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What is a corporate recruiter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. James Lampley
introduction image

A corporate recruiter is responsible for finding and hiring top talent for a company. They work with hiring managers to identify staffing needs, develop job descriptions, post job ads, and screen resumes. They also conduct interviews, check references, negotiate job offers, and onboard new hires. Corporate recruiters may work in-house or for staffing agencies; they must have excellent communication skills, a deep understanding of the company culture, and the ability to identify and attract qualified candidates.

What general advice would you give to a corporate recruiter?

Dr. James LampleyDr. James Lampley LinkedIn profile

Professor, East Tennessee State University

Be willing to go where the jobs are. Many of our graduates are "place-bound". Their family obligations or spouses make it difficult to relocate.
ScoreCorporate RecruiterUS Average
Salary
5.5

Avg. Salary $70,538

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
8.0

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
6.8
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.61%

Asian 7.76%

Black or African American 10.99%

Hispanic or Latino 18.59%

Unknown 5.13%

White 56.92%

Gender

female 62.51%

male 37.49%

Age - 40
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40
Stress level
8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance
7.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a corporate recruiter?

Pros

  • High earning potential

  • Ability to make a positive impact on people's lives by finding them jobs

  • Potential for career advancement within the company

  • Fast-paced and dynamic work environment

  • Flexibility to work remotely or in-office

Cons

  • Can be high-pressure and stressful

  • Long hours, including nights and weekends

  • Constant need to stay up-to-date on industry trends and changes in the job market

  • May require frequent travel or relocation for job fairs and other recruiting events

  • Can be highly competitive within the industry

Corporate recruiter career paths

Key steps to become a corporate recruiter

  1. Explore corporate recruiter education requirements

    Most common corporate recruiter degrees

    Bachelor's

    77.2 %

    Master's

    10.7 %

    Associate

    8.2 %
  2. Start to develop specific corporate recruiter skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Applicant Tracking Systems11.52%
    Human Resources7.48%
    Customer Service6.62%
    Healthcare4.57%
    Background Checks4.13%
  3. Complete relevant corporate recruiter training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New corporate recruiters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a corporate recruiter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real corporate recruiter resumes.
  4. Research corporate recruiter duties and responsibilities

    • Manage requirements from staff appraisers, work flow and project site in SharePoint.
    • Participate in Lawson HRIS user implementation and staffing procedural strategies that manage candidate process.
    • Manage applicant tracking requirements and relate documentation to ensure compliance with OFCCP regulations and reduce risk to the company
    • Manage the scheduling and logistics of all interviews between candidates and hiring managers including post-interview calibration/feedback with interview teams.
  5. Prepare your corporate recruiter resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your corporate recruiter resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a corporate recruiter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable corporate recruiter resume templates

    Build a professional corporate recruiter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your corporate recruiter resume.
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  6. Apply for corporate recruiter jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a corporate recruiter job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first corporate recruiter job

Lucy Mom

Corporate Recruiter

I came USA in Highschool, went College. But stupid enough to major whatever easy or startytrend- Japanese education.

Teacher doesn't make enough income unless you are full time- which takes long time -3-5 years.

So I decided to change my career in Japan. Because I am bilingual English/Japanese and Japan is well-known hiring entry and train employees.

I re started my career as Material lab tech in Japan for 3 years but I knew I will only stay 3-4 years to learn and step up. I didn't have engineering degree but company needed someone eager to learn material/metallurgical .


Became Material Engineer. Loved that job in USA
Due to work visa, I couldn't stay more than 3 years. Went back my country searched manufacturing.
Material Engineer needed to have At least Bs, more in master degree above in Japan.

Became Project engineer/coordinator in Equipment manufacturer, learned AutoCAD, Drafting, equipment specification as need to know work manufacturing/ production control/ account manager/ Quality Engineer.
Every step, I stay at least 3 years so I can learn full cycle (2-3 times) and I can be value to next one. Fortunately people noticed me at trade show, business meeting, they called me for work.( Never did contract job, I only do direct hire)
Picked large corporation, even less pay than smaller. Big names corp, organization is good to have in resume.

My Kid wanted go US highschool like mom, so I asked around old friends and got work visa as recruiter - mainly engineering/ some tech.

Got permanent residence card, decided move forward to HR job. learned HR Generalist, / HR recruiter. But I stayed all my career in manufacturing.
So after Covid, many companies started looking for Talent acquisition specialist/ Corporate recruiter. I moved to Talent acquisition Specialist for manufacturing company.

I always took my career from vision if I want to hire...what resume, what skill? Long enough to know real full year cycle?
Large corp, small but well established to learn.

I think that lead to corporate recruitor.
I became hiring side instead of searchingy career.

Average corporate recruiter salary

The average corporate recruiter salary in the United States is $70,538 per year or $34 per hour. Corporate recruiter salaries range between $46,000 and $106,000 per year.

Average corporate recruiter salary
$70,538 Yearly
$33.91 hourly

What am I worth?

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How do corporate recruiters rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Corporate recruiter reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Pros

I like Bonus and helping people. Sometimes our company cover expanse for networking and meeting. More we do networking more we can earn.

Cons

too much pressure. to hire 1 executive vacancy we have to make connections with 100s of people. We work with people and people are sometimes really hard even we are doing our best. After weeks of hard work right before the placement, some firms reject them without any answers


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Pros

Communicating with people, interview applicants.

Cons

I don't have anything I don't like.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2019
Pros

I enjoy and I’m great in recruiting in any organization I trust and believe in.

Cons

Nothing.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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