6 Reasons Why You Should Move from Agency to In-House Recruitment

During my agency days, there was a notable element of glamour attached to being a ‘Headhunter’. And for good reason! It takes a unique combination of resilience, grit and street smarts to be successful, and when you are, the pay-off can be incredibly lucrative.

Busy with chasing after the carrot, ‘going in-house’ was dismissed by many (if not all) of my former colleagues and agency Managers as taking the ‘easy’ and less profitable route. In other words, if you dared making the jump, it indicated that you couldn’t cope, or you failed in some way.

Well, I’m here to tell you that in reality, if you weren’t successful while working for an agency, you likely won’t be successful in-house either. Now that I’ve joined the ‘dark side', I can also confirm that it ain’t that easy and it can be just as profitable!

But more importantly, aside from requiring a very similar set of skills, working on an internal recruitment team of a hyper-growth software vendor like SentinelOne carries a number of benefits over agency recruitment.

1. You’re no longer an outsider.

This was a game-changer for me. As an agency Recruiter, no matter how strong your ties with the hiring managers, you will always be perceived as critical but temporary help at best. Even if you do a great job, many will see you solely as a cost to the business and strive to not require your services. When moving in-house, this is no longer the case. The functions that you support rely on you and your expertise, you build deep long-term relationships, and as you earn your stripes you become a valued member of the business, who the company aims to keep, not dispose of. You become a true insider.

2. Your success is in everyone’s interest.

Tying in with the point above, being an agency Recruiter will always equate to being a cost to your clients’ finance team, and sometimes competition to your clients’ HR team, as well as competition to your own agency colleagues fighting for that number 1 spot on the board. Going in-house crosses out all three of these issues and more. Your success becomes the company’s success in every possible way, including your teammates’ success, since it only means that they won’t need to take over any pesky openings from you, should you not be able to fill them.

3. No more financial targets.

Having spent close to 7 years in target-driven environments, no longer having to fight for the number I’ll see on my next pay check felt a little strange at first. Very quickly though, I realised that making a positive impact and helping my stakeholders is just as strong of a motivator for me. For those of you who are more money-driven though, fear not! If you join the right company, there’s plenty of riches to be made from stock which you can expect as part of your offer from most vendors. The value of the stock will depend on the success of the business, which will depend on the quality of the people you hire, and that’s where you can get your rocket fuel! ??

4. No more business development.

As rewarding as it can be to score a new client, I don’t think many will miss cold-calling through a list of prospects and endless follow-ups. And if you do, then I can assure you that you’ll get plenty of that when searching for the best candidates in the market.

5. You have just as much variety and learning opportunities - if not more!

Admittedly, this was a surprise. Between the two of us… One of my biggest concerns when joining SentinelOne’s in-house Recruitment team was that I’ll get bored because I thought that working with the same people and selling the same thing will quickly become monotonous. Little did I know! Never before have I recruited for such a variety of professionals across 10 different countries, and 5+ different teams internally. Every day is a challenge and every week I’m meeting new colleagues, whilst learning about our ever-changing solution and industry. It doesn’t get more engaging than this.

6. You get to witness the growth, evolution and accomplishments of the team you helped hire.

This is the most rewarding aspect of it all. As an agency Recruiter, I was used to making a placement, and moving on to the next thing. Similarly to a Consultant working on a project, I completed my part and rarely got to see the end product. This is why I’ll always remember walking into a huge room of friendly faces at our company event in Amsterdam last year, just to realise that I know almost everyone. This was the first time in my career where I had the chance to be with all of my ‘placements’ in the same venue, and I felt a profound sense of satisfaction knowing that I helped lure an incredible bunch of people together, who now form a remarkable team that I’m also part of ??

Hope you enjoyed the read! As a final remark and disclaimer, not all recruitment agencies and not all software vendors are made the same. I have been fortunate enough to join a business that is heavily hiring, and that perceives its Recruiters as critical partners.

When considering an in-house recruitment role, make sure that you check out Glassdoor and that you ask the right questions during the interview process to get a clear understanding of the company culture.

If you’d like to learn more about how we operate at SentinelOne, we are currently hiring for passionate and skilled Recruiters across the US and Europe, and we’d love to speak with you. Please have a look at our careers page for ongoing opportunities and feel free to send me a connect.