TOEIC Vocabulary: Recruitment and HR Words That Decide Questions

A job advertisement, an internal announcement and a policy notice look like three different documents. They are three moments of the same hiring cycle, and that cycle repeats the same vocabulary every time. This article gives you a toeic vocabulary list built around that cycle, then tests it with twelve gap fills in the same shape as Part 5.

Why job postings and HR notices keep repeating the same words

ETS describes the Reading section as a set of workplace materials that test takers read and answer at their own pace, and recruitment documents are a large part of that pile. A posting advertises a vacancy, an application arrives with a cover letter and two references, a shortlist turns into an interview, an offer becomes a contract, the first month brings orientation and training, and the cycle closes with a promotion or a resignation.

That repetition is why the vocabulary is worth learning as a set. Once you can name the stage a text belongs to, the words stop looking random: postings talk about requirements and deadlines, offers talk about probation and start dates, policy notices talk about entitlement and discretion. You are learning which verbs each stage prefers, not memorising a dictionary.

The toeic vocabulary list, sorted by hiring stage

Use the table as a recognition list, not as a glossary. The third column is the part that decides answers. Exam writers rarely test whether you know that a candidate is a person; they test whether you know that candidates are shortlisted, requirements are met, and benefits come with eligibility attached.

Hiring stage	Word or phrase	Collocation to recognise
Job posting	vacancy	fill a vacancy
Job posting	recruitment	a recruitment round
Job posting	applicant	shortlist applicants
Job posting	candidate	a strong candidate
Job posting	qualification	hold the required qualifications
Job posting	requirement	meet the requirements
Job posting	deadline	the application deadline
Job posting	salary	a competitive salary
Application	apply	apply for a position
Application	application	submit an application
Application	cover letter	attach a cover letter
Application	résumé	update your résumé
Application	reference	provide two references
Application	eligibility	check your eligibility
Interview	shortlist	be shortlisted for interview
Interview	screening	a telephone screening
Interview	panel	sit on an interview panel
Interview	assess	assess each candidate
Interview	criterion	meet the selection criteria
Interview	relevant	relevant experience
Offer	offer	a conditional offer
Offer	negotiate	negotiate the start date
Offer	contract	sign the employment contract
Offer	probation	a probation period
Offer	onboarding	an onboarding programme
Offer	start date	agree a start date
First month	orientation	attend an orientation session
First month	training	complete the mandatory training
First month	supervisor	report to your supervisor
First month	workload	manage your workload
First month	shift	work a night shift
Ongoing employment	benefits	be eligible for benefits
Ongoing employment	entitlement	your annual leave entitlement
Ongoing employment	appraisal	an annual appraisal
Ongoing employment	promotion	be considered for promotion
Ongoing employment	attendance	maintain good attendance
Ongoing employment	overtime	work overtime
Leaving	resignation	hand in your resignation
Leaving	notice	work out your notice period
Leaving	severance	a severance package

Read it one stage at a time. When a text mentions a closing date, the answer usually depends on whether the application arrived before it; when a memo mentions probation, the answer usually depends on what happens at the end of it.

Word families that decide Part 5 items

Four forms of one verb cover a large share of recruitment blanks: apply, applicant, application and applicable. The grammar slot around the blank decides which form is possible, so you do not need to translate the whole sentence to answer.

The application must reach the office by Friday. Here a determiner and a verb follow, so the blank needs the noun.

Applicants should bring two references. The plural verb follows, so the blank is the countable person noun.

This rule is applicable to all staff. After is and before to, the adjective is the only fit.

You may apply for the post online. After a modal verb, the base verb completes the phrase.

Look at what sits immediately before and after the blank before you read the options: a determiner signals a noun, a modal signals a base verb, and to often signals an adjective or a fixed verb pattern.

The four notice phrases that carry the condition

HR notices hide their logic in four fixed phrases, and one of them can reverse the correct answer.

The new policy is effective from 1 March. The start date is in the future, so anything described as already finished is wrong.

The offer is subject to approval by the regional director. The offer exists but is not final; it depends on a second decision.

Overtime is paid at the discretion of the line manager. Payment is possible, not guaranteed, and the manager decides case by case.

Requests must be handled in accordance with the data protection policy. The policy is the rule that governs the action, so the answer has to match the policy rather than a preference.

Two describe timing, one a condition, one a rule. Label the phrase and the question usually answers itself.

Twelve gap fills in Part 5 format

Cover the options, read the sentence, decide what the blank needs, then choose.

1. The company hopes to ______ the vacancy before the end of March. (A) fill (B) hold (C) take (D) set — Answer A: a vacancy is filled, not held or taken.
2. Applicants must ______ the requirements listed in the posting. (A) meet (B) reach (C) touch (D) arrive — Answer A: requirements are met, and reach is used for targets.
3. Please submit your application before the ______ on 14 May. (A) deadline (B) border (C) finish (D) edge — Answer A: a deadline is the fixed closing time.
4. Only candidates with five years of ______ experience will be shortlisted. (A) relevant (B) relating (C) relevantly (D) relevance — Answer A: an adjective modifies the noun experience.
5. Shortlisted applicants are invited to attend a telephone ______. (A) screening (B) screened (C) screen (D) screens — Answer A: telephone works as a modifier, so the noun follows.
6. The offer is ______ to approval by the regional director. (A) subject (B) object (C) exposed (D) reluctant — Answer A: subject to plus a noun means conditional.
7. New employees are on ______ for the first three months. (A) probation (B) approval (C) promotion (D) orientation — Answer A: on probation is the fixed phrase for a trial period.
8. Overtime is paid only at the ______ of the line manager. (A) discretion (B) choice (C) option (D) freedom — Answer A: at the discretion of is the fixed notice phrase.
9. Staff who complete one year of service become ______ for the health plan. (A) eligible (B) capable (C) possible (D) available — Answer A: eligible for introduces the benefit.
10. The revised leave policy takes effect ______ 1 January. (A) from (B) since (C) at (D) in — Answer A: effective from marks the start of a rule.
11. All requests must be handled in ______ with the privacy policy. (A) accordance (B) agreement (C) addition (D) order — Answer A: in accordance with means following a rule.
12. Employees who resign must work out their ______ period. (A) notice (B) warning (C) attention (D) notify — Answer A: a notice period is the time between resignation and the last day.

Six items test a collocation from the table, four test a word family slot, and two test a fixed notice phrase. That ratio is a fair picture of what recruitment texts ask, and the reason a collocation is worth more than a second translation of the same word.

A ten-minute routine that keeps the list active

The list only becomes useful when it is recalled, not when it is read. A ten-minute block holds five words, five collocations and five gap fills, and the order matters more than the time.

1. Pick five words from one stage of the table, for example the offer stage.
2. Say the collocation out loud before the translation, because the collocation is what the question tests.
3. Write one notice sentence for each word without looking at the table.
4. Answer five gap fills from this article, then check only the items you hesitated on.
5. The next day, cover the third column and rebuild the five collocations from the words alone.

Ten minutes done this way beats an hour of reading, because every step forces a retrieval rather than a recognition. If you also want to say the words rather than only read them, HiBay's AI conversation practice scores spoken answers against TOEIC and IELTS speaking criteria and returns section-by-section feedback.

Frequently asked questions

Which HR words appear in TOEIC Reading notices?

The recurring core is small: vacancy, applicant, requirement, deadline, shortlist, screening, offer, probation, onboarding, supervisor, benefits, entitlement, appraisal, promotion, notice and severance. They appear inside notices about policy changes, staffing and leave rather than in isolation, so the phrase around the word is what you should learn. This article groups forty of them by hiring stage.

How many HR words should I learn a week?

Ten to twelve words a week is enough if each one arrives with its collocation and one written sentence. That pace covers this table in four weeks, with the fourth week kept for review. Fewer words with stronger recall beat a longer list that disappears after a week, and the gap fills give you a cheap weekly test of whether the recall held.