Adding Recruiting Capacity: Internal Recruitment Vs. External Recruitment

There are many tips and techniques for finding new employees. But no matter which path you choose, you will still have basic questions: Where to start the search? How to find your candidate? What search channels to use?

At this stage, there is often an assessment of the balance of needs and capabilities of the company. This method also decides whether internal or external recruiting will be used. We will tell you about the difference between these two candidate search methods and what to choose in your particular case in this article.

The main nuances in the recruiting process

Recruiting as a process involves expanding your staff. The method includes research, interviews, hiring, and subsequent adaptation of employees. Depending on the size of the company, different specialists deal with all these stages: sourcers, recruiters, HR specialists, and happy managers. Such spreading allows for better work at each phase.

From our experience in recruiting, we at StaffingPartner have noticed a tendency for turnover to increase while ignoring this hiring hierarchy. If you are not ready to develop an internal recruiting department, then you should consider external recruiting should be preferred.

As a rule, when attracting specialists from specialized recruiting companies, you get the full diving in working on your specific request. At the same time, internal recruiting is often preferred by most businesses due to particular company values ​​or security concerns. Thus, the choice in favor of one or another format of cooperation usually comes from the personal requests of the firms.

External hiring: definition, advantages, and disadvantages

External recruitment involves filling the company’s vacancies with candidates outside of the company’s talent pool. Recruiters use a variety of sources to find employees:  personal networks, job search websites, internal databases of candidates, social networks, and so on. In some cases, this may be an advertisement or use of the internal databases.

Benefits of external recruiting

StaffingPartner has excellent expertise in providing external recruiting services. Since we constantly gather feedback from our customers, we have collected essential benefits that they appreciate.

A large number of candidates

Searching outside the company is always a winning option as there is access to global talents. Chances are you will find the perfect candidate with the right soft and hard skills. When there is a wide variety of applicants, you don’t have to choose the lesser evil; you can focus on what is needed.

View from a different angle

A good recruiting agency not only helps in finding staff but can point out shortcomings in the structure of the company and its work with personnel. In addition, the search for new employees will expand business opportunities.

Increasing Diversity

Innovation is where a large number of people with different backgrounds meet in one place. This improves the efficiency of the team and has a positive impact on the reputation of the company.

Suitable experience

With a wide choice, there is a great variety of expertise that suits your needs. You can get the right technical stack no matter how unique it is.

Boosting employee loyalty through referral programs

In addition to extra rewards, using the recommendations of employees, you will demonstrate that their opinion is important to you.

High level of competitiveness

Considering candidates from outside, you can get additional benefits, and they can complement the current strategy by bringing in fresh viewpoints and sharing their previous experiences. Often latest trends and tendencies in the company appear precisely with initiative employees.

Reducing tension between employees

This is especially true for vacancies for high positions. Natural career growth increases the motivation of employees, but sometimes close teamwork may not allow you to perceive a former teammate as a boss. In such a case, hiring a third party will help you.

Our recruiters have extensive experience in searching for candidates for top management positions. We will find you the right professional quickly and discreetly.

Disadvantages of external recruiting

Despite the long list of advantages, this type of recruiting has some negative sides.

Increasing costs

When you engage a recruiting agency, you need to pay for their services. If you hire an experienced recruiting agency, you will save money. An external recruiter usually can find candidates of any level much faster than the internal recruiting department. And the recruiting agency can also conduct interviews to give an unbiased opinion about candidates’ skills within the company. Saving time today is saving money. 

That being said, with StaffingPartner, you can get the first candidates for the assessment within just three business days! Contact us if you’re in need of getting talented candidates as quickly as possible!

More time for employee adaptation

In addition to new projects, the employee will also need to deal with the internal policy of the company and the peculiarities of the work process. This is most noticeable in projects where you need to get started right away.

“Both external and internal recruitment are effective. Especially effective when they work in pairs,” said Yulia Kalinovska, COO at StaffingPartner. “We, as external recruiters, take on the search, screening, contact, follow-up, communication, beliefs, engagement, gathering all the necessary information needed for the process. And the internal recruiter receives a ready-made product with which they can immediately plan an interview. External recruiters are market experts and have much broader expertise, as they work with a huge number of candidates, all technical stacks, domains, and types of companies. We have more staff and a base of candidates than internal recruiters. That is why external recruitment is so essential.”

Internal hiring: definition, advantages, and disadvantages

Internal recruitment is the process of finding and encouraging candidates within the same organization. This may be in the form of an application or initiated by the Human Resources department.

This type of recruiting is often used as a form of rewarding and motivating staff. Another advantage of internal recruiting is relevance for positions that require a good knowledge of the company’s values.

Benefits of internal recruiting

Internal recruiting has some undisputed profits for the business.

Lower costs

Most often, the cost of internal recruiting is lower. In addition, you do not have to pay for the services of recruiting agencies. The exception is when you want to keep an employee with a promotion; their salary expectations may exceed market ones.

Complete recruiting control

Everything happens within the company, and you do not need to bring strangers up to date. You can also see all the candidates and clearly understand who you are weeding out.

No conflict of interest with candidates

When you boost managers from your team, it motivates employees. Another possibility is the matching of positions and the encouragement of not only horizontal and vertical development but the training of a new profession with the support of the company.

Disadvantages of Internal Recruiting

There are also some negative sides to this case.

Creates an unhealthy atmosphere of competition

Moving up the career ladder can often have a negative effect on the atmosphere in the team, destroying teamwork. In addition, if management and employees have a different vision of leaders, a promotion can damage team relationships and even lead to sabotage.

Leaves gaps in the workforce

When you promote someone or transfer to another department, you yet have the problem of a shortage of employees. You will still face the need to hire a new person.

A limited number of candidates

You are forced to search within one company, among candidates with limited expertise. The development of an employee is most often negotiated within the company, so if you need unique expertise or a fresh perspective, you still have to look outside the company.

Promoting an inflexible work culture

Creating a closed ecosystem within a company always leads to decline. Having no outside view and having employees who are not motivated but are always sure that the company will not get rid of them even if they work poorly.

Stopping company growth

This applies to both business development and the ability to reach new markets. If you constantly rely on internal resources, entering new markets will be constantly stalled. You do not have enough staff and expertise for such a move.

Increasing employee burnout

It is about motivation and development, as well as initiative. The course of the company is predetermined, and the work of most employees will turn into an exhausting routine.

Final words

For a long time, the StaffingPartner recruiting agency has been recruiting specialists of various levels. From our experience, we strongly advise clients not to be afraid to grow and push the boundaries of their stack. External recruiting is perfect for this, as you are completely unlimited in your choice of talents.

Each new employee in your company is an opportunity to gain unique experience and expertise. You can complement external recruiting with internal, thus encouraging your employees and developing the company for an optimal balance.

Are you looking for talent? We can get you suitable candidates from any corner of the world! Would you like a second opinion on your internal candidates from an expert? Our recruiters and tech experts conduct technical interviews to make sure you get the right person for the job. All you have to do is to drop us a quick message!