Who’s The Boss: Recruiter or Hiring Manager?

Hiring new employees can be a difficult and a time consuming necessity of a business.  This process of hiring is the job of an incredibly responsible, organized and intuitive individual, and the job requires lots of very important and difficult decision making.  The person conducting the hiring of candidates and employees, is making a decision that could possibly change the entire company, so it is important that when making the decision of using a Recruiter or a Hiring Manager or both, that you do so carefully and with confidence.  First of all, it is important to know the difference between Recruiters and Hiring Managers, which one would best serve your needs and your company, and finally, how they would work together.

So, let’s define what exactly a recruiter is.  Generally speaking, a ‘recruiter’ would work for a recruitment agency (which recruits staff for it’s clients) or work within a large company to recruit new staff for one’s own company.  Recruiters are typically paid for finding and locating a right match for a company, one that has relevant experience and education.  A hiring manager on the other hand, is usually working within the company and is put in charge of finding suitable candidates, they are not brought in from a recruiting firm or outside company. Hiring managers typically have more inside knowledge as to how a company works and they understand the more practical requirements needed for the position.

Making the decision as to which one of these individuals to put in charge of your hiring process is a tough decision alone.  To advise you in this decision making process, there are a few things you should look at first.  First off, it largely depends on how large of a company is hiring as well as how the infrastructure of your company is set up.  There are pros and cons here to using a recruiter versus a hiring manager.  When is comes to the recruiter, typically they are a lot more direct in their line of questioning or recruits since they only want to find a candidate that can meet the job requirements.  On the other hand though, utilizing an in house hiring manager can be beneficial because they are much more familiar with the company and the job requirements.

Recruiters and Hiring Managers can also work in unison if you have the ability to have both.  A great thing about recruiters and hiring managers, is that they have the same goal in mind: to hire qualified personnel.  Often times, they will clash as their perspectives are often different, one coming from in house the other coming from an outside perspective. The two though, when successfully working together can make an incredible team. The recruiter can actually work as a guide and provides value through helping the hiring manager in succeeding in finding the right candidate for the job being filled.   The hiring manager can give insight to the recruiter about what kind of candidate they are looking for as a team player, not just the best candidate on paper, but the best cultural and team fit as well.

With Recruiters and Hiring Managers dealing with a multitude of candidates and information it is  important to keep this process as organized as possible.  With all these new candidates and data coming your way, it is important to stay on top of organization when it comes to the hiring process.  Making sure that you have a CRM software that allows your team to connect, organize and recruit in a fluid and user-friendly manner is very important.  Having a recruiting software that can organize candidates will allow your recruiters and hiring managers to work together as well as allow them to go through information easily and quickly, as to make the most of their time.  Choosing an ATS  software that also allows candidates to access information from outside the office, through mobile apps or remotely from a secured server, will allow the recruiters  and hiring managers in your office to work on the go.  And finally, having an online recruitment software that can grow with your company will ensure the success of your company.  TrackerRMS offers an online recruitment solution that can help your hiring managers and recruiters find success. Call today to schedule a live demo.

CEO of Tracker for over 12 years with an overall 25+ years in business process, IT strategy, and management

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