Glossary

AI interviewing and hiring glossary

Clear, quotable definitions of 40 hiring terms, from adverse impact and the four-fifths rule to structured interviews, time to hire and AI resume scoring, with formulas, examples and sources.

What Are Knockout Questions? Definition and Examples (2026)The yes-or-no application questions that filter on hard requirements, and how to keep them from cutting good people. What Is a Behavioral Interview? Definition and Examples (2026)What a behavioral interview is, why past behavior is used to predict future work, and how to run one well. What Is a Bias Audit? Definition and Examples (2026)What an AI bias audit in hiring is, what New York City requires it to contain, and what it can and can't tell you. What Is a Cognitive Ability Test? Definition and Examples (2026)What cognitive tests measure, sample items, the research on prediction and group differences, and responsible use. What Is a Competency-Based Interview? Definition and Examples (2026)How competency-based interviews work, with an example competency map and how they differ from behavioral interviews. What Is a Live AI Interview? Definition and Examples (2026)How a real-time AI interview works, how it differs from one-way video, and what to check before you use one. What Is a One-Way Video Interview? Definition and Examples (2026)The recorded, on-your-own-time interview format, what it is good at, and where it falls short. What Is a Phone Screen? Definition and Examples (2026)The short first-round call that decides who moves on, and how to run it the same way for every candidate. What Is a Pre-Employment Assessment? Definition and Examples (2026)The main types of pre-employment tests, what each measures, and the legal basics every employer should know. What Is a Reasonable Accommodation in Hiring? Definition and Examples (2026)What the ADA requires when a candidate with a disability needs a change to your application, test or interview process. What Is a Selection Rate? Definition and Examples (2026)The simple share that underlies every adverse impact check, and the counting mistakes that throw it off. What Is a Situational Judgment Test (SJT)? Definition and Examples (2026)How SJTs work, an example item with an answer key, and what federal assessment guidance says about them. What Is a Structured Interview? Definition and Examples (2026)The same job-related questions, in the same order, rated on the same scale: what that takes in practice. What Is a Talent Pool? Definition and Examples (2026)The candidates you already know and keep warm, and how to make that list useful the next time a role opens. What Is a Technical Screen? Definition and Examples (2026)What a technical screening interview covers, how the main formats compare, and how to keep it fair and job-related. What Is a Work Sample Test? Definition and Examples (2026)How work sample tests work, examples for five roles, and what federal research says about fairness and prediction. What Is Adaptive Questioning? Definition and Examples (2026)How an adaptive interview raises or lowers difficulty with each answer, with a worked example. What Is Adverse Impact? Definition and Examples (2026)What adverse impact means under the Uniform Guidelines, how to measure it, and why a ratio is only the start of the analysis. What Is AI Resume Scoring? Definition and Examples (2026)How resume scoring works, where it beats keyword filters, and the checks that keep it fair. What Is an AI Interview? Definition and Examples (2026)A plain definition of the AI interview, the three formats that share the name, and what a hiring team should check first. What Is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)? Definition and Examples (2026)The system of record for hiring: what an ATS stores, what it automates, and where it stops. What Is an Automated Employment Decision Tool (AEDT)? Definition and Examples (2026)The NYC Local Law 144 definition of an automated employment decision tool, read clause by clause, with the duties that follow. What Is an Impact Ratio? Definition and Examples (2026)The number at the heart of every Local Law 144 bias audit, with both formulas and the city's own worked examples. What Is an Interview Rubric? Definition and Examples (2026)The scoring key that turns "seemed strong" into a rating two interviewers can agree on. What Is an Interview Scorecard? Definition and Examples (2026)The one form that makes every interviewer judge the same job, the same way. What Is an Unstructured Interview? Definition and Examples (2026)Why the classic conversational interview feels useful but predicts poorly, and the small changes that fix most of it. What Is Candidate Experience? Definition and Examples (2026)How job seekers experience your hiring process, and how to measure it instead of guessing. What Is Cost per Hire? Definition and Examples (2026)The cost per hire definition in one line, with the formula and a worked example. What Is High-Volume Hiring? Definition and Examples (2026)Hiring many people for the same roles in a short window, and why speed and consistency matter more than anything else. What Is Inter-Rater Reliability? Definition and Examples (2026)Whether a candidate's result depends on the answers or on who happened to interview them. What Is Interview Calibration? Definition and Examples (2026)How hiring teams make a "3" mean the same thing no matter who gives it. What Is Interview Intelligence? Definition and Examples (2026)Recording and analysis for the interviews your people run, and why the category is starting to overlap with AI interviewers. What Is Offer Acceptance Rate? Definition and Examples (2026)The share of job offers candidates say yes to, how to calculate it cleanly, and what a drop usually tells you. What Is Proctoring? Definition and Examples (2026)What it means to supervise a test, how exam proctoring moved online, and where it fits in a hiring process. What Is Quality of Hire? Definition and Examples (2026)The recruiting metric that checks whether hiring worked, not just how fast or cheap it was. What Is Resume Screening? Definition and Examples (2026)The first big cut in most hiring funnels, the ways teams do it, and how to keep it fair and consistent. What Is the Four-Fifths Rule? Definition and Examples (2026)The 80 percent rule of thumb from the Uniform Guidelines, with the math, a worked example and the limits the EEOC itself names. What Is the STAR Method? Definition and Examples (2026)The four-part STAR interview technique, with a broken-down example answer and a simple way to score it. What Is Time to Fill? Definition and Examples (2026)How long a job stays open, and what the gap between time to fill and time to hire reveals. What Is Time to Hire? Definition and Examples (2026)How many days your process takes to move a candidate from first contact to a yes.
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