Staffing Glossary
Plain-English definitions of staffing terms: bench sales, C2C, W2, 1099, prime vendor, VMS, MSP, requirement and more.
About this section
Short, plain-English definitions of the terms staffing teams use every day, each with an example of how it appears in a posting, common mistakes, and related terms.
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Glossary
25 pages
- What is Bench Sales?Bench sales is the practice of marketing consultants who are between assignments to clients and vendors so they can be placed on new contracts.
- What is Corp-to-Corp (C2C)?Corp-to-corp, or C2C, is a contract arrangement where a consultant’s own company, not the individual, contracts with the staffing firm or client.
- What is W2 Contract?A W2 contract is a temporary or contract engagement where the consultant is an employee of the staffing firm or the client and has taxes withheld.
- What is 1099 Contractor?A 1099 contractor is an independent contractor paid directly without tax withholding who receives a 1099 form for the year.
- What is Prime Vendor?A prime vendor is the staffing supplier a client has chosen as its main provider for a category of contract labor, often passing requirements to other vend...
- What is Vendor Management System (VMS)?A vendor management system is software a client uses to distribute requirements to approved staffing vendors, collect submissions and manage contingent wor...
- What is Managed Service Provider (MSP)?A managed service provider runs a client’s contingent workforce program, including vendor selection, requirement distribution and compliance.
- What is Requirement (Req)?A requirement, or req, is an open position a client or vendor has asked staffing firms to fill, with its skills, location, duration and rate.
- What is Submission-to-Interview Ratio?The submission-to-interview ratio is the share of candidates submitted that are selected for an interview.
- What is Days on Bench?Days on bench is the number of days a consultant is available and unassigned between contracts.
- What is Hotlist?A hotlist is a short list of consultants who are available now, sent by a staffing firm to vendors and clients so they can match them to open requirements.
- What is Right to Represent (RTR)?A right to represent is a candidate’s permission, often in writing, for a staffing firm to submit their resume for a specific requirement, preventing other...
- What is End Client?The end client is the company that will actually use the consultant’s work, as distinct from the staffing vendors in between.
- What is Implementation Partner?An implementation partner is a company that delivers a client’s software or IT project and often hires or subcontracts consultants to staff it.
- What is Sub-Vendor?A sub-vendor is a staffing firm that supplies consultants to a prime vendor or another vendor instead of directly to the end client.
- What is Bill Rate?The bill rate is the hourly rate a staffing firm charges its client or the next vendor in the chain for a consultant’s work.
- What is Pay Rate?The pay rate is the hourly amount a staffing firm pays the consultant for their work.
- What is Markup?Markup is the percentage a staffing firm adds on top of its cost to reach the bill rate.
- What is Gross Margin (Staffing)?Gross margin in staffing is the share of the bill rate that remains after paying the consultant and direct employer costs.
- What is Rate Confirmation?A rate confirmation is a written confirmation of the pay and bill rates agreed for a consultant and requirement before the submission or start.
- What is Payment Terms (Net 30, Net 45)?Payment terms state how many days after an invoice a vendor or client will pay, such as Net 30 or Net 45.
- What is Contract-to-Hire?Contract-to-hire is an engagement where a consultant starts on a contract with the option for the client to hire them permanently.
- What is Master Services Agreement (MSA)?A master services agreement is the contract that sets the general terms between a staffing firm and a client or vendor, so each requirement only needs a sh...
- What is Duplicate Submission?A duplicate submission happens when the same candidate is submitted to the same requirement more than once, often through different vendors.
- What is Reverse Job Search?A reverse job search starts from a consultant’s profile and looks for matching open requirements, instead of starting from a requirement and looking for ca...