What is A Job Requisition?

A job requisition is an internal request to create a position or replace an employee. It records the business reason, role requirements, budget, and approvals needed before recruiting proceeds. A requisition requests or authorizes the hire; a job description explains the work, and a job posting advertises the opportunity.

A requisition requests approval to hire. A job description explains the role. A job posting invites people to apply.

What belongs in a job requisition

Include the proposed title, reporting line, location, employment type, salary range, number of openings, desired start date, hiring manager, and reason for the request. Mark whether the position is a replacement or new headcount. Link the request to an approval owner and record its current state.

Connect the requisition to a current job description so the approved budget and role requirements describe the same work. A copied description from a past vacancy may no longer reflect what the team needs.

For agency work, add the client’s requisition identifier to the internal job record. Keep that identifier separate from your agency’s job number. The distinction helps reconcile submissions and feedback when the client changes systems or sends several similar vacancies.

From request to approved search

A useful sequence is request, review, approval, recruiting, and closure. The exact approvers depend on the employer’s policy. The request may need budget confirmation, headcount approval, or agreement on the position’s scope before outreach begins.

Before allocating a researcher, ask the client who approved the vacancy, what budget is available, and what still needs a decision. An exploratory conversation about future hiring is valuable business development. Label it accurately so it does not inflate open-job reporting.

A shared job record in an applicant tracking system can connect the assignment with candidate activity. The recruiter still needs to confirm that the client has authorized the search and agreed the delivery terms.

Example from a recruitment agency

In an illustrative manufacturing assignment, a client asks an agency for two maintenance engineers. The account manager receives one approved requisition covering two positions. The recruiter records the client identifier, headcount of two, agreed shift pattern, assessment requirements, and the contact responsible for interview feedback.

One candidate accepts and the other opening remains vacant. Closing the whole requisition after the first acceptance would hide outstanding work. The agency keeps the unfilled headcount visible and records each placement against the same client request.

Job requisition versus job description versus job posting

The documents can share information, but they serve different decisions. Keeping those decisions separate reduces the risk of advertising an unapproved vacancy or working from requirements the hiring manager has not confirmed.

Measures that reveal stalled work

Track approval cycle time separately from recruiting delivery time. Record the submitted date, approved date, and opened date instead of replacing them with one timestamp. State which event starts each report.

When tracking time to fill, use a consistent starting event and distinguish approval delays from delays during sourcing, assessment, or client decisions. A requisition’s creation date and an agency’s assignment-start date may differ.

For multi-opening requests, report approved positions, filled positions, and remaining positions. A count of requisition records cannot reliably stand in for headcount. Record pauses or cancellations explicitly so the team can explain why an apparently old search is not progressing.

Common requisition mistakes

• Starting outreach with an unconfirmed salary range. Resolve the range or state the constraint before approaching people.
• Copying a past vacancy without reviewing requirements. Confirm the new business need.
• Treating budget approval as candidate approval. Hiring decisions still need assessment.
• Losing the link between the client request and the agency job. Store both identifiers in the shared record.

Questions recruiters ask

Can one requisition cover several hires?

Yes, if the employer’s process supports multiple openings. Record the approved headcount and each completed hire separately.

Is a requisition the same as an agency job order?

No. An agency job order records the assignment the agency will deliver. It can reference a client requisition, but commercial terms and delivery responsibilities need their own agreement.

Who approves a job requisition?

The employer defines its approval chain. Common participants include the hiring manager, budget owner, and HR team; do not assume every employer uses the same sequence.