If your business is growing, at some point, you will probably ask the same question many companies face: Should we hire an in-house recruiter, or outsource recruiting?
It’s a decision that comes up whether you’re hiring your very first recruiter or reshaping how your hiring function works as your team expands. And it’s a fair question because both options come with real costs, trade-offs, and risks.
The goal of this article isn’t to convince you one way or the other—it’s to lay out the pros and cons clearly so you can make the best choice for your business.
Key Takeaways
- What Does Recruiting Outsourcing Look Like
- What Does an Internal Recruiter Do
- Key Comparisons of Internal vs. External Hiring Support
- Deciding What is Right for Your Company
What Does Recruiting Outsourcing Look Like?
When companies outsource recruiting, they usually partner with:
- Staffing agencies that fill temporary or permanent roles.
- Contingent Recruiting firms that specialize in sourcing and placing talent quickly.
- Executive search firms for higher-level leadership positions.
- Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) providers who handle recruiting end-to-end and partner with companies holistically.
Instead of paying one recruiter as an employee, you pay an external partner or agency—often on a per-role basis, on an hourly model (like DISHER Talent), a percentage of salary, or in a retainer model.
What Does an Internal Recruiter Do?
An internal recruiter is someone you hire as a full-time employee to manage your company’s hiring process. Their job is to understand your business, your culture, and your hiring needs deeply. They typically:
- Build relationships with hiring managers in your company
- Source candidates directly from job boards, social media, and referrals
- Guide candidates through the interview and offer process
- Help shape your employer brand and candidate experience
In short, they are dedicated to making sure your company consistently attracts and hires the right people.
Internal Recruiter vs. Outsourced Recruiting
Let’s put them side by side, comparing the areas business leaders care about most.
Cost
Internal Recruiter: You’ll pay a salary (often $70k–$120k depending on your market), plus benefits, taxes, and overhead. The ongoing cost is fixed, but after your recruiter is trained and established, you no longer pay per hire. If you hire frequently throughout the year, this model can save money in the long run.
Contingency Recruiting: In this model, agencies only get paid when they successfully place a candidate. Typically, the fee is 15%–30% of the employee’s first-year salary. That means if you’re hiring a $100k role, you could end up paying $15,000–$30,000 in fees for just one placement. The benefit is that you’re not paying anything up front, and you only pay if the agency delivers. This can be more cost-effective if you hire occasionally or have sudden hiring spikes, but it gets expensive if you’re filling multiple positions, and it can be unreliable if the role is challenging to fill.
Hourly Recruiting Support: Instead of paying a salary or large contingency fees, some firms (like DISHER Talent Solutions) provide recruiting support on an hourly basis. You pay only for the time their recruiters actually spend sourcing, screening, and managing candidates—like hiring an extra set of hands when you need them. This model gives you flexibility: it’s transparent, scalable, and avoids hefty per-placement fees. It’s often the best fit if you don’t need a full-time recruiter but still want consistent, expert support that can ebb and flow with your hiring needs.
Bottom line on cost:
- Lots of steady hires → Internal recruiter makes the most financial sense.
- Occasional or unpredictable hiring needs → Contingency can help, but gets pricey with volume.
- Flexible, scalable support → Hourly recruiting services give you transparency and scalability without the big commitments.
Speed and Access to Candidates
Internal Recruiter: They’re focused only on your company, which means they’ll learn your roles inside out. But when you’re just starting, it may take time to build a pipeline of candidates.
Outsourced Recruiting: Agencies have wide networks and candidates on file. That means they can sometimes present candidates faster. This is especially valuable if you urgently need to fill a role or if you’re hiring in a competitive market.
Bottom line on speed:
- For urgent or hard-to-fill roles, outsourced recruiters tend to move faster.
- For steady pipelines, internal recruiters win long term.
Company Culture Fit
Internal Recruiter: Because they work inside your organization, they get to know your culture, team dynamics, and long-term goals. They can better spot who will thrive, not just who looks good on paper.
Outsourced Recruiting: Agencies try their best to understand your company, but it can depend on their ability to understand your company’s values, culture, and team dynamics to find the right talent match.
Bottom line on culture: If hiring people who stay and grow with your organization is a top priority, an internal recruiter is often better positioned to ensure cultural alignment. However, partnering with recruiting firms that truly understand your company’s values and dynamics can also be highly effective for finding candidates who are not only qualified but also a strong fit for your organizational culture.
Flexibility
Internal Recruiter: You’re committed to ongoing salary and benefits, whether you’re hiring 2 people or 20. That could be wasteful if your hiring slows down.
Outsourced Recruiting: Pure flexibility. You only pay when you need help, and you can scale up or down depending on growth.
Bottom line on flexibility: Outsourcing is more adaptable to changing business cycles.
Employer Branding and Candidate Experience
Internal Recruiter: They represent your company every day. They can fine-tune how your brand shows up in job ads, interviews, and follow-ups. Candidates will have a consistent experience with your company.
Outsourced Recruiting: Agencies represent multiple employers. Even with agencies’ best efforts, candidates can sometimes feel like they’re talking to a “middleman.” That can dilute the personal connection to your company.
Bottom line on branding: Internal recruiters build stronger long-term employer brands by reinforcing values throughout the hiring process. Even when agencies excel at alignment and messaging, the connection they establish between candidates and the organization is generally less direct.
So, Which One Is Right for You?
Here’s the simplest way to decide:
Outsource recruiting if…
- You only hire occasionally
- You need to move fast on a specialty role
- You don’t want ongoing recruiting overhead
Hire an internal recruiter if…
- You’re hiring consistently throughout the year
- Cultural fit and long-term retention are top priorities
- You want more control over candidate experience and employer branding
The Hybrid Option
It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Many businesses land in a middle ground:
- Keep an internal recruiter who manages the overall process, employer brand, and consistent communication.
- Partner with agencies only for hard-to-fill roles or during periods of rapid growth.
This way, you get the best of both worlds—strategic internal recruiting plus the firepower of outsourcing when needed.
Final Thoughts
Deciding between outsourcing recruiting or hiring an internal recruiter comes down to understanding what your company actually needs right now—and what you expect in the next 12–18 months.
- If hiring is occasional or unpredictable, outsourcing usually makes more sense.
- If hiring is steady and ongoing, bringing someone in-house pays off big over time.
- If you’re somewhere in between, a hybrid model may be the smartest call.
At the end of the day, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The best approach is the one that balances your budget, your growth plans, and the kind of people you most want to bring on your team.
Hiring doesn’t have to feel like all-or-nothing. With DISHER Talent Solutions, you get the recruitment muscle you need, only when you need it—without paying huge agency fees or committing to a full-time recruiter. Let’s team up and make hiring simple, flexible, and effective.
