Yes, I am a recruiter for an RPO company. And it always surprises me just how much confusion there is about RPO. While working for an RPO company, it has been brought to my attention just how under the radar RPO is – especially if you are not familiar with the recruiting industry despite its major growth over the last decade.
When I tell people what I do for a living, there is usually the assumption that I can find anyone a job. – But this this is simply not how RPO works.
Formally, RPO is defined as a form of business process outsourcing where an employer outsources or transfers all or part of its recruitment activities to an external service provider. When a company is struggling with recruitment, they employ a third party to ease this burden. An RPO company can be as hands on as full-cycle recruiting, managing the entire hiring process from initial screen to employment offer. Or we can work side by side with hiring managers of the company to complement their own efforts and provide access to a pool of qualified candidates they might not have reached on their own.
What people don’t always understand is that it is usually a specific, detail-oriented job description that RPO recruiters are hunting for. It‘s a common misconception that like other staffing and recruiting agencies, we look for people who are seeking a job, place them in a slot and receive a commission. RPO recruiting does not work in that way; it is a team-oriented environment where recruiters work together to find the most qualified candidates for the roles our client is looking to fill.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing isn’t just for large, multinational businesses either. Any company that finds itself with continuous hiring needs can benefit from RPO. Essentially, RPO is a creative leg of recruiting, where the focus of recruiters is in a tight stitch environment, digging by any means necessary to find the diamond in the rough, so to say. Sure, an opportunity may arise when a friend or acquaintance coincidentally has a background that aligns with the position we’re currently sourcing for, but that is rare. At the end of the day, RPO is a highly specialized process, where we seek highly specialized positions to meet our clients’ unique hiring needs.
RPO recruiting is a very intriguing and beneficial division of the recruiting industry, and the word should be spread about it. It takes place behind the scenes and aids not only the candidates we are sourcing, but also the businesses we’re working for. Overall, Recruitment Process Outsourcing is a major segment of Talent Acquisition that is escalating rapidly. Pretty soon, when I tell people I work in RPO, they will know exactly what I do.
Find out more about RPO recruiting: http://www.people-science.com/
By Jaclyn Gallo | People Science Talent Advisor – Sourcing Specialist