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Recruiters spend a lot of time talking about sourcing strategies, interview techniques, and onboarding workflows—but rarely do we stop to ask a foundational question: What type of hiring are we actually doing?
That question matters more than most think.
Hiring isn’t just about filling roles. It’s about choosing the right approach, with the right people involved, at the right time. Whether you’re scaling a startup or managing talent for a Fortune 500, understanding the different types of hiring isn’t just helpful—it’s essential.
This guide breaks down the main types of hiring, when to use each, and who typically owns the process. If you’re tired of trial-and-error recruitment or watching good candidates fall through the cracks, this is for you.
1. Internal Hiring: Fast, Familiar, and Often Overlooked
Internal hiring means filling open roles with people who already work for the organization. This could be a promotion, lateral move, or rehire of a former employee.
Common internal hiring methods:
- Promotions: Elevating an existing employee to a higher position.
- Transfers: Moving someone to a similar role in a different team or location.
- Rehiring: Bringing back a former employee with added experience.
- Referrals: Employees recommending people from their network.
- Talent pool mining: Revisiting previous applicants for new roles.
Advantages:
- Faster hiring cycle
- Lower onboarding and training costs
- Cultural fit is usually guaranteed
- Boosts morale and employee loyalty
Drawbacks:
- Smaller talent pool
- Limited infusion of fresh ideas
- Can spark internal resentment if not handled transparently
- May reinforce stagnant culture or bias
When to use it:
When you need to move quickly, reduce hiring costs, or retain high-performing talent already familiar with your systems and culture.
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2. External Hiring: Expanding Reach, Injecting Innovation
External hiring refers to bringing in new employees from outside the organization. This type of hiring is best when you want to expand your talent pool, diversify your team, or inject new skills and perspectives.
Common external hiring methods:
- Job boards and online ads
- Recruitment agencies and headhunters
- Social media recruiting
- Campus recruitment and job fairs
- Employment exchanges and labor contractors
- Walk-in applicants and unsolicited resumes
- Factory gate or union hiring for labor-intensive roles
Advantages:
- Larger and more diverse talent pool
- Access to specialized or hard-to-find skillsets
- Brings fresh thinking and energy into the team
Drawbacks:
- Longer hiring timelines
- Higher recruitment and training costs
- Potential cultural misalignment
- Can dampen internal morale if internal candidates are overlooked
When to use it:
When filling a role that requires expertise you don’t have internally, or when you’re looking to reshape team dynamics with new energy and perspectives.
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3. Who’s Doing the Hiring? Understanding Recruiter Types
Here’s a twist most blog posts don’t talk about: the type of recruiter handling the process can impact outcomes just as much as the hiring channel.
There are three common recruiter types, and each brings different dynamics to the table.
1. Corporate Recruiters
- Work in-house for the company
- Often focused on long-term team building and cultural alignment
- Ideal for stable, strategic, or leadership hiring
2. RPO Recruiters (Recruitment Process Outsourcing)
- Employed by an external vendor but embedded into your hiring workflow
- Function like an internal team, but offer flexibility and scale
- Often used for high-volume or rapidly scaling roles
3. Agency Recruiters
- Third-party firms working on either a retained or contingent basis
- Retained: Paid upfront, often used for executive or niche hires
- Contingent: Paid only if they successfully place a candidate
- Great for roles that are time-sensitive, hard-to-fill, or highly specialized
Each type of recruiter has different tools, timelines, and incentives. Knowing who’s running the process can help you better align expectations—and avoid surprises down the line.
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4. Hybrid Hiring: Why the Best Strategy Isn’t Either/Or
Most companies don’t rely solely on internal or external hiring—and for good reason. A hybrid approach lets you:
- Promote internal talent when available
- Simultaneously scout for external candidates with new skills
- Build a balanced workforce that grows with your goals
This mix is particularly effective in fast-moving environments, where certain departments may benefit from internal continuity while others need fresh perspectives.
Example:
Promote internally for customer support leadership, but source externally for a new data science team.
The key to a successful hybrid model:
- Define clear criteria for when to use each channel
- Communicate the process to internal stakeholders
- Avoid favoritism or bias by applying structured evaluation at all stages.
5. Choosing the Right Type of Hiring: A Simple Framework
Here’s a quick decision-making table to help you match hiring type to role type:
Role Type | Recommended Hiring Type |
Entry-level or hourly roles | External (job boards, campus, referrals) |
Mid-level positions | Internal or external, based on urgency |
Leadership and strategy roles | Internal promotion or retained search |
Specialized technical roles | External via agencies or RPO |
Urgent backfills | Internal transfers or fast-track referrals |
New teams or departments | External (for diversity and innovation) |
This isn’t a hard rule—but it helps clarify when to optimize for speed, skill, or cultural growth.
Final Thoughts: Hiring Types Aren’t Just a Technicality—They Shape Your Results
Most hiring mistakes don’t happen at the interview stage—they happen before you even post the role. Choosing the wrong type of hiring can waste time, inflate costs, and leave great candidates off your radar.
By understanding the differences between internal, external, and hybrid hiring—and who’s actually managing each process—you can:
- Move faster with clarity
- Avoid costly mis-hires
- Build teams that actually work well together.
FAQ
Full-time, part-time, contract, and temporary jobs—each varies in hours, benefits, and commitment.
Direct hire, contract-to-hire, freelance, internal, remote, high-volume, and campus hires.
- Sourcing candidates, 2) evaluating and selecting them, and 3) onboarding the new hire.
Internal hiring fills roles with current employees; external hiring brings in new talent from outside the company.
It’s done virtually and prioritizes self-discipline, communication, and digital collaboration skills.
Each type has unique issues—like speed vs. quality for high-volume roles or reliability for contractors.
