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After spending time as a recruiter, it’s only natural to consider taking the next step in your career — for many, this means going on to become a senior recruiter.
Senior recruiters play a vital role in the talent acquisition process, working alongside other staffing professionals to fill a company’s open positions.
By understanding what a senior recruiter does and how to get to this point in your staffing career, you can determine whether this is a good next step in your career journey.
The senior recruiter job description [with example]
The senior recruiter is a full-time position found at both staffing agencies and traditional companies. A Senior Recruiter is responsible for managing the full-cycle recruitment process for mid- to senior-level positions. They work closely with hiring managers and other stakeholders to identify staffing needs, create job descriptions, source and screen candidates, conduct interviews, and negotiate job offers, and they can participate in onboarding new hires.
As a team member in more of a leadership position, the senior recruiter’s responsibilities go well beyond those of a typical recruiter. Senior recruiters are often involved in helping the company develop its sourcing strategies, candidate experience initiatives, and candidate communication strategy based on the business needs.
Senior recruiters are also called upon to regularly evaluate the recruiting process to identify potential areas for improvement. Examples of process improvements include switching to a different applicant tracking system, reference check platform, or scheduling software, or using data to advocate for hiring additional staff. Senior recruiters use their knowledge and expertise to help shape the hiring process to meet the unique needs of their company.
Senior recruiters are often very involved throughout the hiring process, including working with other senior management to determine which qualifications are needed for an open position, writing and editing job descriptions, sourcing quality candidates, conducting screening interviews, communicating with various applicants throughout different stages in the hiring process, scheduling interviews, negotiating offers, and more.
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Senior recruiters make heavy use of applicant tracking systems to manage the candidate pool and ensure no high-quality candidates slip through the cracks. These candidate databases are used to track phone calls, emails, interviews, and other communications. They can also be used to record notes about which candidates are a good fit for a particular position. Even when the senior recruiter isn’t the one conducting the interview, they’ll often oversee the interview process, using these tools to help everything go smoothly.
Senior recruiters will frequently train entry-level recruiters. By ensuring the entire recruiting team is following interview best practices and working to improve the candidate experience, these professionals help to make the company more appealing to top talent.
Finally, senior recruiters will often work within or alongside the Human Resources department to create a consistent, positive experience for people who join the company. They may be involved in the onboarding process to help ensure quality of hire and transition a new hire from the recruiting staff to the HR department, which handles the day-to-day needs of employees.
At Calendly, our Senior Recruiters collaborate with hiring managers to find and attract the best talent, while ensuring the candidate experience remains a top priority. The Senior Recruiter job title requires outstanding time management and communication skills, and be eager to own and manage the full-cycle recruiting process, from sourcing and screening to the final offer.
Our Senior Recruiters’ main areas of focus include:
Identifying, sourcing and engaging candidates through creative
and innovative sourcing approaches
Leveraging their existing network and building pipelines of candidates for specific skill
sets/job categories
Partnering with hiring managers and other key stakeholders to develop a
recruitment strategy and talent pipeline for each position
Managing the full-cycle recruiting process in our applicant tracking system (ATS)
Acting as a brand ambassador for Calendly through participation in recruitment
events including meetups, job fairs, and targeted networking functions
Using recruiting metrics to measure how effective and efficient the process is
and identify areas for improvement
We look for Senior Recruiters who have:
7+ years of recruiting experience (mix of agency and in-house)
Experience with applicant tracking systems (ATS), preferably Greenhouse
A demonstrated ability to build a talent pipeline, meet deadlines, and exceed goals
Expertise in role fill strategies, LinkedIn Recruiter, and other social media and sourcing tools
Fantastic written and verbal communication skills
Impeccable time management skills and an ability to self-direct
How much does a senior recruiter make?
With increased responsibilities, the senior recruiter salary range is higher than that of an entry-level recruiter. According to Glassdoor at the time of publishing, the “estimated total pay for a Senior Recruiter is $93,400 per year in the United States, with an average salary of $67,959 per year.”
However, senior recruiters in some major markets can make much more than this. For example, the average senior recruiter salary in New York is $86,597, and in San Francisco, it’s $91,015.
Additional cash compensation may come from nonsalaried forms of compensation that are relatively common in the recruiting industry, such as commission, profit-sharing, and cash bonuses. This additional pay essentially serves as a performance incentive. The better a senior recruiter does their job, the more they can potentially earn beyond their base salary.
Keep in mind that these numbers are averages. Some senior recruiters can earn significantly more, while others will earn less. Your exact salary will vary based on factors like industry, location, and your level of experience.
How to become a senior recruiter
Demand for recruiters fluctuates, but you’ll find senior recruiter jobs in a wide range of industries, including banking, the military, tech, healthcare, and more.
As a senior-level position, however, this isn’t a job you can apply for as soon as you graduate from college. While a bachelor’s degree is a requirement for most senior recruiter positions, that’s also true of most entry-level recruiter positions. Degrees in business administration, Human Resources, and psychology are generally preferred, as they focus on topics and skills that are often needed in recruiting.
So, what sets senior recruiters apart? It largely comes down to their years of experience. Most senior recruiters typically have five or more years of experience in recruiting or a related field (such as Human Resources). Depending on the industry, they may also need more specialized experience, for example, if they work as a technical recruiter for a technology company.
Though not always required, many employers prefer that senior recruiters have additional certifications, such as a Professional Recruiter Certification (PRC) or a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).
What comes after being a senior recruiter?
While becoming a senior recruiter can be a great career goal in itself, it isn’t necessarily the end of the line for someone looking to advance their recruiting career! After some time as a senior recruiter, you could advance to a variety of other positions:
Recruiting Manager or Senior Recruiting Manager: Recruiting managers oversee the entire recruitment process. They supervise recruiters and lead the development and changing of the company’s recruiting processes as needed. While managers are more likely to manage processes and teams than they are to do recruiting work themselves, sometimes they have a player/coach role.
Principal Recruiter: A principal recruiter still works as an individual contributor (IC) in that they don’t manage anyone, but they’re extremely experienced and often well compensated due to their breadth of knowledge and hiring track record.
Director or Senior Director of Recruiting: You’ll most often find this role at larger organizations with large recruiting teams. Directors are frequently managers of managers, and they focus primarily on team leadership.
Vice President of Talent Acquisition: VPs typically report to the C Suite (e.g., the CEO or Chief People Officer). They work cross-functionally with other executive leadership to set company goals, and they ensure the recruiting teams reporting up to them have the support and resources they need to achieve those goals.
Taking the next step in your recruiting career
In many ways, the job of a senior recruiter simply builds upon the experiences and skills you’ve already developed during your recruiting career. Whether you work for a private staffing agency or in a company’s recruitment department, your ability to find top talent to fill open positions will go a long way in helping your company succeed.
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