How much does a recruiter make?
If you’re asking yourself this question, you’re likely one of two people. You’re either considering a new career in recruiting, or you’re established in your career and looking at taking your established expertise down the recruiting path. Either way, understanding your earning potential as a recruiter is a crucial first step.
So, what’s the answer? Well, we hate this answer just as much as you do, but we’re going to say it anyway. “It depends.” Don’t worry, this article does include some figures for you to reference, but you’ll be leaving this page with more than just a salary range.
We wish we could say “As a recruiter, you’ll make $1,236,487.50 annually,” no matter who you are. But that’s simply not the case. That’s why you’ll see other articles say things like “as low as $35,000 and as high as $500,000 annually, if not more.”
As wild as it may seem, these numbers are actually not wrong. A better question to answer is what factors influence what a recruiter makes, rather than how much earning potential a recruiter has. To make sense of it and get a better understanding of your earning potential as a recruiter, you need to understand that there are many factors that affect compensation in this industry.
In-House Recruiting vs. Agency Recruiting
In-house (internal) and agency (external) recruiters are usually paid very differently because they also operate very differently. Let’s discuss.
In-House (sometimes called Corporate)
In-house recruiters act as part of the Human Resources department and are paid either an hourly rate or salary. You’ll see internal recruiters in a wide variety of companies big and small across all industries. If you do a Google search, you’ll probably find a number of articles stating that corporate recruiters can earn anywhere between $53,000 and $322,000 annually. In our experience, a mid-level recruiter in the industries we work in are more like $100-125k, plus a bonus of 10-15%.
To go a bit further, if you’re looking at more technical or competitive industries, you’ll be looking at a higher range even still. In 2019, the going rate for a recruiter at Google is an average salary of $159,290 per year. Salesforce came in at around $134k, and Uber paid their Senior Technical Recruiters an average of $126k (including commission). Amazon also ranks up there on the list of well-paid recruiters, averaging up to $100k salaries.
Contract
There is also another category which is contract recruiter. This is when a firm hires an independent recruiter to come in and focus on recruiting for a period of time. This usually happens at a set retainer or hourly/daily rate.
As a contract recruiter, you work on assigned searches for the period of time you’re contracted for. It’s pretty straightforward, usually structured as a 1099, or sometimes a W-2 hourly employee.
Agency
Agency recruiters, on the other hand, work differently and are paid differently. Typically they are not offered a flat salary, but are offered either a base salary plus commission on placements made, or straight commission on placements made. Because commission plays such a major role in how much these recruiters make, the range of pay is even more broad. A “typical” commission ranges from 10-20% of the placed candidate’s starting base salary or higher, depending on how the agency you’re working for structures their compensation plan and how much experience you have. More experienced recruiters may see 30-40%. This percentage can also increase as billing increases – once you’ve billed $500k for the year, you might see an increase. Usually, this commission is also split with the agency. That split varies drastically agency to agency (once again, “it depends” on how the agency is structured).
Example:
The recruiter matches a candidate with a job paying $200,000 per year starting salary.
The Fee is set at 20% of the base salary with a 30/70 split between the recruiter and the agency. The recruiter will take home $12,000 after splitting the commission.
Agency recruiters easily have the earning potential well into six-figures, if they have the drive to succeed and the network to back it up. Recruiting leads at higher-end talent advisory agencies are more likely to see these six-figure incomes; but it is possible to earn this as an external recruiter in less-technical roles too. You’ll have to work for it, but it is possible.
At People Obsessed, we’re big advocates for the freedom to work how you want, when you want, and where you want. Technically, we’re an agency, but we operate as a collective, so our recruiting leads are not “owned” by us, but are 1099 employees. We reward a strong work ethic and success with industry-leading commission that is significantly higher than what recruiters see at other agencies. Rose has been heard saying “I want to work with people who want to do their best work, make a lot of money, and do so without the limitations that other agencies have.” We empower our recruiters to do meaningful work for companies that matter, and we don’t micromanage their metrics and performance. Do work that changes career trajectories and builds businesses. Connect world class talent with the best opportunities. Period.
Download Now: How to become a recruiter.
Pay Structure Pros and Cons
Given the stark differences between in-house vs. agency recruiters and how they’re paid, you may be left wondering which is a better fit for you. Each career path has its pros and cons worth weighing.
Flat Salary/Hourly (No Commission)
The Pros:
Your income is stable and predictable. You aren’t having to worry about fluctuation in commissions month to month or quarter to quarter.
You might not have high quotas to hit, but you will always have some kind of quota or metric to guide your work.
The Cons:
You may end up stunting your earning potential because commission-based plans provide the opportunity to excel in the field more than flat salary options.
This type of role may come with less flexibility in schedule and processes compared to commission-based positions.
Salary + Commission
The Pros:
Your base salary income is consistent and predictable, and you have the opportunity to increase your income through commission.
Your earning potential is higher than salary/hourly positions, with the ability to earn more with each candidate matched with a position.
The Cons:
A salary + commission structure offers a lower share of the placement commission compared to straight commission, which (depending on your drive to succeed and volume) could mean a lower earning potential.
A portion of your income is dependent upon placements made, and can be affected (positively or negatively) by the job market and economic climate.
Commission Only
The Pros:
Commission-exclusive structures hold the highest earning potential of recruiting positions.
These positions offer the highest share of placement commission fees paid to the recruiter compared to other pay structures.
Commission-based positions often have more flexibility in schedules and processes, providing you with more control over how, when, and where you work.
Sometimes a “draw” against future commissions is part of the plan, and this is designed to protect a recruiter’s cash-flow by providing a minimum amount that’s predictable each month.
Cons:
Income can be inconsistent between months, but fret not. Usually this is more of a stress in the beginning of a career working this way. Once you get going, you usually have a mostly steady pace, with the occasional slower month if searches take longer than usual to close. This is the scariest part of getting started because it does take time to build.
You don’t have the benefit of severance if you’re laid off as a full time employee. Sometimes companies will keep a skeleton crew internally vs working with an agency, which would be the first to have open searches closed on.
Your income is fully determined by successful placements made. If you are not filling opportunities, you are not making money.
This is often why people go out on their own and start their own recruiting firm. If you can build a pipeline and client base – it’s much more lucrative. This is also why our compensation model at People Obsessed is better that what you’ll find at most recruiting agencies. Our recruiting leads have the benefits of being independent, but if they’re not someone who has the network or desire to spend time on new business (and the stress of running said business), while also trying to recruit and close projects, working with us can be a great fit! They get to focus on recruiting for great clients and roles that attract the best candidates, with none of the overhead of being on their own.
Location
Like in any career, location plays a pretty significant factor when it comes to compensation. Recruiters in major cities and competitive markets are likely to make more than their counterparts in smaller cities. The increase in remote work has helped to close this gap, but it does still exist.
A search on Glassdoor shows that a Recruiter in NYC makes an average of around $87,500 per year, while a Senior Recruiter comes in closer to $110k annually. In comparison, a recruiter in Georgia averages closer to $70,000 annually, and a Senior Recruiter can expect to make near $100k (as of July 2022). When you add in technical specialties to the mix, you can expect an additional $10-$20k annually on these figures.
Industry
The industries that recruiters work in can also play a role in determining compensation. Recruiters who are niched down to very specific, highly-technical positions and companies will be compensated differently than a recruiter who places temp workers in manufacturing.
This comes into play for two reasons: First, higher-paying placements carry higher commissions so you’ll bring home more for placing the next CTO at a Fortune 500 company than you will for placing the part-time forklift driver at your neighborhood warehouse. Second, these more technical and more competitive positions require additional vetting in the hiring process. More extensive process = higher compensation.
Focusing more specifically on senior talent in these industries is likely to come with higher compensation.
The industry we love to work in – Technology (specifically Advertising Technology, Marketing Technology, and Connected TV/Streaming, E-Commerce, Enterprise Technology/SaaS, Startups/early stage venture backed organizations) are great industries to work in if you’re looking for that higher pay. Working with large, multinational organizations like StubHub and Pepsi Co. means we work with the best of the best, and they’re paid accordingly. Combine that with our focus on high-demand go-to-market roles like marketing and product marketing, product management, finance, sales, customer success, account management, data and analytics and the like… that’s where you’ll find the real sweet spot.
Experience, Drive, and Volume
As a recruiter, your compensation is determined most by your experience, as well as your determination to succeed. You may be paid a flat salary. You may be paid base salary plus commission. You may be paid straight commission.
If commission is part of your compensation package, your drive to succeed is arguably the biggest determining factor in what you will earn, but let’s take a moment to talk about that briefly …
Traditional recruiting agencies vs. People Obsessed (and others)
When you hear the word “commission,” you might immediately think of highly competitive environments, à la Glengarry Glen Ross (but for recruiting) – and in some cases, your assumption would be right. Some traditional recruiting agencies that lean on commission-based payment structures do yield competitive environments.
If you’re someone who thrives in competitive environments, this may not be an issue for you. However, there are recruiting and talent advisory firms that are the exception to this pervasive rule.
Using People Obsessed as an example, we do have commission baked into your compensation as a recruiter. However, instead of pushing toward a culture of competition, we embrace a posture of support internally with each other. While we are commision based, we find ways to align fee sharing and structures, so we’re all working together toward a common goal, rather than solely competing against each other for the biggest prize.
If you’re someone who prefers when you’re in charge of your own (salary) destiny, a commission-based recruiting role (with a higher earning potential) might be a great option for you. Just remember that, when you’re evaluating potential commission-based recruiting roles to ask questions around the culture of competition so you make the best choice for you.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled conversation about experience
Experience also comes into account when determining pay rate, just like it does with any other job on the market. A new recruiter without any industry experience will be compensated less than one with a decade’s worth of experience and a network to support it. This isn’t to say that new recruiters can’t make the big bucks. It’s absolutely possible, especially in a commission-based environment.
Lastly, volume plays a factor in pay as well. If you’re paid commission only, your income will fully depend on how many placements you make and what those placements are. This could look like making a significant number of matches with smaller salaries, or just a few placements in an executive-level position that send you on your way with a higher commission.
You could place ten candidates in roles at $50,000 salary levels, or two candidates at $250,000 salary, and still bring home the same amount of money if your commission is the same for these positions. As much as we hate the numbers game, this is where the numbers game does come into play.
The Agency
We can’t talk about how much a recruiter makes without addressing the elephant in the room: the agency. If you choose to go the agency route, the agency that you choose has a lot to do with your opportunity for success.
If the firm you choose has a solid pipeline of searches from the best companies, with the best products, and the best leadership and hiring managers – it will 100% make an impact on the ability a recruiter has to attract the right talent to the role. This increases the likelihood of closing a search (and, you guessed it – earning commission). It also takes less time to find, present, and prospect those top candidates.
At People Obsessed, Rose has this uncanny ability to bring in amazing customers who are leading their field. All the more reason to join our collective, right? This isn’t just a (well-seized) opportunity for a shameless plug, it’s the truth. Working at the right firm makes a big difference and it is a big reason people consider joining our team.
Recruiting can be an incredibly lucrative career if you are committed to your own success. Your earning potential truly depends on you, the industry you choose to serve, and how well you network. What it really boils down to is asking yourself some deep soul-searching questions to determine which route is best for you.
Do you value the stability of a flat salary, or would you rather have the higher earning potential of a commission-based pay structure?
Do you want to work across a variety of companies, industries, or positions, or would you prefer to focus on one company scale and solidify their business?
Do you want the freedom to work from anywhere or are you happier in an in-office environment with coworkers you can collaborate with?
Money isn’t the only factor that should be considered when looking into joining the recruitment world. Money is important, but you have to look at the big picture as a whole.
