That’s right folks – many (most?) recruiters actually report to someone.
Now this obviously doesn’t include consultants, or independent recruiters. Anyone on a W-2 (employed by a company) and even some agency folks on contract or 1099 type work still report to someone! And that person is often a Recruiting Manager (RM).
The hierarchy can vary widely org to org – some recruiters roll up to the larger HR organization, some are defined by kind of recruiter (closers vs sourcers, for example). The one thing they all have in common? They’re bound by metrics and manager expectations.
One of the most common expectations is number of hires. That’s right – recruiters will typically have a specific deliverable or expectation of output – if we’re not making those numbers, we’ve got some ‘splaining to do! (Tell me more about recruiters NOT wanting to hire people. Seriously. Because if we don’t… well….)
THOSE numbers are of course fluid depending on the organization, kind of hiring we’re responsible for, things like that. For a senior tech recruiter working on niche roles, it may be 2 hires a month. For my high volume friends, it can be 10 times that amount or more.
RMs are often involved in STRATEGY discussions as well – working with business leaders to understand hiring goals for the year, partnering with their recruiting teams to help define how we’re going to get there – RMs are involved in those discussions as well. This allows them to set the right goals for their teams and help them be successful.
When recruiters screw up, RMs are there to help redirect or correct as needed. Like any other industry, we drop balls and make mistakes – when we get those escalations RMs dig into what happened and make it right.
A GREAT RM can make or break a recruiter’s career. Check out the accompanying video HERE.
