Tillyard Guides
Glossary
The words people use in applications and interviews, and what they mean.
- Applicant tracking system (ATS) also ATS
- Software an employer uses to collect applications and move them through stages. It stores your résumé and usually pulls the text out of the file, which is why a plain layout reads better than a designed one. Read more about Applicant tracking system (ATS)
- Behavioral interview
- Questions about what you did in a real situation ("Tell me about a time when..."), asked on the theory that past behavior is a guide to future behavior. A short story with a beginning, a middle and an end answers most of them. See STAR.
- Career fair
- A room of employers at tables. Each conversation lasts a few minutes, so arrive with two questions for each table you care about, and write to the person afterward.
- Career office also career services
- The office at your college that reads résumés, runs practice interviews, hosts employers and often keeps money for students taking unpaid summer work. Appointments are usually free and open to first-year students. Read more about Career office
- Case interview
- A business problem worked through aloud with the interviewer, common in consulting. They are listening to how you reason, not for one right answer.
- Co-op also cooperative education
- A paid, full-time stretch of work that alternates with terms of study and is arranged through the college. Usually longer than an internship.
- Cold email
- A first message to someone who does not know you. Short and specific ones get answered. Read more about Cold email
- Cover letter
- A page or less on why this organization and why you. It should say something your résumé does not. Read more about Cover letter
- CV (curriculum vitae) also curriculum vitae
- A longer record of academic work, used for research and academic applications in the United States. Most other applications want a résumé, which is one page. Read more about CV (curriculum vitae)
- Exploding offer
- An offer with a very short deadline to accept. You may ask once, politely, for more time, with a specific date.
- Externship
- A short visit, from a day to two weeks, spent watching someone do their work.
- Fellowship
- A funded period of study, research or service awarded by application. The word covers very different things, so read the terms.
- First-generation student also first-gen
- A student whose parents did not finish a four-year degree. Colleges define it slightly differently. Read more about First-generation student
- Hiring manager
- The person the new hire will report to, and usually the one who decides.
- Informational interview also informational conversation
- A short conversation in which you ask someone about their work and ask for nothing else. It is the ordinary way people learn what a field is like. Read more about Informational interview
- Internship
- A supervised role of fixed length for a student at an organization, paid or unpaid, meant to teach as well as to get work done. Read more about Internship
- Networking
- An off-putting word for asking people about their work and keeping in touch with the ones you liked. Read more about Networking
- Office hours
- Times when a professor is in their office to talk with students. They are for students who are doing fine as well as students who are stuck. Read more about Office hours
- Offer letter
- The written terms of an offer. Until you have it, you have a conversation. Read every line, and ask about anything you do not understand before you sign.
- On-campus recruiting
- Employers interviewing through your college's career office on a set calendar, often early in the autumn. Read more about On-campus recruiting
- Pathways
- The U.S. government's programs for students and recent graduates, posted on USAJOBS. Read more about Pathways
- Recruiter
- The person who finds candidates and runs the process. They can tell you where you stand; they rarely make the final decision.
- Reference
- Someone who has agreed to speak about you if an employer asks. Always ask them first, and give them your résumé. Read more about Reference
- Referral
- Someone inside an organization putting your name forward for a specific opening. It usually gets an application read and rarely does more. Read more about Referral
- Return offer
- An offer made at the end of an internship to come back, for another summer or full time.
- REU also Research Experiences for Undergraduates
- Research Experiences for Undergraduates: summer research at a host university, funded by the National Science Foundation and paid by stipend. Each site sets its own application date. Read more about REU
- Rolling basis also rolling admissions
- Applications are read as they arrive and the opening closes when the seats are filled, so early is better than polished. Read more about Rolling basis
- STAR
- Situation, task, action, result: a way to shape an interview answer so that it has a beginning and an end.
- Stipend
- A fixed sum paid to support you during a program. It is not an hourly wage. Read more about Stipend