Full-desk recruiting is a comprehensive approach to recruitment where recruiters work both sides of the desk, meaning the recruiter is responsible for both client acquisition (business development) and candidate sourcing and placement.

This style of role requires recruiters to be highly skilled in candidate sourcing and client management, making it a challenging yet rewarding career path. It’s become increasingly more prominent as talent teams have reduced headcount and tightened their budgets in an effort to maximize efficiency and reduce spend.

In this post, we'll explore what full-desk recruiting entails, the skills required to succeed as a full-desk recruiter, why it's becoming more prominent, and the potential benefits of this approach for both recruiters and organizations.

What is full-desk recruiting?

Full-desk recruiting is a comprehensive approach to recruitment that requires a recruiter to own the entire recruitment process from start to finish, handling both the client side (companies looking to hire) and the candidate side (individuals seeking jobs). It entails a wide range of responsibilities, including sourcing candidates, screening resumes, conducting interviews, and managing client relationships.

Full-desk recruiters are responsible for understanding their clients' hiring needs and finding the best candidates to fill those roles. They operate in fast-paced and dynamic environments, often managing multiple tasks simultaneously. Being a full-desk recruiter requires acute attention to detail, excellent communication skills, and the ability to think on your feet.

Full-desk recruiting vs. full-lifecycle recruiting – what’s the difference?

Full-desk recruiting and full-lifecycle recruiting are both terms used in the recruiting industry, but they refer to different approaches and responsibilities within the recruitment process.

In full-desk recruiting, a recruiter is responsible for both client acquisition (business development) and candidate sourcing/placement. Essentially, the recruiter manages the entire recruitment process from start to finish, handling both the client side (companies looking to hire) and the candidate side (individuals seeking jobs). This approach requires the recruiter to balance sales skills (to acquire clients) with sourcing and relationship-building skills (to find and place candidates).

Full-lifecycle recruiting – often referred to as full-funnel recruiting or full-cycle recruiting – on the other hand, focuses solely on the candidate side of the recruitment process. Recruiters in this model still do a lot of heavy lifting and are responsible for sourcing candidates, screening resumes, conducting interviews, coordinating interviews with clients, negotiating offers, and facilitating the onboarding process. They do not typically engage in client acquisition or business development activities. Instead, they work closely with hiring managers and HR departments within their own organization or with external clients to fill open positions.

What skills are required for full-desk recruiting?

Becoming a successful full-desk recruiter requires a unique blend of skills encompassing various aspects of professional life. Interpersonal skills play a critical role in this field, as full-desk recruiters must establish strong connections with both their clients and candidates. A full-desk recruiter must be able to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, to ensure that all parties involved are on the same page. Additionally, full-desk recruiters must possess an inherent sales acumen, as they must be able to persuade both clients and candidates to see the value in their services.

To excel in this field, a full-desk recruiter needs a keen eye for detail, as they must be able to scrutinize resumes and job requirements to ensure that the right candidates are being matched with the right opportunities. Time management is also critical, as full-desk recruiters must juggle multiple tasks and deadlines simultaneously. Lastly, full-desk recruiters must be able to work well under pressure, as they must maintain their composure and make sound decisions, even when faced with tight deadlines or unexpected challenges.

Why is full-desk recruiting becoming more popular?

As the demand for highly specialized talent grows, full-desk recruiting has become an increasingly popular approach for recruiters seeking to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.

In a competitive job market, companies need to fill open positions quickly to avoid productivity losses and maintain a competitive edge. Full-desk recruiters can streamline the recruitment process by managing both client and candidate sides efficiently, leading to faster placements and reduced time-to-fill.

Thanks to the proliferation of digital platforms and technological tools, recruiters today can access a far wider pool of potential candidates than ever before and automate more of their daily workflow and processes. With the right technology and skillset, full-desk recruiters can work both sides of the desks more efficiently than ever before, while maximizing their earning potential in the process.

What are the benefits of full-desk recruiting?

Full-desk recruiting is a recruitment process that offers numerous benefits to both recruiters and clients. One of its primary advantages is that recruiters have control over the entire recruitment process, from client acquisition to candidate placement. This enables them to manage every aspect of the process and ensure seamless coordination between clients and candidates. This leads to the development of stronger relationships with both clients and candidates, ideally resulting in more successful placements.

Additionally, by handling both client and candidate sides of the recruitment process, full-desk recruiters can streamline communication and decision-making. This can lead to faster placements and reduced time-to-fill for open positions. And, since full-desk recruiters are responsible for client acquisition and satisfaction, they have the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with clients. By understanding their needs and preferences, full-desk recruiters can provide personalized service and become trusted partners in the hiring process.

Furthermore, since full-desk recruiters earn commissions on both client placements and candidate placements, they have the opportunity to maximize their earning potential. This dual revenue stream can lead to higher income compared to recruiters who focus exclusively on one side of the process.

What are the challenges of full-desk recruiting?

Although full-desk recruiting has many advantages, it also presents several challenges. One of the primary challenges is the significant degree of accountability and workload involved in overseeing candidate sourcing and client relationships.

Full-desk recruiters have to balance their time and attention between client acquisition and candidate sourcing/placement. This split focus can be challenging and may lead to difficulties in prioritizing tasks or maintaining consistency.

Additionally, managing both client and candidate sides of the recruitment process can result in a heavy workload for full-desk recruiters. They may face pressure to meet the demands of multiple clients while simultaneously sourcing and screening candidates for various positions.

The demanding nature of full-desk recruitment, coupled with the pressure to meet revenue targets, can increase the risk of burnout among recruiters. Constantly juggling multiple tasks and dealing with the pressures of sales and recruitment can take a toll on mental health and well-being

Finally, full-desk recruitment requires a diverse skill set that includes sales, relationship-building, sourcing, screening, and negotiation skills. Not all recruiters may possess or excel in all these areas, which can impact their effectiveness in managing the entire recruitment process.

Luckily, utilizing automation across the recruiting process and candidate experience can alleviate many of these challenges. Recruitment platforms (like Fetcher 😉) can do much of the heavy lifting when it comes to sourcing, outbound communication, and keeping in touch with candidates throughout the funnel, making a full-desk model far more successful.

In closing

Full-desk recruiting is a recruitment approach that involves recruiters handling both aspects of the recruitment process - candidate sourcing and client management. This recruitment method is comprehensive and requires recruiters to have diverse skills to effectively manage all aspects of the recruiting and business development processes. Recruiters specializing in full-desk recruiting can establish stronger relationships with clients and candidates and earn higher commissions, making it a challenging and dynamic role in the recruitment industry that can be rewarding for recruiters who are up for the task.