Career glossary
Plain English definitions of the terms used in hiring and career planning.
Applicant tracking system (ATS)
Software employers use to collect, store, parse and search job applications and move candidates through hiring stages. Recruiters typically search and filter applicants inside the ATS.
STAR method
A structure for answering behavioral interview questions: Situation, Task, Action, Result. It keeps answers concrete and focused on what you did and what changed.
Behavioral interview
An interview format that asks how you handled real past situations, on the basis that past behavior is a useful indicator of future behavior.
Employee tenure
How long a worker has been with their current employer. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics measures it every two years through a Current Population Survey supplement.
Median duration of unemployment
The point at which half of currently unemployed people have been looking for work longer and half for less time. It is published monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Long term unemployment
Being unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Counteroffer
A response to a job offer that proposes different terms, such as higher base pay, a signing bonus or a later start date. The term also describes an offer from a current employer to keep a worker who has resigned.
Total compensation
The full value of a job's pay and benefits: base salary plus bonuses, equity, retirement contributions, health benefits and paid time off.
Transferable skills
Skills that carry from one job or industry to another, such as communication, analysis, project management or customer handling. They are central to a career change.
Reskilling
Learning new skills to move into a different role. Upskilling, by contrast, deepens skills for your current role.
Skills based hiring
Hiring that evaluates candidates mainly on demonstrated skills rather than degrees, job titles or years of experience.
Informational interview
A short conversation with someone working in a role or company you are interested in, held to learn about the work rather than to ask for a job.