manage and streamline the entire hiring process, from job requisitions and applications to interviews and onboarding.

Modern ATS platforms, like Eploy, automate repetitive admin, improve hiring efficiency, centralise communication and offer data-driven insights to speed up time‑to‑hire and attract more high-quality talent.

2. HCM Suite

A Human Capital Management (HCM) Suite is a comprehensive, integrated software platform that brings together all the core HR functions an organisation needs to manage its workforce in one place.

While standalone HR tools may handle individual areas like payroll or performance reviews, an HCM Suite provides an end‑to‑end ecosystem covering the entire employee lifecycle — from hiring to retirement.

 HCM Suites are typically used by HR teams, people leaders and payroll professionals who need a single source of truth for workforce data and processes.

3. Recruitment CRM

A Recruitment CRM (Candidate Relationship Management system) helps talent teams nurture relationships with current and future candidates.

While an ATS tracks applicants who have already applied for roles, a Recruitment CRM focuses on building long‑term talent pipelines, supporting proactive hiring, and enabling personalised engagement at scale.

Having a combined ATS and Recruitment CRM platform in place enables Talent Acquisition teams to create a seamless and engaging candidate experience throughout the entire hiring process.

4. Candidate Experience

The candidate experience covers every interaction a candidate has with your organisation. This includes any steps between discovering your employer brand to applying, interviewing and receiving updates.

A strong candidate experience improves employer reputation and increases application quality. It can also significantly boost offer acceptance rates, as data shows 52% of job seekers had previously turned down job offers because of poor candidate experience. (Source: AIHR)

5. Employer Branding

Your employer brand is the perception candidates have about what it’s like to work for your organisation. It includes everything from your values and culture to your careers site and social presence. A compelling employer brand helps attract high-quality talent that aligns with your organisation, its values and mission.

6. Job Requisition

A job requisition is an internal process that authorises a new hire. It typically includes job details, budget, approvals, and justifications.

Modern ATS systems automate requisition workflows, ensuring transparency and faster sign-off. Eploy gives TAs and Hiring Managers the right tools to make requisitions a completely paperless process. Hiring managers can raise requests by selecting from your job library or creating new roles from scratch.

7. Talent Pooling

Talent pooling is the practice of categorising and storing candidate profiles so they can be quickly matched to relevant opportunities in the future.

Having strong talent pools helps reduce cost of hire and attract more high quality candidates, as shown in the UK Candidate Attraction Report 2025, which reveals Talent Pooling attracts high quality candidates, especially when it comes to Skilled/Technical/Professional roles.

8. Pre-Employment Screening

Something that should be undertaken prior to any hire – especially within sensitive industries – a pre-employment screening is a background check into an applicant. The screening looks to validate the experience the candidate has listed on their CV as well as uncover any criminal convictions, compensation claims, or general employment issues they may have had across their career.

9. Onboarding

Once a candidate has been selected for the role, an onboarding process is likely to take place. Onboarding is an opportunity for the new hire to gain the knowledge and skills required to work within the company with the process frequently involving training or a simulation of a regular working day. By making use of this, an employee can get accustomed to their new role far quicker and can become a functional member of the team earlier than they would otherwise. According to data, 44% of new joiners, who feel connected at work, recommend their workplace to others. (Source: Devlin Peck)

10. Talent Acquisition

The process of attracting candidates to a business or job role. Usually involves multiple activities as part of an ongoing strategy for identifying and engaging the resources required and should be a focus for any business looking to attract quality candidates/specialists to manage an organisation's ongoing recruitment needs.

Understanding recruitment terminology shouldn’t feel like cracking a secret code. With this jargon buster at your fingertips, you can gain a full understanding of what each term means and communicate more clearly across every stakeholder group.