People often picture a recruiter (chargé de recrutement) conducting interviews. That is part of the job, but only part. Before the interview, there is a manager to understand, a market to explore and profiles to convince; afterwards, an offer to negotiate and an onboarding to follow up. The same job title also covers three very different daily lives, depending on whether you recruit for your own company, for the clients of a recruitment agency or for those of a staffing agency. This article describes the full recruitment cycle, compares these three worlds, lists the expected skills and tools and presents possible career moves.
From the manager’s brief to onboarding: the full cycle
A recruitment almost always follows the same steps, even when they follow one another within a few days.
The brief
Everything starts with a conversation with the hiring manager. The recruiter clarifies the reason for hiring, the duties, the essential skills and those that can be learned, the profile of the people who already succeed in the team, the intended pay and the timetable. A well-run brief prevents half of the later difficulties. Our article on writing a job description details the questions to ask.
Sourcing
Next comes the search for candidates. It combines several channels: posting an ad on the careers site and job boards, directly approaching people who are not actively looking, employee referrals, relations with schools, a pool of candidates already met. For jobs in short supply, direct approach takes over, sometimes with the help of a dedicated sourcer.
Pre-screening
Sorting applications and the first phone conversations make it possible to check the essentials: experience, key skills, availability, salary expectations, motivation. It is also the moment to present the role honestly.
Assessment
Interviews, possibly tests or work samples, reference checks: the recruiter organises the assessment and takes part in it, often with the manager. They make sure candidates are assessed against the same criteria, which structured interviews make easier.
Decision and offer
The recruiter helps the manager decide, formalises the offer, negotiates pay and start date if needed, then informs unsuccessful candidates. This last step is often neglected; yet it matters a great deal for the company’s image.
Onboarding
The work does not stop at signature. The recruiter prepares the arrival with the manager and the departments concerned, then checks in during the probationary period. An early departure is often the sign of an incomplete brief or a badly presented role.
In-house, agency or temporary staffing: three ways to recruit
In-house
The in-house recruiter works for a single employer and knows its jobs, managers and culture well. They manage a portfolio of open roles, build lasting relationships with operational teams and often contribute to employer branding and campus relations. In large retail chains, they may recruit in volume, with seasonal campaigns; in technology companies, they rather recruit rare profiles. Processes vary greatly from one sector to another: for a very structured example, look at the steps of a recruitment process in a luxury house 🔗, seen from the candidate’s side. The talent acquisition CV example shows a typical in-house profile, and the head of recruitment CV example the next step up.
In a recruitment agency
The agency consultant recruits for client companies, often for executive and managerial roles. They run assignments from start to finish, write candidate reports and develop their client portfolio: business development is part of the job. Onisep also describes the neighbouring job of recruitment researcher 🔗, dedicated to identifying profiles. For a CV example, see the one for a recruitment agency consultant.
In a staffing agency
In a temporary staffing agency, the consultant recruits temporary workers for assignments at client companies, places them, follows their assignments and develops the agency’s clients. The pace is fast, the relationship with companies very close, and knowledge of temporary work law essential. Onisep’s profile of the recruiter in a staffing agency 🔗 details its duties, and the staffing agency consultant CV example gives a concrete version in construction.
How to choose
If you like knowing an environment in depth, in-house will suit you. If you like variety and the commercial side, an agency. The three often meet over a career: many in-house recruiters started in an agency.
The skills expected of a recruiter
Understanding a need
This is the core skill, and the most underestimated. A good recruiter rephrases the manager’s request, separates the essential from the desirable and dares to question a criterion that narrows the pool for no reason.
Searching and convincing
Sourcing is a technical skill: Boolean search, reading profiles, writing outreach messages that get a reply. Our article on Boolean search covers the basics.
Assessing methodically
Preparing questions linked to skills, listening for concrete examples, scoring answers consistently, checking references: assessment can be learned, and it also protects against bias.
Negotiating
Pay, start date, conditions: the recruiter negotiates with the candidate, but also with the manager. They must be able to say that an offer will not be accepted, or that a profile deserves some leeway.
Monitoring
A recruiter tracks their pipeline and a few metrics: time to hire, sources of hires, offer acceptance rate, departures during the probationary period. The article on recruiter metrics explains how to present them.
Everyday tools (ATS, job boards, LinkedIn Recruiter)
The ATS
The applicant tracking system centralises ads, applications, exchanges and process stages. It also helps comply with personal data retention rules. Knowing how to configure it (stages, message templates, forms) is a real asset.
Job boards and the careers site
Depending on the job, ads are posted on general job boards, specialist sites by sector or level, and on the company’s careers site. The recruiter chooses channels according to the profile, and measures what each one brings.
Direct approach tools
LinkedIn Recruiter is the most widespread, supplemented depending on the job by other professional networks, specialist communities or profile databases. For technical profiles, some recruiters also explore code platforms or publications.
Spreadsheets and reporting tools
Even with an ATS, the spreadsheet remains useful for following a recruitment plan, cross-checking data or preparing an update with a manager. A recruiter who can build a clear tracking table gains credibility.
Possible career moves after a few years
Towards seniority and specialisation
A recruiter becomes senior by taking on more complex roles: executives, rare profiles, international hiring. They can also specialise, in a sector (tech, healthcare, manufacturing) or in one stage (sourcing, campus relations, employer brand).
Towards management
The head of recruitment manages a team, builds the annual hiring plan with business leaders, manages a budget and tracks metrics. It is the most natural move in-house.
Towards other HR jobs
Recruitment is a good gateway to generalist roles: HR officer, then HRBP. Knowledge of the business’s jobs and the relationship with managers are valuable assets for these functions. Other recruiters turn to executive search or HR consulting.
Preparing the next step with your current CV
Whatever move you are aiming for, your CV must show your scope, your volumes and your methods. Gather these elements, then create your CV for free: the layout is done for you, and the resulting PDF stays readable by ATS, which saves you the irony of a recruiter whose CV is badly read by the very tool they use every day. To see which sections to work on, our guide to the talent acquisition CV covers the lines that count.
Sources
- Onisep, job profile of the recruiter in a staffing agency 🔗.
- Onisep, job profile of the recruitment researcher 🔗.
Frequently asked questions
What training do you need to become a recruiter?
Paths vary: professional bachelor’s degrees in HR, master’s degrees in HR management or work psychology, business schools. Staffing agencies also hire sales profiles and train them for the job. Field experience, through work-study or an internship, counts as much as the degree.
Should you start in an agency or in-house?
Both are possible. Agencies teach the pace, negotiation and the variety of roles quickly; in-house teaches the depth of one environment. Many recruiters move from one to the other.
Is recruitment a sales job?
Partly, yes. You have to convince candidates, negotiate with them and, in an agency, develop clients. People who come from sales often succeed in the job, provided they learn assessment and employment law.
What is the difference between a recruiter and a talent acquisition specialist?
The two titles often refer to the same role. “Talent acquisition” is more common in international and technology companies, and puts the emphasis on direct approach and employer branding.