The View From The Other Side

All I can say is wow! Time really flies when you're having fun. I can't believe I've now been in my new role in-house for 3 months. I feel like I've already achieved a huge amount but I'm very aware that my task is just starting. A few people (Hi Kasia) have asked to find out about the transition as a sourcer into an internal role. Now I've been brought in due to my sourcing knowledge but it's very much a broader recruitment role which is a little different to my initial thoughts of what I wanted to do. Which leads on to my first point of a few about the transition:

Things change, quickly

I thought that external roles were of fast change but being on the other side has changed my view point on this! Everything from priorities through roles to your very own role and ownerships can change very quickly. Its good to be comfortable with change as it happens!

There's a lot more scope

It's not just about finding candidates, getting them interviewed and hiring. Oh no. If it were that easy it'd be no fun! The flip side of this however is that it can be very much like being a kid in a sweet shop. There's so many exciting and new things to do that it's very easy to get overawed. I've found myself (aside from day to day recruiting) looking at psychometrics, graduate recruitment, apprenticeships, marketing, reporting, on boarding, training, assessments and much more.

Access to hiring managers

One of my biggest frustrations comes from feedback and being able to fine tune searches with input from the teams on the ground. Being on the other side means that I've got access to the managers either voluntarily or by going and finding them and sitting down to really understand their needs. 

There's no where to hide

The flip side of the above point is that that when things aren't going so well there is certainly no hiding to give yourself an extra hour or two to get things done. Everyone knows where you live!

Impacting the business every day

Probably the number one reason to make a move to an inhouse recruitment role is that you really can see the impact your work has on the people around you. You really will find that when you do well people are very grateful. Saying that, the business critical role that you're struggling to fill through direct or agency.. you really do feel the impact of it.

Learning
 
Very much along the lines of the scope point above, there is so much to learn. Whether you're learning how to put together graduate scheme, how to use that ATS or even contributing (in a very small way) regarding HR issues every day genuinely is a learning experience.

Agency recruiters

It is and has been really important to develop relationships with external recruiters who have a niche knowledge of our sector. The main problem for me at the moment is the cold call. It appears that there is a cold call manual with the script for introduction and objection handling. It also appears from my (albeit limited) experience that every single recruiter has it in front of them when they call. It can be frustrating.

Sourcing time

The biggest downside for me is the other side of the coin from my reason for the move in-house in the first place. I wanted to open up my responsibilities and get involved with a larger amount of things. This has had a significant impact on the time I'm able to spend sourcing and keeping up with latest tools and techniques. Before I spent almost all my time developing new techniques and testing the latest tools along with active sourcing. Now there's so much more to do that I just can't give it that same dedication. 

If you love your sourcing then you need to weigh this up versus the long term benefits of the great stuff from above. For me it's a no brainer but I'm acutely aware I need to find more time to study and practice amongst all the other exciting things I'm working on. 

And finally... Free stuff! 

One of the lovely things about working in FMCG is that you occasionally get to taste some of the produce and get involved with taste testing for future products. If you like food (like I do) then it's a brilliant perk! 

I hope this has given an insight into the transition that I've gone through but I'm more than happy to chat further if anyone has any questions.