Recruitment glossary
Plain definitions of the terms recruitment agencies and HR teams use every day, from notice period and QC to joining trackers.
By Aayush Garg, founder of ScoutYard · Last updated 2 November 2026
Applicant tracking system (ATS)
An applicant tracking system is software that stores candidates and tracks them through each stage of hiring, from application to offer. Recruitment agencies and HR teams use it to manage roles, CVs and interviews in one place. ScoutYard does what an ATS does and adds AI candidate search, bulk CV parsing, a quality check before CVs go out and a joining tracker.
AI CV parsing
AI CV parsing reads a CV and turns it into structured fields such as name, current company, designation, experience, current package, notice period and location, so the candidate can be searched and filtered. ScoutYard parses 100 CVs in under 30 seconds.
AI candidate search
AI candidate search finds people in a candidate database from a plain language description of the role, instead of exact keywords. In ScoutYard it is called ScoutAI, and every match comes with its reasoning and evidence.
Candidate database
A candidate database is every CV and profile a recruitment team has collected over time. For most agencies it is their biggest asset, and it saves money only if it can be searched quickly when a new role opens.
CTC (cost to company)
CTC is the total yearly cost of an employee to the company, including salary, allowances and benefits. The term is standard across India and South Asia. Recruiters record current CTC and expected CTC for every candidate.
Expected CTC
Expected CTC is the yearly package a candidate wants in the new role. It is usually asked on the first call and checked again before the offer.
Notice period
Notice period is the time a candidate must serve at their current employer after resigning, often two weeks to 90 days depending on the market. It decides how soon they can join.
Mandate
A mandate is a role a client has given a recruitment agency to fill, with the job description, budget and terms agreed. In ScoutYard, agencies see mandates and HR teams see open positions.
Open position
An open position is a role a company is hiring for, usually owned by an HR or talent acquisition team and a hiring manager.
Shortlist
A shortlist is the small set of candidates sent to a client or hiring manager for a role. Shortlist quality is how many of those candidates the client agrees to interview.
QC in recruitment
QC, or quality check, is a review of each CV before it reaches the client or hiring manager. In ScoutYard every CV moves from QC Pending to QC Approved before it is dispatched, and every rejection is logged with a reason.
Dispatch
Dispatch is the step where approved CVs are sent to the client or hiring manager. In ScoutYard it comes after QC Approved.
Hiring manager access
Hiring manager access lets the manager who owns a role shortlist or reject candidates directly in the hiring software, and see only the candidates and stages they are allowed to.
Joining tracker
A joining tracker follows a selected candidate from offer to their first day: package confirmed, resignation letter received, resignation accepted and joining. ScoutYard records who updated each step.
Dropout
A dropout is a selected candidate who does not join after accepting the offer. For an agency it usually means no fee, and for a company it means opening the role again. ScoutYard flags past dropouts in red.
Time to shortlist
Time to shortlist is how long it takes from receiving a role to sending the first shortlist. Inside a working recruitment consultancy, ScoutYard cut the median time to a shortlist by 30%, measured over 4 months across 800+ live roles.
Selection funnel
A selection funnel shows how many candidates move from assigned to dispatched, shortlisted and selected, so you can see where roles stall. ScoutYard shows it by recruiter and by client.
Job allotment
Job allotment is how new roles are shared out among recruiters. Good allotment looks at who has the fewest open roles and who hasn’t had a new one recently.