What exactly does リクルート mean? I know it is katakana for "recruit" but most of the search results seem to be about a company called "Recruit Holdings" which does seem to do a lot of different things with job boards, staffing, and recruiting. I also feel like I've seen it on various Japanese company websites where English sites might have a "jobs" or "careers" page. So, I guess what I'm wondering is (1) what do Japanese people most commonly think when they hear the word , (2) does have the same usage scenarios as in English "recruit" meaning it can be used as both a verb "to recruit someone" and a noun "here are the new recruits," and (3) is it the most common way to refer recruiting or is there a native Japanese way that is more common?

Besides Recruit Holdings (company), it's primarily recognized as a noun that refers to the act of recruiting someone. Synonyms are , and (). See this question, too.

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It's also used as an transitive suru-verb that means to recruit (someone). The closest Japanese synonym is , but this has a broader meaning, "to solicit (ideas, donations, etc)." is safe in most business settings, but () is probably the safer word in everyday life.

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We don't usually use as a noun that means "new member." The noun for that is (or , , , etc., depending on the type of the group). One exception is , which refers to a suit worn by job hunters, not by those who recruit them.