Three Corporate Recruiting Challenges

Over the years in this business, I have a spent a great deal of time interacting with Hiring Managers, Executives and HR.  But often, I am brought in to speak to the folks currently handling all of the hiring and recruiting…the internal Corporate Recruiter . Now this meeting is often fraught with challenge; after all there is a perception that I, the Agency Recruiter, am being brought in after this person has failed to find the right talent.  Even if it isn’t quite as bad as that, there is at least a perception that the Corporate Recruiter needs help to fill a role or two. Fantastic.  There are all kinds of internal machinations and powers at play that the Agency Recruiter is blissfully unaware of.

What I have found is that while there may be a perception that the Agency Recruiter is being brought in to get the job done, there are almost always some very obvious reasons that the Corporate Recruiter hasn’t been able to find the right talent.  And while this will come as no surprise to folks on that side of the business, it’s not their fault.  Not be a long shot.

• “You’re in HR, right?”Have you ever tried to explain to someone what it is you do for a living? I’ll bet you have and nine times out of ten, they’ve simplified the role in their hands and told you that you were in HR.  After a couple of years I gave up on trying to explain the distinction.  But think of the Corporate side; Hiring Managers are no different than the general public in the sense that they really don’t understand the role of their internal recruiters.  How often do we find Internal Recruiters who are either explicitly responsible for HR or often handle overflow work for them? Almost always.  Companies quite simply overburden corporate recruiters with a number of responsibilities that are simply at odds with a Recruiters job and motivation.
• Hiring Boom: Another challenge that becomes apparent when you speak with any Corporate Recruiting Department is that recruiters are being tasked with far too many roles to fill.  If you walk into any large company, you’ll meet the one guy or gal who is responsible for hiring 20-40 people…and all of them yesterday.  I love having business, but if I had 40 jobs to fill I’d be prioritizing by client and by fee.  Internal recruiters have no choice; they have to deliver and no one job gets to take precedence over another.  Can you blame someone for not filling a Manager’s ‘urgent job’ when they’re tasked with 39 others at the same time?
• “I don’t get no respect….”How frustrating is it when you’re working a job order, you’ve found some great talent and you can’t get a call back or feedback from the Manager?  It’s the worst.  Eventually, whether or not they’ve got lots of business, chances are you’re not going to waste your time on that client again.  Flip that around now for the internal recruiter out there.  Their role is often not respected by other Managers since they are seen as a service provider and when they can’t track down feedback, there is little to no recourse.  They can’t simply fire the client.  Instead, they have to struggle to keep running a priority search with little or no interaction from the actual guy (or gal) doing the hiring.

Lately on Recruiter.com we’ve seen lots of articles concerning the negative stereotypes and opinions surrounding recruiting as a profession. Often, Corporate Recruiters get the worst of it because they bear all of the same stereotypical negatives while actually being a part of the corporate environment.  It seems even more unfair that they’re hamstrung half the time from doing the kind of job they’d like by company structure, responsibilities and a lack of perceived value.  So next time you find yourself walking into a would be client to speak with the internal recruiting folks, remember, they’ve been doing their best and often with the odds stacked against them. Keep your ears open and make sure you’re taking the time to give respect where it is due.