How Much Do Recruiters Make?
So, you’re thinking of becoming a recruiter? Great! Recruiting is an exciting and rewarding career with plenty of opportunities to grow. Or perhaps you've recently started working with a recruiter, and you're curious about what the job pays. Whatever your reason for clicking on this article, we've got the inside scoop! In this blog post, we'll discuss different types of recruiters and their average salary range, as well as common questions about how a recruiter earns their paycheck and how long it takes to build a successful career. So how do tech recruiters get paid? Let’s find out!
What Is the Average Recruiter Salary?
The simple answer is that a recruiter can earn anywhere from $30,000 per year to over $200,000 with commissions. How much a recruiter makes will vary depending on their position, experience, location, and specialization. Most recruiters fall into the following categories:
Temporary Recruiters
Permanent Placement Recruiters
Corporate Recruiters
Technical Recruiters
Headhunters
Many recruiters are employed at staffing agencies, which often provide placement services for temporary, temp-to-hire, contract, and permanent placement roles. While recruiters at smaller agencies may work on all of these positions, they often work in either a "temp" or "perm" division, which may be further divided into specializations such as accounting or administrative staffing. Temp and perm recruiters are usually paid a base salary like corporate recruiters, but a large portion of their earnings come from commissions. These external recruiters typically make between $35,000 and $200,000, with an average of about $54,000 per year.
A corporate recruiter usually works in-house as an internal recruiter, which means they staff exclusively for one company and are their direct employees. The average salary for corporate or internal recruiters is between $45,000 and $65,000 per year.
Headhunters specialize in a particular position or industry, but while other types of recruiters find candidates by advertising positions and searching job boards, headhunters seek out candidates who may not be actively looking for a new opportunity. They may work on a commission structure or they may be paid a retainer by their client.
These numbers represent the average total compensation for recruiters, but there are various factors that affect recruiter salaries, such as location, years of experience, specialization, commission structure, and company size. Additionally, while many recruiter salaries are based on a base salary plus commissions, some may also earn bonuses for meeting or exceeding placement quotas.
What Is the Average Salary for a Technical Recruiter?
Technical recruiters specialize in filling positions that require specific technical skills or knowledge, such as IT or engineering roles. From hiring software engineers to DevOps engineers, these recruiters must be experts in the specialized skill sets and qualifications for these jobs.
The common technical recruiter salary ranges from $57,000 to $90,000. The national average for technical recruiter salaries is about $70,000. However, a talented and eager technical recruiter or a senior technical recruiter has significant earning potential through commissions.
What Are the Main Duties of a Recruiter?
A recruiter can be called by many different job titles, including Recruiting Coordinator, Talent Acquisition Specialist, Technical Recruiter, Business Recruiter, Corporate Recruiter, and more. When most people think of the job title "recruiter," they only think of someone who helps job seekers find jobs. However, the role of a recruiter is much more complex than that.
A recruiter's primary focus is helping companies fill open positions by finding candidates. They may work in-house for one company or be employed at a staffing agency, working with multiple clients. Recruiters use a variety of methods to find candidates, including job fairs, online job boards, social media, referrals, and networking. In addition to sourcing job candidates, recruiters are responsible for screening, interviewing, and assessing applicants to verify they have the required skills and qualifications before they present them to their clients. This requires a strong understanding of the position and the ability to quickly and effectively screen job seekers and determine if they are a good fit for the job as well as the company. The recruiter's job continues through the full cycle recruiting process, from coordinating interviews to assisting with offer negotiations.
A crucial aspect of recruiting is building professional relationships, and recruiters' responsibilities can also include business development and sales. As a recruiter grows in their career, they form connections with businesses and hiring managers while developing a pipeline or network of both active job seekers and professionals who are passively looking for work. Even after a candidate receives a job offer, recruiters continue to follow up periodically to ensure the placement is a good fit and both parties are happy. In this way, they are a constant resource for professionals at all stages of their careers. A good recruiter will also use their industry expertise and insight to mentor and advise candidates and clients throughout the hiring process.
For recruiters employed at temporary staffing agencies, the job doesn't end when the candidate gets hired. Because the staffing agency is the legal employer, the recruiter has a variety of employer responsibilities, which can include collecting onboarding documents, responding to employee questions or concerns, mediating disputes, coaching the employee through assignment issues, tracking and communicating employee lateness and absence, collecting time cards, terminating employees, negotiating permanent job offers, and more.
In short, being a recruiter isn't just about finding bodies to fill open positions. Recruiters wear many hats and juggle many responsibilities while serving as a vital link between job seekers and employers.
How Do Recruiters Earn Commissions?
Recruiters employed at staffing agencies typically earn a lower base salary than corporate in-house recruiters; however, they have the opportunity to earn a significant commission from successful placements. For permanent placement recruiters, this commission is usually a percentage of the candidate's gross yearly salary (up to 10% of the candidate’s salary), and for temporary recruiters, it is usually a percentage of the candidate's gross profit, which can be up to 10%.
Commissions make up a large percentage of successful recruiters' earnings, with the amount earned varying by the position, client, and the company's commission structure. In some cases, employers will pay a flat fee for each placement, while others will pay a percentage of the candidate's first-year salary. The staffing agency and client agree on the fee in advance, and the agency is only paid if the client hires one of their candidates. This means there is no risk for a company to try working with a recruiter, whereas a recruiter may put many hours of work into sourcing and interviewing candidates for no compensation at all.
The most common type of commission is a placement fee, which is a percentage of the candidate's first-year salary. For example, if a recruiter places a candidate in a role with a starting salary of $50,000 and their placement fee is 20%, the staffing agency would earn $10,000. The placement is not paid until the candidate starts their new role, and the agency recruiter can earn a percentage of the fee in commission. If the candidate backs out prior to the start date, or if the agency has a guarantee period (often 90 days) and the candidate quits during that period, the recruiter may receive no compensation for their work.
For temporary and temp-to-hire placements, agencies typically bill their clients an hourly rate for the candidate's time. For example, if a candidate makes $17 an hour and the markup rate is 50%, the agency would bill the client $25.50 per hour. The recruiter would then earn a percentage of the markup fee in commission.
While this may appear to be a large return at first glance, only a small portion of this markup results in actual profit, particularly for temporary staffing agencies. From this fee, the recruiting agency needs to pay their overhead expenses, employee salaries and benefits, administrative and payroll expenses, taxes, advertising and marketing costs, and other business expenses. And as the legal employer of the temporary employee, temp agencies must use the majority of this fee to cover the "cost of labor," including social security and Medicare taxes, federal and state unemployment taxes, worker's compensation, and other employer-mandated fees and expenses.
What Other Factors Affect How Much a Recruiter Makes?
In addition to position and employer, other factors can affect how much money a recruiter makes, including location, experience, and specialization. For example, recruiters in larger cities tend to earn more than those in smaller towns. More experienced, established recruiters typically earn more than those who are just starting out. And specialized recruiters, such as tech recruiters and headhunters, often earn more because they fill hard-to-fill positions that are in high demand, require specialized skill sets, or command large salaries. Internal recruiters, on the other hand, may have a different pay structure. Do internal recruiters get commission? It can vary depending on the organization's policies and practices. In many cases, internal recruiters are salaried employees who do not receive direct commissions. Instead, they may receive bonuses, incentives, or other forms of compensation based on their performance in meeting recruitment goals, such as filling positions within the company. However, some companies may offer commissions to in-house recruiters.
Do Recruiters Take a Cut from Your Salary?
Do job recruiters get commission? Yes, but their commission is not received from the candidate, nor do recruiters do not take a cut from candidates’ salaries. They are compensated by their client for their work. The recruiter’s services are free of charge for candidates, regardless of whether the position is temporary or permanent. The client company determines the hourly rate or salary they will offer the candidate and pays a separate fee to the staffing agency. While the amount of this fee is calculated as a percentage of the employee's salary or hourly pay rate, it is entirely separate from their pay, and no money is deducted from their salary or paycheck.
How Long Does It Take to Be Successful as a Recruiter?
The answer to this question depends on a number of factors, including your experience, specialty, and the type of company you work for. In general, it takes time to develop the necessary skills and relationships to establish yourself as a successful recruiter. You should not expect to be earning a lot of commissions after only a few months. Be patient with yourself and your career, and don't be afraid to ask for help from more experienced colleagues. Take time to learn about your clients, including what they do, what kind of work environment they have, the perks and benefits they offer employees, and their company culture. You should have a strong understanding of the roles you fill and the skills that are required, so you can screen and assess candidates. Be prepared to review lots of resumes and spend a lot of time making calls and sending emails to find the right candidate. It will take time and effort to be successful, but connecting companies with their ideal employee and helping great candidates find their dream job is worth it.
Is Recruiting a Good Career?
Depending on your skills and interests, recruiting can be a great career choice. Helping people find their dream job is very rewarding, and you have the opportunity to earn a high income. If you enjoy working with people, are good at sales, and have strong organizational skills, recruiting may be the right career for you.
On the other hand, recruiting isn't for everyone. You want to land the deal before your candidate accepts another job offer or the position is filled by a rival recruiter, so you may need to check in outside of normal workdays and hours to respond to emails and negotiate job offers. You need to be willing to work hard and call a lot of candidates to find the one who is the perfect fit for your client. You need to be able to multitask and juggle different tasks throughout the day. And as with any customer service position, you need to have thick skin and a positive attitude, as you will encounter some difficult clients and rude or even aggressive candidates.
Overall, recruiting is a challenging but rewarding career. If you have the skills, temperament, and desire to succeed, you can earn an excellent income and, most importantly, help people build their careers.
If you want to learn more about how outstanding recruiters can help you find your next job opportunity or connect you with talented candidates, contact redShift Recruiting today!
Article Author:
Ashley Meyer
Divisional Business Coordinator
Albany, NY