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Have you ever had one of those career-defining moments? You know, those instances where – mixed in with a splash of hesitation and a hint of uncertainty – you have that above-average sense of conviction that the job offer you’ve just received, or the promotion you’ve just discussed, or the project you’ve been asked to lead is just, well, right?

There have probably been two times in my career that I can confidently classify as career-defining. The first was moving to New Zealand from the USA into my first internal recruitment role and the second was moving back into external recruitment over 10 years later.

To be honest, since moving into the internal recruitment world I didn’t ponder too much about how different life would be back in the ‘dark side’ of agency recruitment – to me, the choice had already been made. I mean, there was no going back, right?

Well, as most of us are probably experiencing, the frequency with which career choices need to be made these days and the rapidity of change across the industry landscape means nothing is out of the question. Now, and forever immortalised by Angela Horking’s career-defining words to me “It’s not such a great leap”, I found myself for the first time in a while asking exactly that, “what sort of leap will it take?”

I’m going to cover a few areas I feel differentiate between internal and external recruitment environments. These are – or were – most obvious to me upon making the move to Tandem Partners. There is much more I could discuss of course, however, in a moment you’ll (hopefully) understand why it mostly comes down to personal fit.

Business and Relationship Development

Sure – a focus on business development and picking up the phone to make the dreaded cold calls is absolutely a factor in an agency. Work doesn’t just walk through the door after all and the 10 successful calls you make that actually generate work or, even better, result in a long-term client relationship, are often scattered within another 100 phone calls that result in rejections.

But get this – do we not do the same in an internal environment? Aren’t our internal customers looking for a similar thing – a mutually positive relationship? Added or complementary value? Expertise? Isn’t part of being a valued internal Talent Acquisition Consultant also about getting out there in front of your hiring managers and teams? The fundamental difference is how we spend our time doing it; for an agency recruiter, business development and sales seems to be a more prevalent part of your routine and culture. As an internal recruiter, it can often feel like you build customer relationships on an ‘as needed’ basis – when there is a ‘real’ need to recruit. As always for an internal recruiter, there is a constant battle to find enough time in the day. I mean, between meetings with the Marketing team to develop an EVP strategy and the GM whose global search has reached a critical stage, who has the time?

Nonetheless, the reward for developing a new internal relationship or the feeling of landing a new client as a consultant is the same. We are driven by developing strong relationships and we take pride in these accomplishments. In either case, success can taste that little bit sweeter by it coming as a result of pushing yourself out of a comfort zone.

Market

A clear difference working in an agency is the breadth of exposure you obtain within the market. Working across industries and organisations gives you access to the many market influences and drivers and how they ultimately affect your clients. In any given day, you could be in discussion with a leader of a business who is at the bleeding edge of cultural progressiveness and by the afternoon you could be talking to a similarly levelled leader of another business who is purely on the battleground of implementing foundational work.

In an internal environment the world is your client and you are focussed on the projects at hand. It takes effort and time to be involved in the external market – to stay fresh and aware of the extrinsic implications and the forces that are shaping the place you work.

Closing Thoughts

So, how big a leap is it exactly? Well, not that big apparently.

I rattled my brain trying to note down all the many points of difference between internal and external recruitment – and there many. “What about the politics of a corporate team?” I hear you say. “What about the clunky processes and the ATS that doesn’t 'speak' to the HRIS?”. “What about the money-hungry, car salesmen-like consultants who don’t care about the client beyond the placement fee?”. I thought about these (and more) and then reached the conclusion that they’re mostly symptomatic of a wider cultural or investment factor.

As long as you recognize what sort of culture you need to help you thrive and understand without a shadow of doubt that the company’s investment in you aligns with your investment in them, you’ve already won half the battle. It doesn’t matter if you’re the biggest political beast to walk the Earth, or the slickest salesperson around – find the right culture, find the right fit.

Prior to my decision to join Tandem Partners, I was presented with a couple of offers, but the safe culture, the strong investment and environment that Tandem had created certainly stood out. The recruiters don’t fit a cookie cutter mould – they had different sets of skills and personalities that enabled me to bring yet another dimension to the team. In a market that’s ever evolving, I found this approach refreshing.

Because the thing is – what I believe it all boils down to – whether you’re working in an agency or within an internal HR team, we recruiters are driven by the same thing. We are motivated by making an impact to an individual’s career choice and, in turn, recognising the impact that individuals can bring to your organisation or your client and enabling the steps to make that happen. After all, this is what recruiters do, right?