Recruitment Agency versus In-House Recruitment
Having spent upwards of 30 years working in both in-house and consultancy, I have gained extensive knowledge of how both work. I made a definite choice to stay in agency recruitment as I love the variety of assignments and clients and being independent allows me more freedom. I enjoy seeing candidates make life changing moves based on my recommendation and I can support hiring managers make the very best decision on their staffing needs by sharing my knowledge and expertise. I partner with my clients, share knowledge and support them with staff retention and recruitment strategies.
There are pros and cons to working both in-house and consultancy or agency, the flexibility, range of assignment and the ability to obtain different industry knowledge is fantastic with consultancy. Whilst the pressure to perform with hiring managers in close proximity in a labour short market is a struggle for in-house.
Seeing a marked increase of recruiters looking at in-house for their next career move with 1 to 2 years’ experience is a worry. I often think that agency recruiters are not giving our industry enough time to really see what it is all about. Yes, junior recruiters need a bit more structure including KPIs, but this wanes over time when you are more comfortable in the role and better established.
A strong agency recruiter will gain experience in negotiation, sourcing quality candidates, client interaction, putting together bids, attending meetings, networking, gaining strong business acumen and business development. Successful agency recruiters enjoy a high basic with commission and bonuses and in a lot of cases a benefits package including pension and medical insurance.
In-house recruiters generally secure a higher base salary but would lose out on the commission which if you are a strong recruiter with over 2 years’ experience can be substantial and is something to weigh up before making the decision to move. The duties between agency and in-house are very similar, and both have KPIs and Metrics, the difference is in focus and whether you are happy to work on a guaranteed set income as opposed to uncapped OTE. As a consultancy recruiter, your focus is on the needs of both your candidate and your client. In-house the focus is the overall success of the business and how recruitment affects that success.
Whichever way you go, please take proper advice before making this type of move. If you are interested in having a conversation, I would be delighted to speak to you, confidentially of course and at least give you guidance.
Tina Coy, ACCA, Affiliated CIPD
Managing Director
CSC Partners Recruitment Ltd
tina@cscp.ie
086 2029019