Does "pass" mean OK or not OK? [closed]

I have encountered many people using the term "pass" in recruiting. Each time, the person believed they were making a clear statement. Roughly half of them mean "I don't like this one, pass" (as one might say when playing cards). The rest mean "I like this one, please pass him or her to the next round" (as the term is used in quality control). Each group is surprised to learn about the existence of the other.

I now insist that recruiting feedback never use the ambiguous term "pass." Useful terms to replace it are "proceed" and "no hire." "Proceed" makes it clear that the candidate is moving to the next round, as opposed to "hire" which may convey a stronger meaning of "make an offer now."

Simply using "yes" and "no" may suffice in some contexts, such as your example of labeling CVs.

It's ambiguous.

It could mean "these candidates passed our tests".

Or it could mean "We'll pass on these candidates" (not give them offers).

You should ask whoever gave you the folders what the labels mean.

The context of the other state would indicate what the first one means in this case.

For instance, if the folders are labelled pass and fail, then pass means "These are candidates we want to select from."

If the folders are labelled pass and keep, then pass means "These are candidates we have rejected."