Moving From Agency to In-house Recruitment

Moving to in-house recruitment from the staffing agency world is a big decision. There is so much to consider that I broke this post into 3 parts. I talked about my own transition from agency to in-house recruitment – things that surprised me in part 1 and in part 2, the awesome advantages of moving to in-house recruitment.

Now, I don’t want to mislead you into thinking that the grass is always greener. It’s not.

In fact, some traditional in-house recruitment environments need serious improvement, but it’s also a very exciting time to be in talent acquisition, as most organizations are evolving their processes.

If you’re moving to in-house recruitment, here’s how you prepare:

In-house recruitment is not easier

The common misconception is that in-house recruitment is much easier than agency recruitment. Totally false!

Sure, there’s no more business development and the type of targets you’re used to in agency. However, be prepared to juggle a much larger number of job requisitions – sometimes about 40 open jobs. Often, you’ll have to manage the full recruitment cycle from intake to offer.

You’ll only be able to juggle this effectively if you…

Know the employer brand inside out

Your employer brand is going to be your biggest asset (as long as its well developed) as an in-house recruiter. It will make your inbound recruiting efforts far more effective.

Build targeted recruitment strategies

One size does not fit all. Learn everything about the jobs you have open – which ones are tough to fill, which ones can be filled with internal talent and which will benefit from partnering with an agency. This way, you will have a specific recruitment strategy that works for each job or job family.

Have a sourcing strategy ready for each job family and discuss it with your hiring managers at the intake meeting. They will have contacts in their industry or field that you can tap into.

Keep treating your hiring managers like clients

Just because you’re an in-house recruiter doesn’t mean that you have to stop using your client relationship skills you hones all these years in agency. In fact, it will likely be on of your biggest strengths as an agency recruiter making the transition in-house.

Each one of the hiring managers you’re working with want to feel as tough their jobs matter most… just like your clients in agency. Focus on building a relationship with each one from the beginning. Don’t skip intake meeting, make sure you understand their challenges and keep them updated regularly.

Here’s what will be different about how you work with hiring managers in in-house recruitment…

Guide and coach hiring managers

You were mostly acting as a consultant to your clients when you were in agency.

Now that you’re an in-house recruiter, you will essentially be your hiring managers’ recruitment coach. Share best practices, guide them through the recruitment process and teach them how hiring managers can be instrumental in sourcing candidates.

Be prepared for recruitment metrics

There are recruitment metrics in agency, but they’re nowhere near as much a focus as in-house recruitment.

Metrics like time to fill, cost per hire, offer acceptance ratio, retention rates, diversity recruitment and so many others will be instrumental.

Make sure you’re keeping track of data because it’s a key decision-making tool in corporate in-house recruitment. It’s also how you will be able to demonstrate your in effectiveness as an in-house recruiter when it comes to your annual performance review.

In-house recruitment is focused on savings

As agency recruiters, we put a lot of emphasis on how much we billed. In-house recruitment is about how much you saved the company. For example, you may be involved in negotiate agency contracts to decrease cost. Perhaps you used your awesome sourcing skills to cut down time to hire numbers.

You’ll learn quickly that in-house recruitment budgets are sometimes limited and ever penny you save is important.

Keep in mind that it takes time to transition, so keep realistic expectations and enjoy the other side.

For those of you who have made the move, share your experience!