Five Traits of Effective Internal Recruiters

Do agencies really despise working with in-house recruiters as much as people think? 

Not at all. 

In fact, Adaptive has some great partnerships with Talent Acquisition teams that have generated amazing results and built outstanding sales teams for SaaS clients.

But what makes these internal recruiters so good? 

It’s a cliché as old as the recruitment industry itself that agencies hate working with internal (or in-house) recruiters. 

"They’re our competition!"

"They steal our candidates!"

Well, sure… if agencies and internal recruitment teams don’t establish a good rapport, there can be some overlap and some friction. 

Over the years, we’ve been lucky enough to work with some exceptionally accomplished internal recruitment professionals. People who not only make the process of working with an agency smooth and productive, but who add massive value to their employers are a vital ingredient in the overall mix of business growth.  

So what makes these guys stand out?

Let’s get the obvious things out of the way first...

They’re extremely responsive, of course. Though they’re probably among the busiest people in their companies, they keep everyone in the recruitment process looped in with frequent updates. They don’t let communication backlog while they wait to find time to hammer out long reports – instead they give quick, simple feedback on the hoof that lets people know where they stand.

It helps keep us (the agency) engaged and on top of our game, and it does wonders for the employer brand. Even unsuccessful candidates have a professional, responsive interview experience and are way more likely to recommend the company to their networks.

Obviously, they’re organized. From automating scheduling via tools like Calendly to laying down the law with agencies on how they want resume files named and submitted, they prioritize automation and efficiency in their work, which in turn helps them keep on top of their communication and stay productive. 

Most importantly, though, they drive the recruitment process internally. 

For those who’ve never put themselves in the shoes of an internal recruiter inside a fast-growing company - it’s a tough gig. 

The common vision among some agency recruiters that our internal counterparts sit around waiting for profiles to roll in and then spend the rest of their time managing calendars is a million miles off. 

Great recruiters don’t blindly continue to send resume after resume to the desk of a non-responsive VP who’s nixed ten great candidates in a row – they walk down the hall and ask what’s going on. 

They also protect their own time, which often means pro-actively re-qualifying roles and priorities instead of waiting to be told that a search has been pulled. 

And how do they build this clout?

Because the real rockstars in the talent acquisition world know that none of their company’s goals can be hit without the right team in place, and they take that responsibility as seriously as any founder.

Top internal recruiters are highly invested in their company’s growth, and they earn the seniority and leverage needed to continually ensure recruitment makes it as a priority onto the calendars of busy people absorbed in other challenges. 

They don’t visualize their roles in terms of clearing reqs off their desk, they see themselves (rightly) as growth architects playing a pivotal, strategic role in assembling the company’s human capital.