Template · Recruiting and hiring
Job requisition form
In short
A job requisition form is the internal request a manager submits to get approval to hire. It records the position, whether it is new headcount or a backfill, the budget and pay range, the business case, the target start date and who must approve. Once signed, it opens the requisition that recruiting works against.
Job Requisition Form template
Job Requisition Form
Submit one form per position. For multiple identical openings (for example a training class of 20 agents), submit one form and enter the number of openings. Recruiting will not start sourcing or post the role until all required approvals are complete.
Requester
- Requesting manager name
- Title
- Department / cost center
- Phone
- Date submitted
Position details
- Job title
- Job code / grade
- Number of openings
- Location(s)
- Work arrangement
- On-siteHybridRemote
- Employment type
- Full-timePart-timeTemporary / seasonalContractIntern
- FLSA status
- Non-exemptExempt
- Shift / schedule
- Reports to
- Approved job description attached
- YesNo, new role (draft attached)No, update needed
Reason for request
- Request type
- Replacement / backfillNew position (budgeted)New position (not in budget)Temporary cover (leave, project)Conversion (temp to permanent)
- If replacement: name of employee leaving and last day
- If replacement: reason the role should be refilled as is, changed or eliminated
- Business justification (workload, revenue, service level, compliance or growth driver)
- Impact if not filled (by date)
Compensation and budget
- Pay range (minimum to maximum)
- Target hiring rate or salary
- Bonus / commission / differential
- Sign-on bonus or relocation requested
- Budgeted in current year headcount plan
- YesNo
- Estimated annual fully loaded cost
- Agency or paid advertising spend requested
Hiring timeline and process
- Target start date (or training class start date)
- Open to internal candidates first
- Yes, post internally for [__] daysNo, post internally and externally at onceConfidential search
- Interviewers / hiring team
- Required assessments or checks (skills test, background, drug screen, license)
- Suggested sources or referrals
Approvals
- Hiring manager signature and date
- Department head signature and date
- Finance / FP&A signature and date
- HR / talent acquisition signature and date
- Executive approval (required for unbudgeted roles) signature and date
For recruiting use only
- Requisition number
- Assigned recruiter
- Date approved / opened
- Intake meeting date
- Date filled / closed
- Status
- OpenOn holdFilledCancelled
How to use this template
- Check whether the role is in the approved headcount plan before filling in anything else; it decides who must approve.
- Attach the current job description or a draft, and confirm job code, grade and FLSA status with HR.
- For backfills, decide whether the role should be refilled exactly, changed or eliminated, and say why.
- Write the business justification in numbers where you can: call volume, backlog, revenue, service level.
- Enter a pay range that compensation has signed off, and flag sign-on bonuses or agency spend now, not mid-search.
- Route for signatures in order; recruiting opens the requisition number and schedules the intake meeting once the last approval lands.
What a job requisition form does
The requisition is the control point between "we need someone" and "recruiting is spending time on this". It puts in one place the decision to spend money on headcount, the budget for the hire and the details recruiters need to start. Without it, roles get worked before they are approved, approvals get reversed mid-search, and candidates are left hanging when a role is quietly cancelled.
For the full definition and how requisitions fit into reporting such as time to fill, see the glossary entry on job requisitions. Requisitions are also the unit most recruiting metrics are counted against, so a clean, dated form makes your reporting honest.
Backfills deserve a real question
Most requisitions in a mature organization are replacements. The lazy version copies the last job and reposts it. The better version asks three questions while the seat is empty: does this role still need to exist, should it be at the same level, and should it be in the same location? A resignation is the cheapest time to restructure a team.
The form forces that conversation with a single field. Some organizations also set a rule that backfills under a certain grade are auto-approved by the department head, while new headcount always goes to finance. That keeps routine replacements moving within a day or two and saves executive attention for real growth decisions.
Setting up approval routing
Approval chains are where requisitions die. A common pattern:
- Budgeted backfill at the same grade: hiring manager and department head.
- Budgeted new role: add finance or FP&A.
- Unbudgeted role, above-range pay or agency spend: add an executive approver.
Set a service level for approvers (for example two business days) and an escalation path when it is missed. In an ATS or workflow tool, automated approval routing based on request type and cost removes most of the chasing. Recruiters should not be the ones nudging a VP for a signature.
Once approved, the requisition feeds the intake meeting. Use the hiring manager intake form to capture what the requisition does not: the profile, the deal-breakers and the interview plan.
Requisitions for high-volume and class-based hiring
Contact centers, warehouses and retail chains often hire in classes or waves: 25 agents for a training class starting on the first Monday of each month, or 300 seasonal associates across 12 sites by mid-October. Creating 25 separate requisitions for identical roles inflates your open-req count and makes every metric harder to read.
Use one requisition per class or per site and job code, with the number of openings recorded. Tie it to the forecast in your workforce hiring plan template so that recruiting sees demand weeks before the requisition is formally approved. Some teams also keep an evergreen requisition open for roles they hire every month, approved once per quarter against a headcount cap.
Records and compliance notes
Keep approved requisitions with their dates. Federal contractors subject to OFCCP rules need to show which positions were open and when, and who was considered, so the requisition number should link applicants to the job they applied for. Under EEOC record-keeping rules, private employers generally keep hiring records, including requisitions, for at least one year from the hiring decision, and longer if a charge is filed. State rules can be stricter.
Record the approved pay range on the form. Where pay transparency laws apply, the posted range must be a good-faith estimate, and the requisition is the obvious place to show where that number came from.
Common mistakes
- Recruiting starts before approval "to save time", then the role is frozen and candidates are dropped.
- No pay range on the form, so the first offer becomes the negotiation with compensation.
- One requisition reused for months across different roles, which breaks time-to-fill data.
- Justifications that just say "backfill". Ask why the work still needs doing.
- Closing the requisition in the ATS weeks after the hire starts, which inflates time to fill.
Frequently asked questions
What is a personnel requisition form?
It is another name for a job requisition form: the internal document a manager submits to request approval to fill a position. Some organizations use "personnel action request" for a wider form that also covers transfers and pay changes.
What should a job requisition template include?
Requester details, job title and code, number of openings, location, employment type, FLSA status, reason for the request, business justification, pay range and budget, target start date, hiring team and approval signatures, plus a recruiting-only section for the requisition number and status.
Who approves a request to hire form?
Usually the hiring manager, their department head, HR or talent acquisition, and finance for new headcount. Unbudgeted roles, above-range pay or agency spend often need an executive approver as well. The exact chain depends on your organization's delegation of authority.
What is the difference between a headcount request form and a job requisition?
A headcount request asks to add a position to the budget or plan. A job requisition asks to fill a specific position now. In smaller organizations one form does both; larger ones often approve headcount annually and then open requisitions against that plan through the year.
How long should requisition approval take?
For budgeted backfills, one to three business days is a reasonable target. New or unbudgeted roles take longer because finance is involved. Measure approval time separately from time to fill so delays upstream of recruiting are visible.