UK Recruitment Glossary
Contractor
In recruiter context
Different beast from an employee. No paid holiday, no sick pay, no notice protection, but typically 30-60% higher day rate to compensate. UK contractors operate either through their own limited company (outside IR35) or through an umbrella company (inside IR35). Day rate maths is rough: take the rate, multiply by 220 working days, subtract umbrella fees and tax. A £500/day inside-IR35 contract through an umbrella nets roughly the same take-home as a £75-80k permanent salary. The freedom is real; so is the lack of safety net.
Related terms
Promotion
An internal move to a higher role, grade, or pay band — usually with more responsibility and a salar…
dbt (data build tool)
An open-source tool that lets data teams transform data in their warehouse using SQL and software-en…
RSU (Restricted Stock Unit)
A grant of company shares that vests over time — common at US-headquartered tech companies hiring in…
ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
Software that hiring teams use to receive, store, filter, and rank job applications.