Job openings are all positions that are open on the last business day of the reference month. A job is open only if it meets all three of these conditions:
-A specific position exists and there is work available for that position. The position can be full-time or part-time, and it can be permanent, short-term, or seasonal.
-The job could start within 30 days, whether or not the employer can find a suitable candidate during that time.
-The employer is actively recruiting workers from outside the establishment to fill the position. Active recruiting means that the establishment is taking steps to fill a position. It may include advertising in newspapers, on television, or on the radio; posting internet notices, posting "help wanted" signs, networking, or making word-of-mouth announcements; accepting applications; interviewing candidates; contacting employment agencies; or soliciting employees at job fairs, state or local employment offices, or similar sources.

Each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects data on job openings, hires, and separations from a sample of establishments. JOLTS has a comprehensive program of new sample unit solicitation in two Regional Data Collection Centers (DCCs). The DCCs perform initial enrollment of each establishment via telephone, collect the data for several months via Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI), and, where possible, transfer respondents to web reporting. In addition, the DCCs conduct an ongoing program of refusal conversion.
Offering survey respondents a choice of reporting methods helps sustain response rates to this voluntary survey.

For all collection methods, JOLTS uses a standard set of questions listed and explained in the JOLTS data collection forms. There are three forms: one for temporary help agencies and professional employer organizations, one for the education industry, and one for all other businesses. Each form asks establishments to report:
-Number of full- or part-time employees who worked or received for pay for the pay period that includes the 12th of the month
-Number of job openings on the last business day of the month
-Number of hires for the entire month
-Number of quits for the entire month
-Number of layoffs and discharges for the entire month
-Number of other separations for the entire month
-Most JOLTS data are provided though a web collection tool, but respondents are supplied with JOLTS collection forms for reference.