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Job Interviews & Careers vocabulary · Applications & Hiring

Shortlist

Meaning in job interviews & careers, with examples

/ˈʃɔːrtlɪst/verbCore term

In job interviews & careers, shortlist means: To choose a small number of the best applicants from everyone who applied, so that they can be invited to an interview.

In Turkish: kısa listeye almak, ön elemeden geçirmek

How it is used

Most often passive: 'You have been shortlisted for the next stage.' It is also a noun: be on the shortlist, make the shortlist. Very common in British English and in invitation or rejection emails.

Example sentences

  1. We are pleased to tell you that you have been shortlisted for an interview.

  2. Over two hundred people applied, and we shortlisted eight.

Common collocations

  • be shortlisted
  • make the shortlist
  • shortlisted candidates
  • final shortlist
  • candidateA person who is being considered for a job, especially someone who has applied and is going through the selection process.
  • applicationA formal request for a job, or the set of documents and forms you send to an employer when you make that request.
  • rejectionA decision by an employer not to offer you a job or not to move you to the next stage, or the message telling you this.
  • ATSShort for applicant tracking system: software that employers use to collect, sort and search job applications.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Applications & Hiring

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