Another fantastic guest blog by Maureen Carroll, Manager of Recruiting at Head2Head!

Since Head2Head places more recruiters, with more organizations, than anyone else in Canada, we're often asked for advice on how to move from agency (i.e. full desk, contingency-fee) recruiting to corporate (i.e. working in-house for a client as an employee or on contract) recruiting.  This week, Maureen - who's been recruiting recruiters for almost 10 years now - offers her insights about how to make the switch.

So you want to be a corporate recruiter...

Anyone who's ever worked in a recruiting agency will tell you that agency recruiting can be exciting, action-packed, lucrative - and a whole lot of fun.  But it's also unpredictable, highly sales-oriented, and transactional.  So we hear from a lot of agency recruiters who are thinking about making a move 'client-side', where they'll get more experience with long-term strategic recruiting programs.

However, recruiters who have spent several years working in an agency environment may find it difficult to make the move to corporate - they may find themselves perceived as fast-talking 'salesmen' who are more focused on putting 'bums in seats' rather than building strategic recruiting solutions.

How can you overcome the stereotypes and demonstrate you'd make a great corporate recruiter?

These 7 tips will go a long way towards impressing a potential employer that you're ready to make the move to corporate recruiting:

1. Think  - and speak! - like a corporate recruiter
   Corporate recruiting has a different lexicon than agency recruiting, and using the right terminology demonstrates that you know the difference.  For example, don't talk about 'fills' or 'fill rates' - those aren't internal terms.  Instead, talk about 'hires'.  This indicates you know that corporate recruiting is less about meeting numbers and more about getting the right people.
   
2. Be focused
   Most organizations with strong recruiting functions - i.e. the kinds of organizations you'd most like to work as a corporate recruiter - are looking for recruiting specialists in specific areas most relevant to their business.  You'll have better success if you position yourself as an expert in one or two key areas.  (This is where a little research can go a long way:  If you can speak to the organization's most pressing recruitment challenges, you're sending a message that you understand how recruiting can deliver against the organization's business goals.)
   
   
3. Demonstrate you can work with internal clients
   A big factor in the success of any corporate recruiter is how well they work with 'internal clients'.  In other words, how well they work with managers from other departments when they engage the recruitment department to fill a role.  
   
   As an agency recruiter, it's important to have ready examples of working directly with line managers - especially managers outside of HR.  Evidence that you can successfully build long-term relationships with a variety of stakeholders, even if they know little or nothing about recruiting, is a good way to demonstrate you can make the transition from agency to corporate recruiting.
   
   
4. Gain experience with full-lifecycle recruiting 
   Most corporate recruiting is full-lifecycle, from identifying and articulating the opportunity, through to sourcing, making the offer, doing the paperwork, and even onboarding.  
   
   While you're working in an agency environment, try to work on a project that will allow you to manage full-lifecycle recruiting - including the administration!
   
   
5. Build relationships with candidates
   For 99% of organizations, building positive, long-term relationships with candidates is one of their Top 3 priorities.  And let's face it:  One of the reasons agency recruiters get a bad rep is the perception that agency recruiters only call candidates when they need them, don't follow up, and don't respond to applications.
   
   So you need to highlight your commitment to building candidate relationships.  Talk about candidates with whom you've kept in touch over time, before and after you've placed them; speak to the fact that your network thrives on the referrals you get as a result of long-term relationship-building; indicate that you've participated in industry events; point out your participation in relevant LinkedIn groups, etc.
   
   (One good example we heard recently from an agency recruiter in an interview for a corporate recruiting position:  "Since 2007, I have used autoresponder emails for my job postings, to ensure that every candidate who applies receives an immediate acknowledgment.  Every time I send a candidate to an interview, I call them to follow up within 24 hours.  I call or email every active candidate in my network at least once a month, and call or email the inactive ones at least once every 6 months."  
   Then she produced the Excel spreadsheet to prove it!
   
   And yes - she got the job.) 
   
    
6. Get some training in Behavioural Interviewing
   Being able to accurately, reliably assess candidates is crucial for corporate recruiters, so being able to demonstrate you understand and have experience with behavioural interviewing is one of the most important factors in making the switch from agency.
   
   Having some formal training in BBI is best, but if that's not possible, there are plenty of online resources to consult, and you could start using BBI techniques in your current interviews.  That demonstrates you know how important BBI is in a corporate recruiting setting.
   
   
7. Don't dwell on your sales skills
   As a full-desk agency recruiter, great sales skills are a big advantage.  In a corporate recruiting setting, they'll only make you look like the fast-talking, annoying Ari Gold type who confirms all their worst fears about agency recruiters.
   
   Go ahead and speak to your ability to deliver results - but focus on the results most relevant to organizations:  Improving quality of hire, reducing time-to-hire, and making recruiting budgets work more efficiently.