A Glossary of N8n Terminology for HR & Recruiting Professionals

In the rapidly evolving world of HR and recruiting, leveraging automation tools like N8n can dramatically streamline operations, enhance candidate experience, and free up valuable time for strategic initiatives. However, navigating the specific terminology of such powerful platforms can initially feel daunting. This glossary is designed specifically for HR and recruiting professionals, demystifying key N8n concepts and illustrating their practical application within your daily workflows. By understanding these terms, you’ll be better equipped to design, implement, and optimize robust automation solutions that transform how your department operates.

N8n

N8n is an open-source, low-code automation platform that allows you to connect applications and automate workflows without extensive coding knowledge. For HR professionals, N8n acts as a central hub where you can link your Applicant Tracking System (ATS), HR Information System (HRIS), email platforms, communication tools, and databases. This enables automated tasks like candidate screening, interview scheduling, onboarding processes, and data synchronization, significantly reducing manual effort and improving efficiency across the entire employee lifecycle. Its flexibility allows for tailored solutions specific to unique HR needs, from recruitment to payroll data management.

Node

In N8n, a node is a fundamental building block that represents a specific action or interaction with an application or data. Think of it as a single step in a larger process. For HR, a node could be “Read New Applicant from ATS,” “Send Interview Confirmation Email,” “Update Employee Record in HRIS,” or “Filter Resumes by Keyword.” Each node performs a distinct function, such as fetching data, manipulating information, or sending a notification. Workflows are constructed by connecting multiple nodes in a sequence, allowing complex HR processes to be broken down into manageable, automated steps.

Workflow (or Workflow)

An N8n workflow is a sequence of connected nodes designed to automate a specific process. It’s the entire automated journey, from a trigger event to the final action. For HR, a workflow might start with a new applicant submission (trigger), then proceed to parse their resume, send an initial screening email, create a record in the ATS, and notify the hiring manager. These workflows are visual representations of your automated processes, allowing HR teams to see the flow of data and actions, ensuring transparency and ease of management for even complex multi-step recruiting or onboarding sequences.

Trigger Node

A trigger node is the starting point of any N8n workflow. It’s the event that initiates the entire automation sequence. Common HR-related trigger nodes include “Webhook” (when an external system sends data, like a new application from a career page), “Cron” (a scheduled event, such as daily candidate reminders), or “Google Sheets” (when a new row is added to a spreadsheet). Choosing the correct trigger node is crucial for ensuring your HR automations fire at the precise moment a relevant event occurs, such as a new resume submission or a change in an employee’s status.

Credential

Credentials in N8n are secure connections that store authentication information (like API keys, usernames, and passwords) for external services. Instead of embedding sensitive login details directly into your workflow, you configure them once as a credential and then reuse it across multiple nodes and workflows. This is critical for HR, as it ensures N8n can securely connect to your ATS, HRIS, email platforms, or other systems without exposing sensitive access tokens. It centralizes security management, making it easier to update or revoke access when necessary.

Expression

An expression in N8n is a powerful way to dynamically manipulate data within a workflow. It allows you to transform, combine, or extract specific pieces of information using JavaScript-like syntax. For HR, expressions are invaluable for tasks like: formatting candidate names, extracting specific data points from a resume (e.g., years of experience), calculating a candidate’s age from their birthdate, or conditionally routing applicants based on their qualifications. Expressions provide the flexibility to tailor data handling to the precise needs of any HR process, making automations smarter and more adaptive.

Custom Code (Function Node)

While N8n is largely low-code, the Function node allows developers or technically savvy HR professionals to write custom JavaScript code directly within a workflow. This is used when a specific data transformation or logic cannot be achieved with existing nodes or expressions. For instance, an HR team might use a Function node to implement highly specific resume parsing logic, integrate with a niche HR tool that lacks a pre-built N8n node, or apply complex business rules for candidate scoring. It provides limitless extensibility for unique and advanced automation challenges in HR.

Data Structure (JSON)

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format that N8n predominantly uses to handle and transfer information between nodes. It organizes data in human-readable key-value pairs, similar to a dictionary or a list of properties. For HR, understanding JSON is key to seeing how candidate data (e.g., name, email, experience, skills), employee records, or survey responses are structured and moved through workflows. When you receive a new application or update an employee profile, this data is typically in JSON format, allowing N8n to easily process and map it to other systems.

Webhook

A webhook is an automated message sent from one application to another when a specific event occurs. In N8n, a Webhook node acts as a listener, waiting for these incoming messages. For HR, webhooks are incredibly useful as trigger nodes. For example, when a candidate completes an online assessment, the assessment platform can send a webhook to your N8n workflow, immediately triggering actions like updating their ATS status, notifying a recruiter, or initiating the next interview stage. It provides real-time integration, ensuring your HR automations are instantly responsive to external events.

API (Application Programming Interface)

An API is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other. It defines how data can be requested and exchanged. Most modern HR software (ATS, HRIS, payroll systems) expose APIs. N8n leverages these APIs through its various nodes (like “HTTP Request” or specific service nodes) to send and receive data from these systems. For instance, N8n can use an ATS’s API to fetch candidate details, create new job postings, or update application statuses, enabling seamless integration and automated data flow between disparate HR tools.

HTTP Request

The HTTP Request node in N8n is a versatile tool for interacting with virtually any web-based API that doesn’t have a dedicated N8n node. It allows you to send various types of requests (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to a specified URL, along with any necessary data or authentication. For HR professionals, this means N8n can connect to proprietary HR platforms, custom internal tools, or less common service providers by directly communicating with their APIs. It’s the go-to node for expanding N8n’s capabilities beyond its built-in integrations, ensuring virtually any HR system can be automated.

Looping

Looping in N8n refers to the process of iteratively running a set of nodes for each item in a list of data. For HR, this is essential when dealing with multiple records, such as processing a batch of new applications, sending personalized emails to a list of candidates, or updating several employee records simultaneously. N8n offers various ways to handle looping (e.g., iterating over items in an array), ensuring that actions are performed for every relevant data entry without requiring manual repetition, significantly speeding up bulk operations in HR.

Error Handling

Error handling in N8n refers to the strategies and nodes used to gracefully manage unexpected issues or failures that might occur during a workflow’s execution. In HR automation, ensuring robustness is vital; an error could mean a candidate doesn’t receive an interview invitation or an employee’s data isn’t updated. N8n allows you to define specific paths or actions to take when an error occurs, such as sending a notification to an administrator, logging the error, or retrying a failed step. This prevents workflows from completely breaking down, maintaining continuity and reliability for critical HR processes.

Execution

An execution in N8n is a single run of a workflow. Every time a workflow is triggered and completes its actions (or encounters an error), it’s considered an execution. N8n provides logs and monitoring for each execution, allowing HR professionals to track the flow of data, identify where issues occurred, and verify that automated tasks were completed successfully. Reviewing executions is crucial for troubleshooting, optimizing workflows, and ensuring the reliability and accuracy of your HR automations, providing a transparent audit trail for all automated actions.

Pre-built Nodes

Pre-built nodes are ready-to-use integrations within N8n for popular services and applications. These nodes encapsulate the complex API interactions, allowing users to simply configure them with credentials and specific actions (e.g., “Create a new candidate in Greenhouse” or “Send an email via Gmail”). For HR teams, this means rapid deployment of automations for common tools like Slack, Google Workspace, Salesforce, various ATS platforms, and more, without needing to understand the underlying APIs. They accelerate the development process, making automation accessible even for those with limited technical backgrounds.

If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: N8n vs Make.com: Mastering HR & Recruiting Automation