When I’m looking to add a new recruiter to my team, I’m always thrilled to receive a resume with a mix of agency and corporate experience. It’s a best-of-both-world scenario: the candidate has worked in an agency’s fast-paced, results-driven environment but possesses the industry knowledge and strategic thinking required for an in-house position. There are benefits to both types of recruiting. But when you’re choosing a staffing strategy for your company, which is the best route?
Agency recruiting and corporate recruiting share a common goal: finding and hiring qualified candidates for a company’s open roles. While they share many of the same job functions, agency and corporate recruiters have distinct priorities, and the benefits they provide to the companies they work for differ.
Here, we’ll discuss agency versus corporate recruiting and help you decide which is best for your needs.
What Is a Corporate Recruiter?
A corporate recruiter is a full-time, in-house employee of a company who fills positions within that company.
Corporate recruiters have a deep understanding of the organization for which they work and may even specialize in a certain department within that company. Google, for example, has recruiters dedicated specifically to hiring employees in search, UX, cloud, commerce, and more.
A corporate recruiter is paid a salary, sometimes with a small commission or bonus structure. Often from an HR background, a corporate recruiter may also be responsible for other tasks besides recruiting, like onboarding new hires and managing employee benefits.
Because corporate recruiters work for just one company, their position offers more stability and consistency than an agency recruiting job.
What Is an Agency Recruiter?
An agency recruiter works for a staffing agency like 4 Corner Resources. Also known as headhunters, agency recruiters fill positions within companies that are their agency’s clients.
Agency recruiters like the ones on my team know how different companies are structured and understand what their various clients are looking for. They may specialize in recruiting for a certain industry, like healthcare or tech.
An agency recruiter receives a nominal salary and earns most of their income on commission based on the positions they fill. People in this role often come from a sales background or have some combination of sales and HR experience.
Because their work involves serving multiple clients and is commission-based, agency recruiters must be sales-oriented and comfortable with a fast-paced job.
Related: Is Your Business Ready for Professional Staffing Services?
Searching for your next hire?
Our recruiters are ready to deliver.
Key Differences Between Agency and Corporate Recruiters
Here are some of the primary distinctions between in-house and third-party recruiters.
Time to hire
Agency recruiters typically move faster to hire than their corporate counterparts. At 4 Corner, for example, we aim to deliver a qualified candidate for a position within 48 hours. Agency headhunters focus on recruiting all day, every day, and don’t split their time with other tasks. Because they’re competing against other recruiting firms to attract the best candidates, speed is essential. At the end of the day, their income and their agency’s reputation depend on making the right hires quickly.
Related: Ways to Reduce Your Time to Hire
Knowledge of company
Regarding company knowledge, corporate recruiters have the leg up because they only need to focus on a single organization’s nuances and hiring preferences. As employees of the company themselves, they have a more direct understanding of the culture and how the company operates than someone on the outside looking in. They also have the benefit of being able to leverage tools like an employee referral program to bring in qualified candidates from within.
A great staffing agency, however, will take the time to gain this knowledge. When my team begins working with a new client, we conduct a thorough onboarding session to learn about the company culture, mission, values, and goals. We also stay in close contact so that we’re up to date with day-to-day changes happening in the organization.
Knowledge of industry
On the flip side, agency recruiters work with many different companies, often in the same field. They hire for the same types of roles over and over again. This gives them a breadth of knowledge about what different organizations in an industry are doing to attract talent. They can offer their clients a consultant-like perspective on how to best compete in the market.
One such example is the hospitality field. Being based in Orlando, my company works with its fair share of tourism-related clients, such as hotels, resorts, theme parks, and restaurant chains. Because of this, we are keenly aware of what’s going on in the industry, which roles are most competitive to hire for, what the going salary is for different positions, and how competitors stack up at any given time. This knowledge helps our clients compete at the top of their game when talking to talented applicants.
Level of engagement
Because corporate recruiters are in-house employees, hiring managers may feel more comfortable with having a higher level of accessibility to them. Agency recruiters may only make contact at certain points within the hiring process rather than maintaining an ongoing line of communication. If you’re considering working with an agency, it’s important to set clear expectations about this part of your relationship upfront.
Agency and corporate recruiters also have different motivations for staying engaged with their searches. Agency recruiters’ objectives are to fulfill their contract with a client and collect their commission upon making a successful hire. Corporate recruiters’ motivation is to meet their departmental goals and hire people who are the right fit for their company.
Size of professional network
Agency recruiters like those at 4 Corner Resources are natural-born networkers. To successfully hire for many different roles at different companies, they must maintain a consistent, diverse stream of candidates in their talent pipeline. Because of this, they form long-standing relationships with people from a range of backgrounds. This contrasts with corporate recruiters, who don’t usually have the same volume or assortment of contacts.
Adaptability
Suppose a position is particularly challenging to fill or the market is experiencing a talent shortage. In that case, corporate recruiters may have more flexibility to adjust the hiring timeline or change the requirements than an agency recruiter, who is bound by the terms of a contract. On the other hand, an agency recruiter may be able to help companies find creative ways to address hiring needs based on their experience with other organizations.
Confidentiality
Both agency and corporate recruiters are ethically responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their candidates and clients. If you need iron-clad security around your search, however, using an in-house recruiter is the safest bet. Agency recruiters sometimes cannot disclose the clients that they’re working with, but sometimes, the details of a role or the job requirements will make it easy enough to put the puzzle pieces together for someone who’s digging for information.
Active vs. passive candidates
Corporate recruiters engage mainly with active candidates–professionals actively searching for a new job and applying to the company’s openings. Agency recruiters do a lot of networking with passive candidates–people who are currently employed but may be open to making a career move for the right opportunity. Targeting passive candidates can help companies connect with the talent they wouldn’t have reached by posting a job. It’s one of the best strategies to fill openings in a competitive market.
Things to Consider When Choosing Agency vs. Corporate Recruiting
For companies
If you’re a company considering how best to address your staffing needs, consider your hiring volume, timeline, existing resources, and budget.
How many positions do you need to hire for, and in what time frame? If you only hire a handful of people every quarter, working with a staffing agency may give you more bang for your buck than hiring a full-time employee dedicated to recruiting. On the flip side, if you hire very infrequently, like a few times per year, an existing HR staffer may be able to tackle it. When it comes to budget, you’ll need to weigh third-party recruiting fees against the cost of in-house labor, including salary, benefits, and taxes, as well as any costs you incur to find the right person for the job.
A corporate recruiter can offer stability, discretion, close company knowledge, and direct accessibility, while an agency recruiter can provide speed, industry expertise, and broader access to more diverse talent. The good news is it’s not an all-or-nothing choice. Many companies opt to supplement their in-house recruiting teams with outside help from a staffing agency. This is true for many of our clients, who reap the benefits of deep company expertise and a wide, rich talent pool.
Related: How In-House HR and External Recruiting Agencies Can Work Hand In Hand
For candidates
If you have one or two companies that you already know you want to work for as a candidate, your best bet may be to contact their corporate recruiters directly. They can advise you of the company’s available positions and keep you in mind for future openings that may be a good fit. Establishing a relationship with a corporate recruiter is a great way to get your foot in the door at your dream job if you have a particular employer in mind.
If you’re open to possibilities or need a little direction in your job search, an agency recruiter may be a better fit. Because they work with so many clients, they can point out openings that are a good fit for your skills that you might not have searched for directly. They can also alert you to upcoming openings before they’re posted on public job boards, which can put you at an advantage in applying early.
Neither corporate nor agency recruiters charge candidates for their services.
Ultimately, both agency and corporate recruiters serve a need in the job market. Which one is right for you will depend on your timeline, level of urgency, and specific needs as a candidate or hiring organization. Need more specific guidance or want to talk through what a staffing agency relationship might look like for your organization? My team is here to help. Get in touch today to start the conversation.
