INTERNAL vs AGENCY RECRUITERS - It doesn't have to be a battle

May 13th, 2021

Although it sometimes seems like it.

Let me state immediately that, as an agency, we have some brilliant relationships with our internal recruitment counterparts at many of our clients.

The word partnership is freely bandied about and in some instances, we can honestly say we do operate as partners.

Sounds simple, eh?

The partnership works best when there’s a high level of trust and communication from both sides.

It works well when the agency doesn’t just get an emailed job spec or is told to look online for details but can discuss what’s really required for the hiring manager. So many job specs are lengthy and can be quite bland, it’s those little details that aren’t on the spec that are vital to us agency recruiters.

It works well when the internal recruiter doesn’t take it as a slur on their ability to recruit if the agency recruiter succeeds in finding the best person. The internal may well be juggling many different roles and under pressure from several hiring managers.

It works well when the agent is honest with the internal – doesn’t ridiculously inflate a salary, doesn’t push for interviews for the sake of their KPIs, and can actually discuss the aspirations and feedback of the candidate openly.

It works well when the agent is totally committed to recruiting for that business and follows the company in the trade news, reading blogs and ensuring they can answer any candidate questions that are posed. A lot of candidates much prefer to discuss a role with a third party, providing they are knowledgeable.

It works well when the agent can stress to a potential candidate that it would be in their interest to have a chat about a new position, not with an “are you thinking about moving on” comment, but by relating how and why a move to their client could be advantageous. Looking at their career objectives and sometimes personal lifestyle goals.

It works well when the agent doesn’t try to avoid the internal recruiters by going behind their backs to the hiring manager. Many recruiters, especially at large agencies are taught to do that, which clearly isn’t going to foster a great relationship.

Let’s face it recruitment isn’t easy, otherwise agencies wouldn’t be required, and a simple ad post would produce the applicants for the hiring managers to choose from. That just doesn’t happen and despite many experts believing there would be a flood of candidates available post lockdowns, it’s simply not the case. Counter-offers, salary wars and last-minute withdrawals still make the recruitment process complicated.

Recently at Recruitment Gamechangers, we’ve built some superb partnerships with internal recruitment teams. One such relationship resulted in us filling 5 roles from just 8 separate interviews. Another has meant the client has reduced the number of external agencies used from eight down to just two.

Working together, clearly with mutual goals, will produce a positive outcome.

If you’d like to find out more about how we work in harmony with our opposite numbers in internal recruitment, please drop me an email – Doug Woodward doug@recgc.com