External To Internal - Making the Jump

Hi All - I'm Russ,

I guess for a while you can call me "Russ the Rookie" as I'm so green to here. My Friends call me "RussRecruits", If you pay my bills, you can call me what you want - your the customer!

I thought to best way to jump in from day one would be to produce a Blog. I'm on a new challenge you see, and some of you may find it interesting to hear the view of a long established "Agency guy" to a dedicated "Internal Recruiter". Then again you may not...

Most of you Stateside will know the hook-line - "It was so good I bought the Company..." - well my No. 1 client did just that - the bought me.

The intention, cut back on recruitment agency fees and get a Grad programme running, build a recruitment website and help the odd grade A software customer find hard to get staff.

The reality... here’s the blog so far...

3 Negatives

Your Seen as an Income Drain....

....to all but the directors who have not had to sign a recruiters invoice for six months with all internal posts filled & a surplus pool of candidates that my recruiting skills are now placing with our customers. My yearly salary was paid for with my first 3 hires......

"Its not a hard job like mine...." (The Classic)

Really? Understanding the unique requirements of a Windchill consultant as well as finding one eligible to work in Europe, and available today, using only Linkedin & the net (IE No Job Boards) is easy....?

Ok - you sell / maintain / develop / provide - I ensure your CV got to the MD as well as not having egg on my face by being totally unsuitable. My skills are on trial with every applicant.....

Your on your own Matey...

I sure am. Understandable as no one in the company does what I do - and no one apart from fellow Recruiters finds what I do interesting.

3 Positives

Your on your own Matey...

I sure am. And boy was it the best move I made. With every hire the Directors trust me more - I feel more and more part of the company’s success. I've never been aproached by outsiders in other roles like I am with this one, and its a sign I must being doing OK.

Russ's Recruits

Popping into HO and seeing the office fill more and more with your finds is a feeling you just cannot beat. Very rare in my agency days as most clients locked the doors if you wanted to visit!

A great company to work for..

Really helps. OK, there are some hiccups and I am not top of the priority list - but I do have a good approachable boss who is willing to admit that this is new to them, and it was never going to be an easy option.

Loyalty is not common in recruiting.

I think that’s a good start - to be honest there’s so much more... but I guess that’s what blogging’s for and enough not to bore you.

Watch this space ( I hope) .

Next Post >

Comment by bill josephson on May 9, 2012 at 7:32am: Interesting post, Russ. Curious as to your opinion.

What role do you see for 3rd party recruiters within 5 years, or do you believe agency recruiters will be extinct? Meaning they'll either be internal recruiters like you, or in a different profession?

Comment by Russ Recruits on May 9, 2012 at 8:13am: Great question - though my answer is based on the UK market, I see a different attitude to recruiting in the states.

I think there will always be a need for external recruiters - though I beleive the agency model long term is going to go away. Recruiters now have to be multi skilled, and in the UK there is a lot of "volume lead" bottom feeders. Agencies tend to have a couple of succesful consultants sitting on top of a load of inexperianced, wide eyed and destined to fail recruiters calling a 100 leads a day to get a £1k flat fee.

There is also a large growth in the CV search only sector - you pay a set fee for a set number of suitable CV's - this is great for an internal like me, but I can see the effects on agencies who are rushing to offer a similier service.

One thing that companies employing internals dont seem to understand is the cost - I tend to find that they have no idea about the price of CRMs, boards, subscriptions etc. When the costs are added up - with salary and packadge on top- then the reality of still using good externals comes clear.

So in short - Decent externals, free from the greed of directors above them, and who offer a value to their service, as well as offering more than just recruitment will survive, and Internals like me will always need the occasional decent external.

Comment by bill josephson on May 9, 2012 at 9:19am: Russ, one more question.

With all the social media connections/technology available making most all employees Internet visible what market place relevance do you envision a long time solo TPR having in, say, 5 years?

Comment by Russ Recruits on May 9, 2012 at 9:50am: Ask as many as you like - its nice to be asked in the first place.

I will confess that I'm not sure what TPR stands for your side of the Pond.

I guess the best way for me to answer is this...

A former client once asked me why he should pay me for a candidate I sent, as he saw this person Linkedin, Facefudge, Monster etc himself.

"Yes Mr Client, but unlike you I picked up the phone and spoke with him".....

As long as decision makers are too busy running the business, there will be a relevance, and Internet needs vetting - something they don’t have the time for, and where you and I still can make a living.

Comment by bill josephson on May 9, 2012 at 6:25pm: TPR means Third party recruiters.....Recruiting Agencies.

Most businesses have internal recruiters who certainly are willing to pick up the phone--many were once Third party Recruiters, themselves. How much market relevance will Agency Recruiters have with corporate internal recruiters effectively mining LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media as an increasing number of candidates become more visible?

I'm trying to figure out exactly what an Agency Recruiter will be able to provide in, say, 5 years that an internal such as yourself can't provide?

Comment by Russ Recruits on May 10, 2012 at 6:23am: Got the TPR - many emails on that one!

Over here few companies below national (Virgin, HMV et al) have a dedicated in-house recruiter.

Its a capacity carried out by the HR function with most companies. Like Directors - they have other things to do. As more candidates become visible, it also means more sh*t to wade through - thats where a TPR still has a function - find that diamond amongst the crap.

They also build a PSL (Preff Supplies List) based on companies core values, which suppliers have to fit - leaving scope for a TPR to supply extra value in line with the companies needs.

So next five years.... Europe or the States, you going to have to look abroad more, and supply abroad more - you cannot ignore China or India - they are begining to get short of labour in certian sectors - Design for example.

As long as you have your own USP (Mine is a dedicted in house training acedemy), have clients who are partners, flexible over your markets, work with Candidates as people and embrace change ( we all have succeeded in moving on from Rolodex...) - your model should survive.

I also think decent recruiters will work together more, pooling resources and fending off the bottom feeders in order to survive.

My plan is to become a "Contracting Internal" - which is what I'm doing. Build the function, recruit initial staff, train & move on.

Comment by Caitlin Carruthers on May 10, 2012 at 11:00pm: Great article, Russ. I moved internal about 18 months ago and haven't looked back since. The negatives are there in any recruiting job - especially 'The Classic' - but being around to see people succeed in a job you've placed them in, makes it all worth it.