Skip to main content
job candidate

job candidate

4 2.3
A person who applies to be hired for a job
  • noun
  • /dʒɑb ˈkændɪdɪt/
translation icon : candidato
  • During the interview process, the company carefully evaluated each job candidate to find the best fit.
  • qualified job candidates
  • gay job candidates
  • heterosexual job candidates

And if you see an awesome job candidate whose resume doesn't look like ChatGPT wrote it, Ziprecruiter lets you connect with them ASAP.

Examples

  • Participants read a summary of a job candidate's qualifications and a personal statement.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Employers seek job candidates with critical thinking abilities, great written and oral communication skills, and honesty, among other characteristics.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Now, he says, more job candidates are starting to apply.

  • Gentlemen, we have a job candidate here.

  • Will we start asking all job candidates to wear exactly the same clothes?

    Blog text (3)
  • I had essentially the same experience as the job candidate you mentioned in the first paragraph.

    Blog text (28)
  • Towards the end of the interview, the job candidate will turn into the interviewer for a few minutes.

    Blog text (1)
  • Further, with an oversupply of job candidates, employers will start to lower salary offers.

    Blog text (1)
  • Almost every employer asks its job candidates to submit an application into an electronic database.

    Blog text (14)
  • Whether they're looking for postdocs or new faculty positions, job candidates increasingly want to know which schools "take care of their own."

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

candidate
vsjob candidate
564 2.3

A person being considered for a job, award or prize

refers to applying or being considered for one specific work role
applicant
vsjob candidate
201 2.7

A person who asks for something, for example a job or a place at a university

also covers people who are being considered even without applying
prospect
vsjob candidate
104 4.4

A person who is likely to be chosen for a job or prize

does not imply a high chance and includes anyone who applies or is considered

How Suitable

front-runner
49 4.1
job candidate
4 2.3
contender
152 3.5
hopeful
46 1.0
candidate
564 2.3
applicant
201 2.7

Surface Forms

job candidate singular

Morphology

job + candidate

The meaning is fully compositional: 'job' (a paid position) + 'candidate' (a person being considered) directly yields 'a person being considered for a job.' There is no idiomatic shift or metaphorical extension and the same logical construction exists in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand it.

Etymology

Job candidate comes from the older word candidate: in Roman times, people who wanted a public job wore bright white clothes so they stood out and were easy to notice. So a job candidate today is someone who 'applies for' or tries to get a job, and the picture of a person standing out helps you remember it.