Is a Recruiter And an HR The Same Person? Why Not And What Is The Damn Difference?

-Hey man, I just got a call from the HR of that company I’ve applied to!

-Dude! The HR called you personally for your first interview? That’s promising, cause they usually don’t have time for that!

-Well, now that you’ve mentioned that, I’m not sure if it was the HR, maybe an assistant, or a Recruiter? I always confuse them...

It’s not easy to remember the difference, especially if you are living in Armenia, where the majority use these two words as synonyms. However, once you know how to distinguish these two positions, it becomes quite simple. 

Let’s imagine we are in the Universe of DC. Every respected superhero, who has tons of responsibilities, has a loyal sidekick, who offers constant assistance in some part of the superhero job.

Picture a superhero, say: Batman. He is the HR, the big guy, right? And his sidekick is Robin, who is always there to help him out.

Let’s start with Robin, and see how he is helping Batman.

So, Who is a Recruiter?

Recruiter specializes in sourcing and engaging potential candidates in the hiring processes.

Mission

Build a talented pool of applicants for hire.

Recruiters are like marketing managers who are promoting a job and/or your company to potential job seekers. The more audience they manage to reach, the higher is the possibility of attracting more relevant candidates for the position the company is looking to fill in.

Recruiters work like advertising agencies for your company, except that they’re advertising to job seekers. Their job is to tell the potential candidates what great place your company is and why they should work there. 

Common responsibilities

1. Making a recruitment strategy based on the company’s need
2. Writing job descriptions
3. Promoting jobs on various job platforms, company databases as well as social media
4. Screen applications and resumes
5. Shortlisting candidates
6. Conducting an initial round of interviews to make sure that the applicants are qualified for the position

Interaction with the company

Recruiters can be both outsourced as well as working under an HR department of a company. This mostly depends on how big your company is, how fast are you growing and how often do your employers quit their jobs.

If you are a rather small company, it makes sense to outsource recruiters, since there might not always be a vacant position in the company. However, in the case of big or quickly developing companies, hiring a full-time recruiter under the supervision of HR might be better.

And now, it’s time for the one, the only Batman!

Who is an HR Professional? 

HR is the person in the company who oversees the entire lifecycle of employees, starting from onboarding and finishing with firing them.

Mission

Choose the final candidate, ensure a smooth integration process for the team, as well as taking care of the existing team members, and creating a safe, productive working environment in the company.

Common responsibilities

1. Hiring and firing employees
2. Conducting or organizing onboarding of new employees as well as trainings for the rest of the staff
3. Supporting and advising employees about their career development
4. Managing payrolls and awarding systems
5. Maintaining employee records
6. Contributing to creating a safe and balanced company culture

Interaction with the company

It is highly uncommon for companies to outsource HRs because their work is highly integrated in interacting with all the employees within the organization. Naturally, you don’t want any outsiders to handle this position, also because HRs deal with a lot of insider information, and any leakage can be quite harmful to your business.

Now let’s talk about the common mistakes people usually make in confusing these two positions with each other. 

Differences: Recruiter vs HR 

 

Recruiter	HR
May or may not write the job description for the position.	Creates the position in the company.
Checks the qualifications of the potential candidates and shortlists them.	Makes the final hiring decision.
Is outsourced, or works under the HR department.	Is always part of the team, usually supervises the HR department.
Tests the candidates.	Trains the employees.
Handles all the applications.	Deals only with the shortlisted potential candidates.

And if you are wondering, yes HRs usually make more money than Recruiters, just like Batman is richer than Robin.

Now, you might be wondering why HR can’t handle the recruitment process as well? Technically they can, especially if the company is small and doesn’t need to fill in a position every month. Though, practically, they have many responsibilities which are potentially as important, if not more, as hiring new employees. 

Maintaining a well-balanced environment for already functioning staff members, dealing with their everyday issues at work and many other responsibilities don’t leave enough time and space for HR to concentrate on recruitment nuances as well. Just because a Batman is powerful, doesn’t mean that he can be at several places at the same time. This is when Robin steps in to save the day.

So, it is highly recommended to have two separate people for these roles. This way they can grow their expertise in a specific area that aligns with your company's needs.

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