Recruiter, Resourcer, Talent Manager, Recruitment Advisor, In house recruiter, Recruitment Partner, Head of Talent, Head of Recruitment……here at Tribepad HQ we hear a new job title every day from our clients for what they called their in house corporate recruiter population but the fact remains no matter what the job title is the job is not an easy one……
Some will disagree and yes I have even heard the nay sayers talk about in house recruiters as failed agency recruiters but I’m in a fortunate enough position to have been agency, in house and then agency again so more than qualified to talk about in house life and what a challenging role it was and how it has become harder since my day………
The role of the corporate recruiter has changed inextricably in the past 5-10 years – it is not a role most would recognise from the days of display advertising and high agency dependency – the online world has exploded and direct hiring takes the lead on most large organisations recruiting strategy…. the in house recruiter really has many hats to wear from marketeer to public relations, from data analyst to search expert, from technology guru to accountant….
Could I be so bold as to say I am sure some in house recruiters are making decisions that they sometimes feel under qualified to make? This is not a failing by the way – this is just the landscape they have in front of them….how many in house recruiters have been sent on an SEO course? How many in house recruiters have received PR/Internal comms training? How many recruiters know how to negotiate job board contracts and choose the right channels?
All these things and many more make up the role of the in house recruiter and also they still have a day job to do whilst being perceived by the business as the experts – so configuring their ATS to ensure they are compliant, making sure their jobs are indexed by all the search engines, using the right media to reach out for hard to find talent, utilising the advanced search on LinkedIn, building a Facebook fan base, responding to tweets, seeing how many referrals are coming through and from where, does the business care?? ]
Nope……..all the business is interested in is when you will find a Sales Manager for the job which has been open since August and you will hear how it is affecting the Sales Directors ability to achieve his targets……..that is the reality of the in house recruiter role….
Being in house isn’t a get out, it is a tough job and your clients may well sit two desks away from you – as a recruiter you are a cost to the business and justification of spend and indeed existence won’t wash very well when you say “I couldn’t find a Sales Manager but its cool as we have 1000 people who like us on Facebook”
Next time you are face to face with an in house recruiter check and see which of their many hats they are wearing that day….oh and a word Mr Agency don’t go behind the recruiters back straight to the Sales Director with 3 “awesome” sales managers who all have the relevant experience and are available immediately…..
….oh and a word Mr Agency don’t go behind the recruiters back straight to the Sales Director with 3 “awesome” sales managers who all have the relevant experience and are available immediately…..
Interesting comment by the initial poster. What happens if one or more of the 3 Sales Managers turn out to be ‘awesome’ and eventually ends up running the company?