Job: vacancy, offer or opening

[Pete Noire]

Can someone explain to me the difference between job opening, job offer and vacancy? Or perhaps their usage or difference in contexts? Thanks.

 

[emsr2d2]

A job opening and a job vacancy are the same thing. A job offer is what you get after you've applied and been through the interviews etc - it's when you receive a letter/email/phone call saying "Congratulations. You have been successful. When can you start?"

 

[Olympian]

**** I am not a teacher ****

To me, a job opening and a vacancy means the same thing. Usually a job opening is advertised online or in newspapers. The job openings may also be found on some companies' websites. When a candidate sees an advertisement for a job opening/vacancy and applies for the job, s/he is interviewed, and, if found suitable for the job, a job offer is made to the candidate. The job offer letter basically tells the candidate that the company is offering him a job, the title of the position they are offering, the starting date, and the salary. It also usually has a date mentioned by which the candidate must accept the job, if interested.

Please note that not all job offer letters will have the information mentioned above. What kind of information is in the job offer letter may depend on the kind of job. The job offer letter is also known as job appointment letter in some places.

 

[Pete Noire]

Many thanks. Now I see the difference crystal clear. I suppose that "position" would be equivalent to vacancy or opening. Yes??

 

[Eckaslike]

No, I would say not.

A "job opening", or "job vacancy", is an open, available or "vacant post" within an organisation. The one which the job applicant hopes to fill.

To me, "position", just means, "job". However, it does not specifically tell you whether that job has someone doing it already, or whether it is a "vacant post".

 

[Olympian]

Many thanks. Now [STRIKE]I see[/STRIKE] the difference is crystal clear. I suppose that "position" would be equivalent to vacancy or opening. Yes??

Yes, they are synonymous words. I just want to mention that depending on the company, not all positions are advertised. Some are filled internally (from within the company/organization). In such cases, there may or may not be an interview process, and there may or may not be a job offer letter. Typically, what happens is that a manager (called as a 'hiring manager' - not to be confused with the manger in the Human Resources Department) who needs to add more employees to his/her group will have to make a job requisition (request for adding positions to his/her group). Depending on several things such as how much budget is available, whether the manager is able to justify (give convincing reasons about) why more positions are needed, such a job requisition is approved by the higher ups (people working in positions higher than the manager). Using this as a basis, job openings are generated and advertised. Maybe you knew all this and just had specific questions about the above words. In that case, sorry for the long reply.

Edit 1: After submitting my reply, I read the response from Eckaslike. I defer to his explanation of "position". I would just like to add some clarification to my above response - to me an "open position" is the same as a "job opening". Sorry for the confusion.

Edit 2: Pete Noire, you may find this link useful in understanding the process better (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recruitment)

 

[Pete Noire]

Is "role" similar or equivalent to "position" when refering to "waiter", "iron worker", carpenter or any other common position??

 

[Pete Noire]

Can I use "role" to describe a position as a waiter, mechanic or any other common job? Is it synonym to "position"? (Thanks).

 

[emsr2d2]

You can use "role" to describe any job.