pre-boarding

Definition

The engagement process between accepting a job offer and the first day of work, designed to keep candidates excited and prevent them from ghosting. It's like dating after getting engaged—you've committed, but someone might still get cold feet.

Example Usage

Our pre-boarding program includes welcome videos, company swag, and team introductions, because 15% of accepted candidates never show up for day one.

Origin

Recruiting terminology from the mid-2010s, addressing increasing candidate no-show rates

Fun Fact

Up to 30% of accepted candidates ghost employers entirely, leading to elaborate pre-boarding programs that essentially amount to 'please still want us in two weeks.'

Source: Candidate experience terminology

Related Terms

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off-cycle review

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job rotation

A development practice where employees temporarily move between different roles or departments to build broader skills and understanding. Cross-training disguised as career development.

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span of control

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resume

That document you spend hours perfecting to summarize your entire professional existence into one or two pages, which recruiters will skim in approximately six seconds. It's supposed to showcase your skills and experience without lying too obviously, formatted in a way that's both ATS-friendly and human-readable. The verb form means to continue something you paused, like your career after explaining that two-year gap.

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calibration session

A meeting where managers compare employee ratings to ensure consistency and fairness, theoretically. In practice, it's where your fate is decided by people arguing over forced distribution curves.

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negotiation

The delicate art of two or more parties pretending they have more options than they actually do until someone blinks first. In HR contexts, it's the formal dance between employer and employee where both sides know the salary range but spend weeks acting surprised by each other's numbers. Mastery of this skill requires equal parts poker face, patience, and the ability to say 'let me think about it' convincingly.

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