Not so long ago this blog debated the question of In-House Recruiters vs External Search and Selection.  It generated some lively discussion and, more importantly, action.  We are delighted to announce a new role has been created to fill the gap that has been identified, servicing the Internal Recruitment Specialists market.  Rebecca Lennard, who many of you have worked with over the past two years in her role at Hemisphere Consulting, is the natural choice to move into this new role. Her 6 years of recruitment experience have seen her counseling recruiters in many sectors and regions.  She will now join James McConochie in our Hemisphere HR team and focus on sourcing recruiters for in-house roles.

Why the move into internal recruitment market, Rebecca?

Like many agency recruiters, I have been recruiting for a long time and have forged key relationships along the way.  For some time I have found my clients and candidates have been evolving along the lines of in-house recruitment and it seemed sensible to develop my service offering to accommodate their needs.  It’s exciting to now focus entirely on this new area, with its subtle points of difference, people and companies.  

What makes a great internal recruiter?

A great recruiter is a great recruiter whether they are in-house or external, but some personality types are more suited to one market or the other.  A major key to success is having the commerciality to understand and effectively represent the business and brand to attract new talent into the organisation.  Another important skill is being able to identify and approach candidates who may well be in the passive market.  One of the main purposes of an internal recruitment function is to reduce agency recruitment costs and thus in some situations, for more specific roles it is necessary to look further than advert responses.

What do employers seeking internal recruiters look for in a candidate?

One of the most important skills an internal recruiter needs is the ability to establish, build and maintain relationships with their stakeholder group to gain credibility within what can be a challenging and demanding environment.  In certain circumstances and particularly in specialist areas, recruiters may benefit from being well-networked within that specific space as it will provide confidence to hiring managers and definitely assists in gaining their early ‘buy-in’. Agency recruiters must be able to demonstrate they understand the difference between working with external clients and working in partnership with internal clients. 

What advice would you give an agency recruiter thinking of making the move to in-house?

Some agency recruiters can mistake an internal recruitment opportunity as being less demanding than working in agency.  This is certainly not the case as you do not have the option of being able to walk away from your internal clients.  You will also need to have a certain amount of gravitas to understand their needs and manage their expectations.  Another common reason why agency recruiters want to make the transition is to move away from a business development role. This is a huge misconception as the need for direct sourcing means you will need to be proactively sourcing candidates with essentially ‘cold calling’.  In what is an increasingly competitive candidate market  you will also need to be able to ‘sell’ or highlight the benefits of the business to ensure you get the best people in front of your hiring managers.

To reiterate my earlier point; a great recruiter is a great recruiter and there are plenty of examples where agency recruiters have made the move and are very successful in their on-site roles.  The key to their success has been delivering effective talent acquisition practices and thus in turn adding real value to the wider business.  Of course, each opportunity will have its different requirements and should be approached on a case-by-case basis.  

And finally - our blog posts are gaining a reputation for offering an interesting insight into our team that you won’t find on our LinkedIn profile so here goes Rebecca's – every Tuesday evening you can find Rebecca attending a dance class dancing to Beyonce, Salt ‘n’ Pepa and the like.  You’ll have to wait for another post before I tell you where!

If you have further questions or would like an informal chat about the internal recruitment market more generally then please feel free to call Rebecca on 02 9267 5030 or email rl@hemispherehr.com.au