The Role of the Recruiter

Once again, from systematicHR.com this morning...

A couple weeks about I wrote about technology being a more powerful source of job loss as compared to outsourcing.  This was picked up by the Recruiting Animal with a question: “Will Automation Kill Recruiting?”  My thought is that automation won’t kick recruiting, but perhaps there’s some other form of change in the works.  I don’t remember what session this was in, but it was probably in “Creating Meaningful Connections” (which I actually didn’t attend).  Some of the discussion however was about recruiters, their contacts and networks, and who those contacts belong to.   ¹

Unfortunately, the role of the recruiter is in part to create a relationship with the job seeker.  Good recruiters have large networks of a specific type of talent pool, and that makes them attractive to you as an employer.  Hiring a recruiter can increase the talent pool you have available.  Losing the recruiter can cause the reverse effect.  So while the role of the recruiter may be to create a relationship with the job seeker, I’d suggest that this role of the recruiter is mis-directed.  Instead of creating a meaningful relationship between the recruiter and the job seeker, the goal should instead be to create a meaningful relationship between the employer’s value proposition and the job seeker.  In this case, the recruiter is only a conduit.

But the recruiter as conduit is problematic as well.  If only a conduit, then does the theory that recruiters with large networks of meaningful connections dissipates?  I’m not sure that these relationships I talked about, between the EVP or the recruiter, are mutually exclusive.  The recruiter must be able to form a relationship with the job seeker in order to be valuable.  On the other hand, if the recruiter is not tying job seekers to the current employer’s EVP, they simply are not effective at their job.

While I’ve written often about the EVP, or what I call the employer brand, it is basically what attracts an employee to the employer.  So I’d twist the question from “who is the relationship with, EVP or recruiter?” to “is the recruiter a tool of the EVP, or vice versa?” Clearly, I think that the recruiter’s network should be levered ² to bring job seekers to the employer’s EVP.  However, this also suggests that the EVP is the highest power, reinforcing the role of recruiter as conduit – although necessary conduit.

At any rate, I like controversy – bring it on…

Comments

[Sean Rehder]

Quick...maybe dumb question.

Do you differentiate between the following people to the point that they have different "titles and roles":

1) The "Recruiter" that goes after "passive talent."

and

2) The "Recruiter" that reviews submitted resumes (say from a job board) and forwards them to a hiring manager or a similar process.

[double dubs]

I do differentiate. I think the point of this piece is to say that no matter what, the recruiter is "only" a conduit between the
--employer and job seeker
--job seeker and the value proposition
--job seeker and hiring manager

What I'd like to hear from people is if this is an oversimplification and why?