Job order form template for staffing agencies: direct hire, contract and temp

A job order form is the record a staffing agency makes when a client asks it to fill a role. It captures the job itself, the commercial terms (fee or bill rate, guarantee, exclusivity), the practical details a temp or contract worker needs on day one, and how candidates will be submitted and interviewed. Fill it in on the intake call, confirm the terms with the client in writing the same day, and do not submit anyone until it is complete.

This is the agency version of a document in-house teams call a job requisition, which is about internal approval rather than fees and submission rules. It sits alongside the intake meeting questions: the intake summary describes what a good candidate looks like; the job order records the deal and the logistics. Below are a full template with sections for direct hire, contract and temp orders, a filled example, and a grid for deciding which orders to work first.

What a job order must settle before you source

The job order form template

Copy it into your ATS custom fields, a shared document or a form. Sections A to D apply to every order; use E for direct hire and F for contract or temp.

JOB ORDER
Order #: [ ]            Date received: [ ]        Taken by: [ ]
Client: [company]       Division / site: [ ]
Order type: [direct hire / contract / contract-to-hire / temp]
Agreement: [MSA or terms name, version/date, signed Y/N]
Exclusivity: [exclusive / retained / contingent, shared with ___ agencies]
Priority score (see grid): [ ]

A. CONTACTS
Hiring manager: [name, title, phone, email]
Decision-maker if different: [ ]
Day-to-day contact / timesheet approver: [ ]
Billing / accounts payable contact: [ ]
Best way and time to reach the hiring manager: [ ]

B. THE ROLE
Title (client's): [ ]        Title to advertise: [ ]
Openings: [n]                Target start date: [ ]
Reason open: [new / backfill / project / seasonal / leave cover]
Location: [address]  Setup: [on-site / hybrid ___ days / remote, states allowed]
Schedule: [days, hours, shift, overtime expected]
Top 3 must-haves (client's words):
  1. [ ]
  2. [ ]
  3. [ ]
Nice-to-haves: [ ]
Knockouts (job-related): [license, certification, shift, lifting, driving]
Pay: $[ ]–$[ ] [per hour / per year]  Firm? [Y/N, who can approve more]
Benefits / bonus / equity: [ ]
Sponsorship available: [Y/N]   Relocation: [Y/N]

C. SCREENING REQUIREMENTS
Background check: [Y/N, scope, who orders, who pays]
Drug screen: [Y/N, panel, who pays]
License / certification verification: [which, by whom]
Other: [E-Verify, client onboarding, safety training, equipment]

D. PROCESS
Submittal format: [client template / email / VMS]  Send to: [ ]
Max candidates to submit: [ ]
Resume feedback within: [ ] business days
Interview stages: [stage — who — format — length]
Interview feedback within: [ ] business days
Other agencies or internal candidates: [ ]
Date of first submittals promised: [ ]

E. DIRECT HIRE TERMS
Fee: [__% of first-year base / flat $___]  Fee basis includes bonus? [Y/N]
Guarantee: [__ days, replacement or refund, conditions]
Payment terms: [net __ days from start]
Retainer / engagement fee: [amount, when due]

F. CONTRACT / TEMP TERMS
Pay rate to worker: $[ ]/hr    Bill rate to client: $[ ]/hr
Markup: [__%]                  Overtime billed at: [ ]
Expected length: [ ] weeks     Extension likely: [Y/N]
Conversion fee (temp-to-hire): [terms, after how many hours]
Worker classification: [W-2 through agency / other, confirm]
Workers' comp class code: [ ]  Site safety / PPE: [ ]
Time approval method: [ ]      Invoicing cadence: [weekly / biweekly]
First-day instructions: [report to, parking, dress, what to bring]

NOTES
[anything said on the call that does not fit above]

Terms confirmed in writing by client on: [date, by whom]

A filled example: a temp-to-hire order

An invented client and invented numbers, to show the level of detail that makes an order workable.

Every line answers a question a candidate or the payroll team will ask. The must-haves say "not just certification" because that is the distinction the supervisor made on the call, and it is what the phone screen needs to test.

Bill rate, markup and fee arithmetic

Write the arithmetic on the order so anyone picking it up can check it. Using the example above:

• Markup is the difference between bill rate and pay rate, divided by the pay rate: ($29.40 − $21.00) ÷ $21.00 = 40%.
• Gross margin percentage is the same difference divided by the bill rate: $8.40 ÷ $29.40 = about 28.6%. Markup and margin are different numbers, and mixing them up is a common source of internal confusion.
• The $8.40 is not profit. Employer payroll taxes, workers' compensation premiums, any benefits, screening costs and the time sheet and payroll work all come out of it. Your finance team or payroll provider can give you the burden rate to subtract for a given state and class code.

For a direct hire order, the fee arithmetic is simpler but the basis matters. An invented example: a 20% fee on a first-year base salary of $90,000 is $18,000. If the agreement says the fee is calculated on total first-year cash compensation and the role carries a $10,000 target bonus, the same 20% is $20,000. Write which basis applies on the order.

Scoring job orders: which ones to work first

Most desks have more orders than time. Scoring each order when you take it stops the easiest-sounding role from taking the week. Score each factor 0, 1 or 2 and add them up.

A total of 10 to 14 is worth working hard now. Six to nine is worth working, but go back to the client on the lowest factor first; asking for an interview slot with the hiring manager or a pay range check costs one call. Five or under is usually a "not yet": tell the client what would need to change. These thresholds are a starting point, not a standard; adjust them once you see which scores turned into placements.

The fields that cause disputes, and how to fill them

Agreement and exclusivity

Record the exact agreement name and date, not "standard terms". If the client has not signed, write down what they accepted and how (an email reply, a portal click-through). If other agencies are working the role, note how many and whether the client will tell you when a candidate has already been submitted by someone else. That is where a right to represent from each candidate earns its keep.

Guarantee

Write the length, whether it is a replacement or a refund, and the conditions. Guarantees commonly exclude departures caused by the client, such as layoffs or a changed role. If the terms are in the agreement, copy the wording rather than summarizing it from memory.

Pay "firmness"

"$85,000 to $95,000" means different things to different clients. Ask who can approve going above the top and how long that takes. Put the answer on the order; it is the question you will need answered when your best candidate says $100,000.

Screening

Background checks for employment purposes in the US are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including disclosure and authorization steps before the check is ordered. The FTC's guidance for employers on consumer reports summarizes them. Record on the order who orders the check, so the agency and client both know who is responsible for those steps.

Contract and temp classification

Record how the worker will be engaged. Whether someone can lawfully be treated as an independent contractor depends on federal and state tests rather than on what the order says, so write what was agreed and have it confirmed by whoever handles payroll compliance.

From job order to first submittal

1. Same day: send the client a short confirmation of the terms and process fields (type, fee or rate, guarantee, submission route, feedback times). Ask them to reply confirming.
2. Same day: turn the must-haves and knockouts into your screen. The recruiter phone screen template has the call structure.
3. Within 48 hours: send two or three calibration profiles if the role is new to you, before a full shortlist.
4. At each submittal: confirm the candidate's consent to be submitted to this client for this role, and write the submittal using the candidate submittal template.
5. Weekly: update the priority score. An order whose feedback has gone silent for two weeks is no longer a 12.

If you capture the intake call in writing as it happens, most of this form fills itself from what the client said, in their words. Interview Signal can transcribe calls without a bot joining; for client calls and candidate calls alike, say at the start that you are taking notes with a transcription tool.