Every stage of the hiring process has its own vocabulary. These exercises cover the collocations recruiters, hiring managers, and tech leads use when sourcing, screening, and closing engineering candidates.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
The recruiter used LinkedIn and referral networks to ___ for the senior backend role.
Source candidates is the standard talent acquisition collocation for proactively identifying potential hires. 'Source' implies targeted outreach before a formal application. 'Recruit' is broader; 'find' and 'get' are too informal for professional HR contexts.
2 / 5
The HR team uses automated tests to ___ before passing them to technical interviews.
Screen applicants is the standard HR collocation for the initial assessment phase of hiring. 'Screen' implies a structured evaluation against minimum criteria. 'Filter' is a close synonym but more associated with automated systems; 'check' and 'test' are too generic.
3 / 5
The engineering manager will ___ as part of the final hiring stage next week.
Conduct interviews is the formal professional collocation for carrying out hiring interviews. 'Conduct' implies a structured, professional process. 'Run' is common in informal usage; 'do' is too casual; 'hold' is more common for meetings or events.
4 / 5
After the panel agreed on the best candidate, the talent partner moved quickly to ___.
Extend offers is the standard HR collocation for formally presenting a job offer. 'Extend' implies a formal act of reaching out to the candidate. 'Make' and 'give' are more casual; 'send' emphasises the communication channel rather than the act of offering.
5 / 5
The recruiter spent the final week of the hiring process trying to ___ before the competing offer expired.
Close candidates is the talent acquisition collocation for finalising a hire — persuading the candidate to accept and sign the offer. Borrowed from sales, 'close' implies the final conversion step. 'Secure' is also professional; 'win' and 'lock' are informal.