Playing Small Has Big Drawbacks for Your Recruiting Career

Agency recruitment is well known to be a highly competitive industry which is why it attracts people who thrive on competition, wins of any form, and recognition of their individual accomplishments.

Good agencies function as a pure meritocracy where high achievers, and people with above average leadership ability, can hold senior leadership positions within the first couple of years of their career, regardless of their youth. High achievers are naturally attracted to this career path because of uncapped commission, above average earning potential, and many avenues of potential growth.

Although the meritocratic nature of the career path attracts people who want to max out their career, even top billers can sometimes unintentionally display behaviors of "playing small" which add up to really limit their career growth in the long term.

Here are a few ways that even the most brazen of recruiters can fall prey to playing small:

1. Letting loyalty blind them to their worth.

As a recruiter for recruiters, my work involves talking to recruiters at every step in their career and I've had thousands of these conversations at this point. The caricature of salespeople shows someone who is pushy, ruthless, and always looking for the next best thing even if it means trampling on other people. In talking to many top billing recruiters and salespeople, I have found this to not be the case at all!

Top billers are often super loyal to their company and manager, and will delay the growth of their career for months, or even years, to fulfill a perceived "obligation" to those parties even if their company is very obviously not paying them the same deference and potentially even mistreating them.

2. Feeling like they have to do their time.

If you are the top biller on your team, and you're only 23-24 years old, that should not hold you back from exploring the next growth opportunity to you, both internally and externally! There are many firms, especially larger agencies, who hold back their top producers from growing because they are more focused on tenure level than accomplishment. Additionally, a lot of large agencies that operate under a split desk model don't let their top recruiters move onto the sales side because they don't want to lose their recruiting power.

If you're consistently billing above and beyond your peers but are being held back from growing (i.e. moving to higher value markets, moving onto the sales side, taking on a small team, etc.) this is not fair to you as your career is actively being limited by other people which affects you today, but majorly affects where you'll be in 2-3 years down the line.

3. Placing exorbitant value on external opinions.

Having the courage to do what's best for you and your career, because you are the one who has to live with the implications of it, is incredibly hard especially early on in your career when you're still trying to figure things out. I have seen incredibly talented recruiters hold themselves back because of the opinions of family, friends, colleagues, etc. who are benefitting from them playing small in one way, shape, or form.

This is a tough point, and is definitely highly individual to each person and their situation, but I have seen a lot of people sideline what is best for them to make other people comfortable. This leads to a build up of resentment that eventually starts to break the relationship.

If anyone is strong arming you into staying in a situation that is not working for you and/or is making you unhappy, they are likely projecting their own fear of change on you.

Do a gut check to make sure that you're doing what you want to do, and not just saying "yes" to what people around you are voicing.

4. Assuming all agencies are the same as theirs.

There are so many agencies who have ridiculous KPIs and grueling core hours, and their recruiters get incredibly burnt out. It is no secret that agency recruitment is a demanding career path, but the upside potential is level with the output required. One mistake I see many recruiters make is assuming that every agency is like their agency! This is simply NOT the case, especially when you're at a large, publicly traded firm.

I have personally witnessed MANY agencies with progressive work policies ranging from very generous PTO policies, work-from-home flexibility, flexible hours, half day Fridays, etc. in addition to providing strong compensation plans. If you feel like you're chained to your desk 12-15 hours/day, that is not the case across the board! There are many agencies who don't feel the need to babysit their staff and create relationships built on trust - this fosters an environment where recruiters do their best work.

5. Worrying they're not good enough.

As humans, most of us struggle with insecurities that stem from a lot of internal and external factors.

The fear that we're not good enough is almost universal and can definitely hamper a recruiter's ability to grab their market by its horns and do their best work!

This typically plays out in a recruiter saying they got lucky, were put on a good market, were at the right place at the right time, etc.

Ultimately, people who attribute their success to external factors don't believe that they deserved their success. By not owning it as theirs, they're terrified that they will not be able to recreate their success in another firm, even if its setup is significantly better than what they have in front of them. For these folks, it's highly tempting to stay where they are because it's what's known and comfortable instead of taking a plunge and betting on themselves. For the people who suck it up and do go into the unknown, there's a much better life on the other side of their fear!

Finding the best fit for your career is like dating - you don't usually settle down with the first person you go on a date with.

There are plenty of people you'll meet who are nice enough, and even enjoyable to be around, but there's no chemistry! Just like you wouldn't want to settle down with that person, don't settle for the firm that is in front of you if it isn't checking your boxes.

I've personally witnessed an average performing recruiter go to a different agency and become its top biller just because the fit was RIGHT!

You're young and have so many bright days ahead of you in your recruiting career - maximize them :) 

If your agency isn't working for you in some capacity, don't play small and stay in a firm that isn't working as hard for you as you are for it!