Have you ever completed a job application form and as you are completing the many sections you find yourself not understanding all of the employer’s application language? What do you do, Guess? Research? Or Panic?
To help you, we have written a glossary of terms for you to use to check you have the correct meaning to each term, helping your application be the best it can be. To help other job hunters, you can add a new Application Term and Descriptions that we have not added in the comments below.
Glossary of terms
| Accredited training | Nationally recognised training |
| Annual leave | Paid holidays employees are entitled to |
| Apprenticeship | Apprenticeships; Participants earn while they learn – combining practical work with accredited training |
| Appraisal | A yearly or quarterly appraisal of your work normally undertaken by your line manager |
| Block release training | The release of apprentices from their workplace to attend full-time vocational study |
| Bonus | An additional payment made by an employer for good performance, meeting targets or greater productivity |
| Business hours | Usually Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 |
| Casual work | Employment with various working hours depending on the need of your employer |
| Commission | A fee or percentage paid to a salesperson on each sale |
| Curriculum Vitae (CV) | Written summary of a person’s educational qualifications, employment history and personal details. |
| CV writing service | A service that will create, design and write your CV |
| Danger money | Payment for work that involves some risk. in addition to your normal wage |
| Deductions | Money taken out of your pay for payments such as health care |
| Dependant | A person who is wholly or partly supported financially by someone else. |
| Discrimination | Unfair treatment of someone, because of their colour, politics, race, religion, gender or other personal attribute which does not relate to work performance |
| Dismissal | When an employer ends an employees employment |
| Flexitime | Employees can start and finish work earlier or later than the normal times – hours need to be made up or extra days off can replaced hours overworked |
| Freelance | Completing a project for someone at an agreed price |
| Full-time work | 35- 40 hours; Full-time workers are eligible for annual leave and sick leave |
| Gross pay | Pay before tax and other deductions have been taken out |
| Income tax | Tax deducted from an employee’s wages by the employer and paid to the government |
| Job sharing | One full-time job is shared by two or more employees |
| Maternity and paternity leave | Time off while paid to cover a period of several weeks before and after the birth of a child |
| Minimum wage | The lowest wage which may legally be paid to an adult employee –varies due to age |
| Net pay | Pay after deductions have been taken out |
| Off-the-job training | Training taken place outside of your work place |
| On-the-job training | Training taken place inside your work place |
| Overtime | Time worked that exceeds your contracted hours |
| Part-time work | When you work less then 35 hours a week; Part-time workers are still eligible for annual leave, sick leave, etc |
| Piecework | You are paid per number of “pieces” you pack or produce |
| Probation period | A trial period that enables an employer to assess if an employee meets the job specification |
| Promotion | Advancement to a job higher up the career ladder |
| Redeployment | Movement of an employee between jobs in the same organisation |
| Redundancy pay | Compensation paid by an employer to an employee whose services are no longer required |
| Reference | A statement about your personal qualifications and character written by a third person |
| Retirement | The end of employment, due to your age |
| Salary | The amount of money you will earn whilst in employment |
| Seasonal work | Work that is only done at certain times of the year |
| Self-employment | A person who works for themselves |
| Shift work | Working various patterns of hours; work may be rostered into two or three shifts over a 24-hour period. |
| Sick leave | Paid leave to sick employees |
| Study leave | Leave given to employees to attend courses of study that are approved by their employer |
| Trainee | A person who is being trained by experience members of staff |
| Union | An association of people working in one industry able to negotiate on behalf of employees with employers |
| Voluntary work | Working for no pay |
