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Getting to Know An Internal Recruiter
2021-10-18 /

What is an Internal Recruiter?

Having an internal recruiter provides great advantages to your company. You can hire employees for vacant positions who already have a proven track record in the organization. But what exactly does an internal recruiter do? 

An internal recruiter is an essential part of the human resources department. This professional helps determine vacancies to handle specific business needs. They also handle internal employee recruitment for open positions. 

It’s the counterpart of a general recruitment officer or a headhunter. However, the focus of the job is to source candidates within the existing workforce. At times, the person also creates policies when it comes to internal recruitment, skills development, and career planning.

But before delving further into the daily tasks of an internal recruiter, let’s understand what “internal recruitment” means. It’s also a good idea to explore what it can do for your business in terms of human resources management and growth.

What Is Internal Recruitment?

As mentioned, internal hiring is the process of filling job vacancies within your current workforce. It’s a good solution for staffing needs that require in-depth business knowledge and specific skill sets. Why should you take advantage of it?

  • Reduce hiring costs — There is no need to post job listings to external platforms. And no more extensive screening process of unqualified applicants. 
  • Cut down training costs — Yes, you need to train the staff about new systems and processes. But it still requires lesser training costs and duration compared to onboarding a new one.
  • Increase employee morale — Internal recruitment helps make employees feel their importance in the organization. As they work on roles that suit them, it boosts their morale and helps them perform better.
  • Lessen turnover rate—Since employees are given positions that meet their interests and skills, you decrease your company’s turnover rate.

Kinds of Internal Recruitment for Businesses

Before taking a step in this direction, consider first whether the strategy best fits your requirements. And depending on your business needs, there are four ways to hire employees internally.

1. Temporary to Permanent Recruitment

Have you ever heard of interns being absorbed in the company? Or job order personnel becoming regular employees? The internal recruiter is the one who handles the transition from temporary positions to permanent ones, if necessary.

2. Transfer

There are two types of transfers within the organization. The first one refers to an employee transferring to another business location. But it is possible that the staff still works on the same job level. 

The second type of transfer is also known as a lateral transfer. It means an employee is shifted to another department but still holds a similar job level.

3. Employee Promotion

If you have upper-level job vacancies, promote someone from inside rather than hiring externally. So ask your internal recruiter to review employee performance and let exemplary staff advance in the corporate ladder.

4. Employee Referral

Most businesses do not utilize the benefits of a referral program. Nevertheless, it’s a cost-effective way to get qualified candidates through a shorter hiring process. All you have to do is create a referral process with great incentives for your employees.

A Day in the Life of An Internal Recruiter

After knowing the basics of internal recruitment, it’s time to review the job description of an internal recruiter. These are some of the specific tasks that the position entails for the growth and development of the company’s workforce.

  • Collaborate with managers, supervisors, and the hiring manager for internal employee recruitment needs in response to open roles
  • Work with the recruitment team to post on internal job boards
  • Design and manage the employee referral program for the company
  • Establish the framework and process when it comes to promotions, transfers, and referrals along with other internal recruitment policies
  • Review potential candidates for promotions and transfers
  • Conduct necessary screenings and interviews to hire employees internally
  • Help establish and facilitate potential changes in the job description and compensation for successful internal hiring
  • Provide feedback and recommendations to employees who submitted applications for open job positions

The DNA of A Great Internal Recruiter

Are you planning to hire an internal recruitment staff? Or do you want to take your current team to the next level? Either way, check out the common must-have skills of top talent acquisition professionals in this list.

1. Tends to be curious

Contrary to the popular adage about curiosity killing the cat, having natural curiosity is advantageous for recruiters. If they are inquisitive, it’s easier for them to find necessary information for consideration. In turn, it helps them effectively review qualifications, experience, and special skills needed to fill the job.

2. Highly discerning and detail-oriented

An effective recruiter knows a bluff from real talent. There are times that candidates exaggerate on their resumes or during interviews, even in internal hiring. So with a discerning mindset, the recruiter asks in-depth questions on facts and interview answers to cross-check the facts.

Moreover, a recruiter must be highly detail-oriented. This helps the talent acquisition team to efficiently screen candidates and match them to the requirements of the job.

3. Good people skills

A recruiter knows that cultivating good relationships within the workforce is the key to effective internal recruitment. Because when the person has good people skills, it’s easier to approach candidates about job openings.

4. Reliable and trustworthy

Recruiters must be trustworthy for the sake of the company and the applicant. Hiding some information from both parties for an easier hiring process is disadvantageous in the long run. 

Therefore, they should be transparent about the job offer and other hiring details. On the other hand, they must also report all the facts, the good and the bad, to the company regarding the applicant’s eligibility.

5. Excellent task management skills

There are times that an internal recruiter has to handle multiple hiring needs from various departments. Hence, the professional must know how to organize every job opening, requirement, and process. Without excellent task management skills, the recruiter can miss important details and waste time on unnecessary things.

6. Familiar with technology

Automation can bring a lot of benefits to your organization. Thus, if you can, look for tech-driven ways to accomplish mundane tasks in the employee recruitment process. This way, the internal recruiter can spend more time on important tasks, like interviewing candidates.

7. Passionate about building a positive company culture

Positive company culture starts in the hiring process. So when internal recruiters are driven towards it, all hiring decisions are geared for the improvement of the working environment.

An internal recruiter is an important part of a company’s growth

This role in the talent acquisition team ensures that the right people occupy the right positions within the company. Without a great recruitment professional, internal hiring can become a nightmare.

Are you having trouble recruiting developers for your software development project?

Let Full Scale help you with your talent acquisition needs. Although we don’t offer internal recruitment services, we’re an offshore development center.

When you partner with us, you will work with a team of highly skilled developers. Just let us know how we can assist with your business requirements. Part of our competitive advantage is the ability to customize our solutions based on your needs.

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