Inbound vs Outbound Recruiting: Understanding Each Through The Lens of Sales

Outbound Sales

This approach involves going “out” and looking at (or prospecting) individual users that might be a good fit for your organization’s services and/or product.

This process includes sales development representatives:

• Conducting research on those users (i.e. finding out what competitors they might use, their industries biggest pain points, and more).
• Reaching out to those users/organizations to gauge their interest and find out what’s important to them that you can solve for.

Pro Tip From the hireEZ Sales Team:

“The more calls you can make and the more people you talk to… you’re going to increase your chance of running into somebody that’s a fit.” - Aaron Aycock, Director of Sales Development at hireEZ

Outbound Recruiting

Similar to outbound sales, outbound recruiters also have to go “out” and “prospect” for candidates.

Like outbound sales development representatives, recruiters are:

• Conducting research on the talent market and determining the personas that would fit for an open role (while also accounting for competitor hiring trends and beyond).
• Reaching out to talent via text, email, and social media to “sell” them an opportunity.

Pro Tip From the hireEZ Recruiting Team:

“Engagement is a huge piece. Just remembering to say ‘Happy Holidays’ or mention something they’ve shown interest in during early correspondence goes a long way.” - Devin Guteridge, Sales Development Manager at hireEZ

Inbound Sales

Like its prefix suggests, “in”-bound relies on assessing prospects that come to you.

These users may come through your company website, social media, referrals and other marketing channels. These prospects are often those who have some form of familiarity with the organization.

From there, it’s up to inbound sales representatives to determine if and how your organization can address their needs.

Inbound Recruiting

Similar to inbound sales, inbound recruiting relies heavily on talent finding an organization through an open job.

This approach takes shape in a few ways, including social media posts from employers, career sites, and job postings in places like LinkedIn and Indeed. Often, the target audience for this approach is active job seekers who are taking the time to look for and apply for new roles.

It prioritizes employer branding and marketing efforts in hopes that talent will apply for open roles.