What is a Hiring Manager in Recruitment?

Hiring managers are not recruiters, but they play an important role in hiring candidates, which involves short-listing profiles and conducting interviews.

1. What is a Hiring Manager in Recruitment?

Hiring managers are not recruiters, but they play an important role in hiring candidates, which involves
short-listing profiles and conducting interviews. Candidates who are hired work under hiring
managers, also called reporting managers. The term hiring manager is used only during the recruitment
cycle, since these employees are involved in hiring suitable candidates for their team. HR, the hiring
manager, and the recruiter are involved in the recruitment cycle to hire candidates for the roles. HR
check for culture fit, negotiate salary, while hiring manager’s check for skills, culture fit, but don’t
discuss salary part.
Example: The digital marketing team, aiming to fill the role of an e-commerce manager, collaborates
with HR and top management to outline the position's requirements and receives approval for a new
position. Upon obtaining the green light, the designated hiring managers, which may encompass high-
ranking members such as the VP, director, and team head within the digital marketing division,
collaborate to craft a comprehensive job description. This description delineates both desired and
mandatory skills, necessary work experience, industry verticals, and requisite qualifications.
Simultaneously, HR contributes by incorporating a competitive salary structure.
These individuals, holding significant titles within the digital marketing team, play the role of hiring
managers in recruitment cycle. They undertake the pivotal tasks of shortlisting candidates and
conducting interviews to select the most suitable individuals for the position. Throughout the
recruitment process, these internal team members actively participate in screening candidates who
align with the team's needs and objectives.
Example: In many small-sized companies, top-level executives such as the CEO, founder, or co-founder
often serve as hiring managers. Additionally, mid-level leaders like managers or department heads
actively participate in the candidate selection process. These individuals conducting interviews
collectively represent the hiring managers within the organization. Candidates are evaluated based on
their ability to meet the skill requirements and align with the company culture as perceived by all hiring
managers involved in the selection process for the position.
Recruitment has three stages.
1. Recruiting – Recruiters, talent acquisition, sourcers, corporate recruiters, agency recruiters etc.
2. Hiring – Reporting manager of a hiring candidate, upper management of reporting manager.
3. Advanced hiring – HR, CEO, or Owner.
Recruiting encompasses the process of finding, sourcing, approaching, convincing, and selecting
suitable candidates for specific roles. Professionals such as recruiters, talent acquisition specialists,
sourcers, and agency recruiters play pivotal roles in introducing suitable candidates to hiring managers
and HR. This stage is a long process of convincing and selecting suitable candidates.
Hiring progresses through stages that include further resume and phone screenings by the hiring team
before candidates are invited for face-to-face interviews. Following this, selected candidates undergo
further assessments, both oral and written. This stage is a long process, depending on interview rounds,
the availability of hiring managers, the number of candidates, and time management. Those who
demonstrate satisfactory results advance to the next stage of the hiring process.
Advanced hiring involves multiple steps such as negotiating salaries, reviewing company policies,
conducting necessary documentation and background checks, managing the job offer, maintaining
continuous communication with candidates, negotiating the joining date, team introductions, business
presentations, need analysis, and facilitating the on-boarding process. This stage is a fast process so
that the candidates are not lost mid-way.
Difference between a hiring manager and a recruiter

2. • Hiring managers deeply focus on evaluating and assessing candidates, whereas recruiters are
primarily responsible for engaging and persuading suitable candidates.

• Hiring managers typically refrain from discussing salary details, whereas recruiters may engage in
negotiations during the initial phone screening, based on the employer's recruiting and hiring
policies.

• The final decision-making process involves the hiring manager, HR personnel, and executives, with
recruiters not typically participating in this phase.

• The responsibility for maintaining ongoing communication and follow-ups with selected candidates
usually falls within the purview of recruiters rather than hiring managers.

• The collection of feedback from candidates is typically the responsibility of recruiters rather than
hiring managers.
• Depending on their mutual understanding and rapport, recruiters have the ability to advocate for or
reiterate the merits of candidates to the hiring manager for consideration.

• Typically, recruiters or HR professionals are responsible for posting the job description online,
although in certain instances, executives may take on this responsibility based on the team's structure
and employer policies regarding job distribution across the web.

• Recruiters have the authority to tailor the recruitment procedures through discussions with HR,
with hiring managers not involved in this customization process.

• The recruiter can persuade or apply a certain level of pressure to the hiring manager to conclude the
recruitment cycle for a particular position when the process is being dragged along.

• The responsibility for providing the final interview feedback typically rests with the recruiter rather
than the hiring manager.

• The recruiter often assists candidates in interview preparation to facilitate the process, while this
task isn't typically undertaken by the hiring manager.

• Recruiters consistently maintain contact with candidates for potential future opportunities, whereas
hiring managers generally do not relate to such activities.

• The recruiter functions as a gatekeeper between the candidate and the internal hiring team,
involving HR and other relevant departments.

• Recruiters play a direct role in shaping the employer's reputation by actively engaging in the
recruitment process.

Note: The recruiting and hiring policies differ across companies, geography, and team structure.

Interested in learning the base of recruitment?

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