How to Hire a Recruiter
Hiring your first or second in-house recruiter is a significant leverage point — the right person can transform your hiring velocity and quality. Look for someone who is both a great sourcer and a trusted advisor to hiring managers.
Hiring Process
Define what 'great' looks like for your stage
Are you hiring for technical roles, GTM roles, or both? At Series A, you need a generalist who can source and close. At Series B+, you can specialise. Don't over-hire seniority too early.
Evaluate their sourcing skills directly
Give them a brief for a real role you're hiring for and ask them to build a Boolean search string and find 5 relevant candidates in LinkedIn Recruiter (30-min exercise). This separates sourcers from order-takers.
Hiring manager roleplay
Run a mock intake meeting where you play a difficult hiring manager with unrealistic expectations. How do they push back with data? How do they set realistic timelines?
Metrics review
Ask for their hiring metrics from the past year: time-to-fill, offer acceptance rate, pipeline source mix. Strong recruiters know their numbers.
Culture and tooling alignment
Discuss your ATS, sourcing tools, and interview process philosophy. Ask how they structure the candidate experience from application to offer.
Where to Find Recruiters
Most recruiters are active LinkedIn users and easy to source there — search for 'in-house recruiter' + your industry.
Top talent acquisition communities with job boards and active professionals.
SourceCon and similar TA communities attract proactive, skills-focused recruiters.
Agency recruiters transitioning in-house often bring strong sourcing skills and urgency.
Ask your existing team and investors — good recruiters are well-networked.
Common Hiring Mistakes
- Hiring someone too senior (Director-level) when you need a hands-on sourcer who can work a full desk
- Not testing sourcing skills directly — relying only on interview performance
- Failing to include hiring managers in the process — the recruiter must earn their trust
- Not discussing metrics expectations upfront — align on time-to-fill targets before extending an offer
Top Skills to Assess
Compensation Guide
$60,000 – $100,000
Technical/executive recruiters command higher rates, £70-110k in the UK
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