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Transition from Recruitment Agency to internal recruiter, HR

Hi all,

I know there have similar questions asked, however I feel that none of the answers quite fit this situation. 

I am currently a 360 recruitment consultant at a boutique agency in London, and I now have just over 18 months experience. Prior to this I have had other jobs mainly with a sales background (like Lettings agent and BDM). It was actually the sales experience that my current employer likes about me. I have come to really enjoy recruitment and I absolutely love working with people - but I am however done with sales. I've learnt that I am a diligent person, I am loyal, very admin focused and I like to see people grow. Believe it or not this actually works agains me in my current, very sales focused, role. I am looking to transition to an in-house recruitment role, or  even a more generalist HR role, where I could still work with people, but only represent and support one brand/company. I am also currently studying for my CIPD Level 3 Certificate, which I am personally funding in the hope that this will help me make this transition.

I have been applying for Talent Acquisitions, Recruitment Co-ordinator, HR Assistant type roles- however I've only had rejections so far, with no feedback at all. So I don't even know what is it that I am doing wrong. 

Any advice you could share would be much appreciated. 

Many thanks

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  • Hi Adriana - if you search on here you'll find some advice from others on similar questions; from what I read it seems to be competitive to make the move into HR Assistant roles from different backgrounds. As a recruiter I am sure you are tailoring your CV, but I would really look critically to ensure you're highlighting the skills relevant in in-house work.

    I work at a multinational and we have a core team of permanent in-house recruiters. However, we often supplement them with temporary recruiters (e.g. as agency workers) when demand is particularly high. Most of whom seem to come from agencies like you. I've seen similar models at other large companies, particularly in industries where demand can be cyclical (more cost effective to resource up when demand is high, and the resource down when it's not). When we've had permanent vacancies come up, a number of those former temp recruiters have been successful at converting to a permanent role.

    I appreciate temporary contracts are less stable, your financial situation may been it's not an option for you, and not all companies will see temporary workers as a pipeline for perm roles. However, it could be a way to get some in-house experience (in recruitment or generalist HR).
  • In reply to Chloe:

    Hi Chloe,
    I really appreciate your comments and insight on this. Temp contracts are not ideal, but would definitely consider if that meant a 'way in' so to speak.