Glossary
Financial services and fintech hiring glossary
Plain, current definitions of the terms we use across the site, from how a search is run and priced to the offshore team models behind Outpost and the software we build. Written from live practice in Indian financial services and fintech hiring.
At a glance
This glossary defines the financial services and fintech hiring terms PeopleCap works with in India: the two services (Talent Acquisition and Outpost), the offshore team models (ODC, EOR, BOT), the software categories (ATS, recruiting CRM, HRIS), and the sector and process terms (BFSI, GCC, NBFC, AIF, offer dropout, time to fill).
- Talent acquisition
- Specialist, ongoing recruitment and executive search for a firm's roles, run as a partner rather than a transactional agency. At PeopleCap it is the core service for financial services and fintech in India, charged on a success fee. See Talent Acquisition and ways to hire.
- Executive search
- A targeted, discreet search for senior or hard-to-find leaders, from director to CXO, mapped and approached directly rather than advertised. Common for confidential or business-critical mandates. See executive search.
- Success-fee (contingent) recruitment
- A recruitment model where the fee is earned only when a candidate joins, with no retainer or upfront cost, so the risk sits with the recruiter. PeopleCap runs talent acquisition on this basis. Compare retained versus success-fee search.
- Retained search
- A search paid in staged fees regardless of outcome, usually for the most senior or exclusive mandates, in exchange for dedicated capacity. The counterpart to success-fee recruitment, weighed up in our comparison.
- BFSI
- Banking, financial services and insurance: the umbrella for banks, NBFCs, insurers, wealth and asset managers, alternative funds and the fintechs and capability centres around them. PeopleCap recruits across every BFSI sub-vertical in India. See who we serve.
- GCC (Global Capability Centre)
- An in-house offshore centre, also called a captive, that a global firm runs in India for technology, operations, risk and analytics. Distinct from outsourcing because the firm employs the team directly. See the GCC hub and GCC hiring.
- Outpost
- PeopleCap's second service: a dedicated offshore engineering team built and run in India for a company anywhere in the world, employed by PeopleCap and directed by the client. Fintech-led, with ODC, EOR and BOT options. See Outpost.
- Offshore Development Centre (ODC)
- A standing, dedicated team set up and run in a lower-cost location such as India, working only for one client. The core Outpost model, giving the capability of a captive without standing one up. See offshore development centre.
- Employer of Record (EOR)
- An arrangement where a local partner is the legal employer of a team, handling payroll, compliance and benefits, while the client directs the work day to day. How PeopleCap employs an Outpost team in India. See employer of record.
- Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT)
- A model where a partner builds and runs an offshore team, then transfers it, and its people, into the client's own entity later. An Outpost engagement can be structured this way from the start. See build operate transfer.
- Fractional HR
- A senior HR business partner engaged part-time on a monthly retainer, for a firm that has outgrown founder-led HR but is not ready for a full-time CHRO. PeopleCap takes it on for sizeable engagements. See fractional HR.
- Compensation benchmarking
- Establishing what a role pays by city, seniority and firm type, from live market data rather than dated surveys, so an offer is competitive without overpaying. PeopleCap publishes free salary benchmarks and builds custom benchmarks under talent intelligence.
- Offer dropout
- When a candidate accepts an offer but withdraws before joining, often during the notice period. A recurring pattern usually points to a process problem, not the candidates, and is measurable and reducible. See reducing offer dropout.
- Notice period
- The time a candidate must serve at a current employer before joining a new one, commonly 60 to 90 days in Indian financial services. The main window in which counter-offers and dropout occur. See our notice-period playbook.
- Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
- Software that manages candidates through a hiring pipeline, from application to offer, with structured stages, notes and reporting. RecruiterDesk, the recruitment software PeopleCap builds, is an ATS and recruiting CRM in one.
- Recruiting CRM
- A system for nurturing relationships with candidates and clients over time, before and beyond a single role, distinct from an ATS that tracks an active pipeline. Modern recruiting tools combine both, as RecruiterDesk does.
- HRIS
- A Human Resource Information System: the core software of record for employees, payroll, leave, performance and documents. Capstan, the HR software PeopleCap builds, is an HRIS.
- Salesforce Financial Services Cloud (FSC)
- Salesforce's industry version for banks, wealth managers and insurers, with data models and workflows built for financial services. FSC engineers and consultants are a scarce, high-demand hire. See Salesforce FSC salaries.
- NBFC
- A Non-Banking Financial Company: a lender or financial firm that provides credit and financial products without a full banking licence. A large and fast-hiring part of Indian financial services. See banking and NBFC hiring.
- AIF (Alternative Investment Fund)
- A pooled, privately placed fund in India covering private equity, venture capital, private credit and hedge strategies, regulated by SEBI. AIFs hire fund, research, risk and operations talent. See asset and wealth recruitment.
- Offer-to-join ratio
- The share of accepted offers that convert into an actual joining. A key measure of hiring quality: a high ratio means offers are calibrated and candidates are genuinely engaged, not just courted. It is one of the numbers we hold ourselves to.
- Time to fill
- The elapsed time from opening a role to a candidate accepting an offer. In specialist financial services search a calibrated shortlist typically lands in two to three weeks, with the full cycle shaped by notice periods. See how we work.