recruiter

American  

[ri-kroo-ter] / rɪˈkru tər /

noun

• recruiters
  plural

1. someone who engages in finding, attracting, or enlisting employees, new members, students, athletes, etc..

   For all his failings as a head football coach, his predecessor had been an excellent recruiter, and many of his players were potential stars.

   If you are underage, a military recruiter will require your parents' permission before you can enlist.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• recruiters
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of recruiter

recruit ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

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Explanation

A recruiter is someone whose job involves signing people up as members or hiring them for jobs. Sometimes company recruiters visit college campuses to talk to interested students. A recruiter for a large company might place advertisements for job openings and interview applicants, while a military recruiter works at an office where interested enlistees can sign up to join the armed services. If you work as a recruiter for your school's French club, it's your job to make the club look exciting and fun, and to sign up new members. The origin of recruiter can be traced back to the Latin crescere, "to grow."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recruiter recruiters

He lasted two days as a Sea Org recruiter, meaning, he writes, “contractually, I owe the Church of Scientology a billion years of labor minus two days.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Carlos Ortiz Jr. has worked as a recruiter for the Marines in recent months.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

A desperate job seeker might not fact-check that affiliation and, thrilled to be contacted by the purported recruiter, send over her résumé or pay for consulting services to improve her chances at getting a job.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

There are some positive underlying signs from consumer, business and recruiter confidence measures that indicate this message has been heard, although the hot weather and World Cup have also been factors.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

Rocky talked to the recruiter about the training programs while they shook sand out of the brochures and folded them up again.

From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko

We are increasingly using the technology to help us with job applications, graduates, external and recruiters say, with many employers happy for us to do so within reason.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation supported the move, urging recruiters not to ask.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

In the past, recruiters often would just look over a sampling of applications rather than the entire group when the volume of applications grew too high, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

LinkedIn asks recruiters to verify their identities, but Rodriguez says verification offers additional context and isn’t a guarantee.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

Lawrences precocious talent for experimentation and his engaging character were already attracting attention from recruiters in academia and industry.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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