Poacher Turned Gamekeeper? From Agency to Internal

After 10 years in agency recruitment, I decided to make a career move to an internal recruitment role at Telefónica Tech (EN) . I actively pursued the business for two reasons: 1) They are a reputable market leader in their field. 2) They were the first client I ever onboarded at an agency recruiter back in 2014 (it was OCSL at that time). There were only a handful of businesses I would have considered making the change for and TT top of that list.

Reaching the six-month milestone, I've outlined some of the main differences I've encountered between working in-house and at an agency, specifically from a recruitment standpoint.

1. No Ghosting

*Ghosting in recruitment - where a candidate completely disappears off the face of the planet. This most commonly occurs when you have booked in an interview and they just don't turn up.

Since working at TT I have not had a single experience where a candidate has not shown up to either an initial recruitment screen with myself or an interview with a hiring manager.

There's no clear reason for this but my theories would be they see agency as a more transactional relationship rather than talking to a potential future colleague and/or they are more committed to an organisation following a direct application/approach.

I know the general opinion of recruitment consultants is quite low. You only have to scroll on LinkedIn for 10 minutes to see that (some fair some harsh IMO). The shift to Talent Acquisition has been a noticeable change here. There has been 20+ occasions where candidates have actively changed their tone when they realise I work directly for TT.

2. Quality vs Quantity of Shortlists

My experience is I am having conversations with less candidates but much more in-depth screening calls. Agency are known for volume KPIs focussing on output stats: X amount of CV's sent per week or even X amount of time spent on the phone (I know....).

Various reasons for this but a few key ones:

• Knowing each person is a potential colleague makes it even more vital they are the right fit for the business and we are the right fit for them
• A genuine understanding of the company means I can talk in-depth about all aspects of working here - rather than juggling multiple clients with a light-touch knowledge on them all
• No fillers needed - it's common agency side to send a shortlist of 4-6 candidates for a vacancy and often you know the strongest and most relevant 2-3 but, again, to hit stats you bulk this out. There is no value in doing this internally, I only submit people I know could be genuine assets

3. Speed of Turnaround

With the modern approach to work, where 90% of interviews are conducted via video, the time from application to job offer has been significantly reduced. Being an internal employee, I have direct access to the diaries of all hiring managers and interviewers, allowing me to schedule candidates more swiftly than ever.

Additionally, I am aware of which internal opportunities have been approved and are a priority, enabling me to concentrate on the most important roles.

4. Quality of Direct Applicants on Advert Response

This one speaks for itself. However, I have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of direct applicants. Granted it helps working at a known company with a reputation but it is genuinely incomparable to my experience of advert response as an agency.

It helps focus time on candidates who have expressed a direct interest in working for the business.

5. Offer to Acceptance Rate

This one feeds into all of the points above. I currently have a 100% record of offer to acceptance in my first 6-months with the business*. Again the advantage of working for a reputable business facilities this but those sort of ratios would be unheard of working agency side.

Not 100% sure on the exact reason for this, but theories include:

• More committed applicants who have shown a direct interest in working for us are more likely to accept
• Highlighting and addressing red flags (hate that phrase) at the initial screening call means only candidates that a genuine fit are put into the process
• People want to work for TT - we are a great business so that is naturally a key reason - often agency side you are flogging a lot of dead horses
• Complete transparency with the candidate from the start - what our budget it, what the exact benefits are, the WFH policy, the recruitment process etc. They know all the pros and cons before agreeing to be submitted

*At the time of writing this I have one that is on the fence ??

Overall I have really enjoyed my experience on the other side (which one is the dark side!?) and look forward to improving myself in talent acquisition

If you want to discuss live opportunities here at TT then please reach out!