“Hiring Manager, and Recruiter – what is the difference?” A candidates guide…
To attract, vet, hire,and onboard talent, companies will need the help of two key parties: hiring managers and recruiters. During your job seeking process, you will hear the terms “Recruiter” and “Hiring Manager” said to you many times, but what do they actually do, and is there a difference?
To answer what is the difference between hiring manager and recruiter is in simple terms, the first being responsible for the process and the other being responsible for the outcome of the process.
What does it mean to be “responsible for hiring”?
Now, when we talk about the “responsibility in hiring,” it refers to the outcome of the process, i.e., the person that gets hired, and not the entire process, i.e., the journey up until the point the hiring decision is made. In those terms, it is the recruiter who manages the hiring process and the hiring manager who makes the final hiring decision.
While hiring is best done as a collaborative operation, it is the role of the hiring manager that has to hold the outcome of the recruiting process. Therefore, when a bad hire happens, it is the duty of the manager to investigate the issue and craft better recruitment measures.
What is a Hiring Manager?
A Hiring Manager is someone hiring for positions on their team. Yet hiring managers typically don’t necessarily spend much of their time hiring; hiring is just one part of their job responsibilities. Instead, they have a title that describes what they do, like Head of HR, or Customer Service Manager or Senior Accountant. They only become a “Hiring Manager” when they have an open role they’re hiring for.
Some of their responsibilities may include:
· Writing the job description
· Requesting interviews with qualified applicants
· Collecting feedback from the team about what they think of an applicant
· Offering the role to an applicant, or feeding back a decline with hopefully some constructive feedback.
What does a Recruiter do?
A recruiter’s main job is connecting qualified candidates with a company’s open roles. This means they’re trying to find people with the right skills and experience to match what a company is looking for.
Some recruiters sit internally within a company’s HR department and hire only for roles within that company. Other recruiters may work for a recruiting agency and help multiple companies. Companies without internal recruiters will hire agency recruiters to help them find candidates. Dynamite Recruitment are an agency.
Some of a recruiter’s responsibilities may include:
· Finding qualified candidates on job boards and LinkedIn and inviting them to apply for a role
· Reviewing submitted CV’s to see if they fit the job requirements
· Conducting an introductory interview with an applicant
· Providing information about a company’s salary and benefits, and more detail of what the job will entail.
· Liaising with the Hiring Manager and candidate to arrange interviews, start dates, managing any unforeseen hold ups and the coach the candidate through the Hiring process.
How does they work together successfully?
1. Get to know each other
The first meeting between a Recruitment and a Hiring Managerstablishes the search's expectations and kicks off the hiring process. Hiring Managers should inform recruiters about their team and the position the role will play within it, as well as the qualifications and experience required. This provides recruiters with a starting point by narrowing the search parameters, as well as the background knowledge required to successfully engage with candidates. Recruiters, in turn, can assist in the establishment of a timeline and the formulation of an oveverall recruiting strategy.
2. Communication
To be effective, Recruiters and Hiring Managers maintain regular contact, and hold post-interview updates via phone, video call, in person, or email. This type of open and consistent communication helps both Recruiters and Hiring Managers with staying on top of applicant expectations, competitors, and the current job market. On the other hand, if feedback is delayed or doesn’t happen at all; further interviews, hiring decisions, and onboarding can all be delayed. Having open lines of coounication with candidates is also essential. Setting clear expectations for next steps and providing timely feedback, as well as transparent negotiations, extending offers, and onboarding, are all critical. Even if you don't end up getting onboarded, it's critical to provide you with a positive interview experience.
Dealing with a Hiring Manager:
When talking to a hiring manager, you want to sell yourself on why you’re right for the role — after all, they makes the final decision on whether you’re hired or not.
Compared to the conversation with the Recruiter, a Hiring Manager will likely ask you more in-depth questions about your skills and experience, your successes and your failures.
This is also a perfect time to assess whether you think they would be the right Manager and company for you. You can so this ask questions about their communication style, the team, and how they measure success, and what their procceses are.
Dealing with a Recruiter:
When talking to a Recruiter, it’s really about seeing if you’re a match for the company you have applied for — and that doesn’t just include your experience. It’s also whether you match more logistical things like working preferences (remote, hybrid, in-person) and salary range, location etc.
Be honest about your experience and what you’re looking for. It’s better to know upfront whether the role is right for you rather than wasting your and the company’s time down the road. This means you can (and should!) and ask the tough questions about salary, working preferences, and company culture. A recruiter might not know all the role’s technical aspects, the specifics of the team structure, or how the role is managed. These are good questions to ask the Hiring Manager
Be consistent with communication throughout the application process, this includes any interview rescheduling, feedback, you’re availability etc.
We hope this helps, and squashes any confusion you may have had with these to recruitment terms! We will be posting more of these definitions in the future so please keep checking back in. If you are unclear about anything in your job application process, then get in touch for a helpful chat with one of our consultants.