Understanding Different Types of Recruiters

Question:

A recruiter on LinkedIn contacted me about a job she thought was a good fit. I sent my resume and asked her to keep me in mind for any other jobs she might come across. In her response, she shared that she worked for that specific company and was not part of a staffing agency. I felt completely embarrassed and apologized for my mishap. I didn’t know that there were different types of recruiters. Can you explain how this actually works?

Answer:

It’s no wonder that you might have misunderstood the recruiter’s role. There are various types of recruiters with overlapping duties, including (but not limited to) internal or in-house recruiters, agency recruiters, and corporate or executive search recruiters.

Based on what you shared, it sounds like the person who reached out to you was an internal recruiter, which means they work directly for their employer, typically on a salaried basis. Most importantly, they are looking for individuals that would be a good fit for a specific position within their company and have better insight on what a candidate needs to fit in with their company’s mission and culture.

The type of recruiter you were probably thinking of (and the most common) is an agency recruiter. These recruiters work for a staffing agency and look for multiple candidates that would fit various roles across multiple companies and industries which may or may not be related to your previous job. Agency recruiters typically ask candidates to set up an account on their agency’s website, ask you do to assessments to evaluate your skills , and they might ask you to participate in a video interview. The purpose is to try and get as much information from you as possible in order to effectively “pitch” you to various employers. One of the biggest distinctions between an internal recruiter versus an agency recruiter is that agency recruiters are often not paid unless a candidate they match to an employer is hired.

“Different types of recruiters can and do have overlapping responsibilities, as they are all trying to screen and pitch the best candidates for whatever job they are trying to fill.”

Corporate or executive search recruiters have similarities to both internal and agency recruiters. They still work in firms or agencies but focus more on high-level positions. Sometimes a company can hire a corporate recruiter to assist internal recruiters to find the best candidates for a role, and can be paid a partial upfront fee even if a candidate isn’t selected to be hired.

Different types of recruiters can and do have overlapping responsibilities, as they are all trying to screen and pitch the best candidates for whatever job they are trying to fill. In order to avoid any type of mix-up in the future, if you are approached by a recruiter, do some digging before responding back to see who they are working for, and that will help you better sell yourself.

For additional information on the types of recruiters that are out there and their responsibilities, check out this link.