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What’s the biggest struggle you face in your recruitment career? For some, it’s trying to decide between being an internal recruitment consultant or an agency recruiter. Often the route into internal recruitment comes from starting off in an agency and sometimes it may stem from a role within HR. But why change paths? Well, it depends on what you're after from your recruitment career.

Do you want to hit your numbers at a higher rate to earn impressive commission, or are you more interested in being responsible for growing a company and getting to know the people you recruit? 

The answers to these questions and others can help you decide between in-house and agency jobs. You should also consider the specific company you’re thinking about working for as an internal recruiter. Large companies have certain advantages over smaller companies in this space but may come with higher expectations. 

In the article below, you’ll find a range of factors to consider when choosing where to work as a recruiter. Read on to learn how to prepare for the next step in your career. 

Agency Recruiting Is Generally More Fast-Paced

When you're a recruiter at a recruitment agency, you're expected to hire a large number of people in a given time frame. Unlike with an in-house recruitment department, you're not just recruiting talent for one company.

The agency likely has dozens of different companies that all need new employees, providing opportunities to work with a more diverse array of businesses. While you can enjoy the variation in your job, you will also need to be a quick learner to absorb all the information about the companies you're working with.

As an agency recruiter, you'll likely have to work on building relationships with multiple clients at a time. If you are in a 360 role, that also means potential cold calling and business development. That's the only way you'll be able to hit your targets for the agency and make your commission. If you're great at working quickly and have a talent for sales, working in an agency can be highly lucrative

Internal Recruiters Must Really Get To Know People

When deciding whether to look for a job as an internal or agency recruiter, you should think about what you value in your career. If you don't enjoy the business development part of the recruitment role but love working with candidates, internal recruitment might be a good option. You'll still need to be driven and work to tight deadlines, especially during periods of rapid business growth, but BD will become a thing of the past. The role might not be quite as lucrative as agency side in terms of the commission but the basic salaries are often much higher, so you need to consider what you want from a monetary point of view.

Internal recruiters are expected to be extremely knowledgeable about the company they work for. They should show passion for building a solid company culture, potentially working closely alongside HR for this. Internal recruiters should find it easier to sell the company benefits to candidates from being within the business and understanding it well. Networking is essential, and working under pressure is still a requirement. Contrary to some belief, internal recruitment isn't a more manageable option; it's just a different one!

You’re Ready to Decide Between an Agency and In-House Recruitment Career

Now that you understand some of the pros and cons of both in-house and agency recruitment career paths, you're ready to find a job. Be sure to think about your strengths and weaknesses when making this decision, and whichever direction you choose, you'll need excellent skills at finding and hiring the best talent.

If you like a fast-paced job, working with multiple companies, and the opportunity to earn incredibly high take home, consider going the agency route. If you prefer a little more stability and the chance to be an integral part of a single company, in-house recruitment could be right for you. Whenever you're ready to find a role, be sure to register for an account on Navado Talent rec2rec.