RPO Vs. Traditional Recruiting: The Major Differences

On the surface, RPO and traditional recruiting appear to be similar. Both involve finding candidates who are best suited for a position. However, there is a lot more going on under the hood when it comes to RPO and traditional recruiting. RPO or Recruitment Process Outsourcing is about hiring candidates with long-term goals.

On the other hand, traditional recruiting focuses on finding targeted candidates for short-term jobs. While this may seem like a good fit for both parties, RPO and traditional recruiting have advantages and disadvantages. So let's put this to test: RPO vs. traditional recruiting - What's the difference?

In this blog, we will look at the differences between RPO and traditional recruiting and the pros and cons of each. Ultimately, we will also find the best hiring solution for your business that covers all the aspects of hiring. Let's get started.

The Difference Between RPO and Traditional Recruiting 

RPO vs. traditional recruiting has always been a trending question in the hiring world. Your short-term employment objectives can be achieved through conventional recruitment agencies. However, choosing an RPO partner will help you achieve better and longer-lasting recruiting results if you want to concentrate on meeting your long-term hiring goals.

An RPO provider will handle your entire recruiting process, including sourcing, pre screening assessments, and interviewing potential candidates. This hands-off approach will allow you to focus on other aspects of your business.

For instance, you can use the extra time to grow your revenue or increase your profits. Most RPO providers will also provide white paper writing services so that you can avoid traditional recruiters' lengthy hiring processes.

This will save you time and money. Ultimately, choosing an RPO provider will help you achieve better and longer-lasting recruiting results if you want to concentrate on meeting your long-term hiring goals.

On the other hand, traditional recruiting agencies focus on finding candidates for a time-specific job. Because of this, they usually take a lot longer to fill positions and may charge more for the services they provide.

Let's have a look at the pros and cons of RPO and traditional recruiting processes for more clarity on RPO vs. traditional recruiting.

To understand the screening candidates meaning, it is crucial to dive into the process of evaluating job applicants to ensure the best fit for the position.

Pros and Cons of RPO

Any organization's recruitment process is a time-consuming and expensive undertaking. Many businesses still employ the old-fashioned hiring method, which involves searching for the most acceptable applicants for weeks or even months before interviewing them. This method does not, however, always work.

Check Out: Everything You Need To Know About Interview Scorecard

Pros of RPO

1. Hassle-Free Recruitment

A business can contract the entire hiring process to a third party using RPO. This implies that the company is no longer required to look for applicants or conduct interviews with them. Instead, the vendor will find suitable applicants for the position and handle the interviewing on behalf of the business.

2. Be Focussed on Business

Another benefit of RPO is that you can ensure the quality of the candidates you are hiring. As the process is outsourced to a third party, the business is not required to engage in the extensive and time-consuming process of sourcing and screening the candidates. This allows it to focus on other aspects of its business.

Relatable Read: Candidate Sourcing Strategies For A Talent Pipeline

3. Advanced Innovation

Scheduling, texts, social media, and AI advancements have given team members new ways to communicate and stay on task. An RPO can and will know the best tools for the job, even though you can't be expected to know everything available.

Cons of RPO

1. Cultural Conflicts

The RPO isn't thoroughly ingrained in your company's culture because they don't collaborate with your employees daily. There is a genuine chance that the talent they hire will not align with your core mission and values, even though this does not imply that they will always get it right. Give the RPO team all the information they require to comprehend your distinct culture and ensure that it is reflected in their candidate pipeline to avoid conflict.

2. Security Issues

The risk of compromising data confidentiality exists when outsourcing your hiring process. The third-party service providers are aware of company procedures. This could result in security risks or restrictions on data breaches. This is where RPO falls off the course in the battle of RPO vs. traditional recruiting.

3. Communication Gap

You may not always receive updates on all the moving parts of the hiring process now that you've let some of these things go. Although that is to be expected, it also raises the possibility that something might be misunderstood. Consider setting up regular status reports and check-ins with the team to ensure the service provider consistently expresses your brand message and adheres to company culture.

Pros and Cons of Traditional Recruiting

Pros of Traditional Recruitment

1. Cost-Effective Solution

A traditional recruiting process is a cost-effective solution. It doesn't require a lot of communication between the business and vendor because there isn't a third party involved. This allows the company to focus on its core competencies and the vendor to deliver the best results.

2. Better Quality of Response

In the traditional hiring process, the company can get a more diverse pool of applicants and better quality of response. This is because the company can reach out to potential candidates and get their attention. Newspapers' editorial content, Postings from local employment offices, Temp companies, internal recruitment, career sites, Job expos, etc., are all examples of traditional recruitment.

Relatable Read: Employee Referral Programs: Benefits & Tips

3. Higher Reaches of Talent Discovery

Traditional recruitment allows the business to reach out to a wider variety of potential candidates and discover candidates that may not have applied for a position had they not been contacted. This allows the business to identify candidates with specific skills, experience, and abilities and reach out to expand the pool of potential candidates.

This allows the business to identify better the talent it needs and build a diverse workforce that reflects its core mission and values. Although traditional recruitment isn't always practical, it provides a higher level of response than other recruitment methods.

Also Read: Talent Acquisition Vs. Recruiting

Cons of Traditional Recruitment

1. Job Posting Flexibility is Limited

The traditional recruitment process doesn't allow the business to have a great deal of flexibility when it comes to posting jobs. This can be limiting if the company needs to adjust the job posting based on specific needs or requirements. It can also be a limiting factor if the business wants to change the job posting format or add additional job requirements.

Although there are opportunities for traditional recruitment vendors to be creative regarding post formats, it can be difficult to get vendors to customize their processes for small or medium-sized businesses. At this point, the traditional form falls off when comparing RPO vs. traditional recruiting.

2. Time-Consuming Process

Downtime with traditional recruitment could be extensive, sometimes taking weeks or months. A typical recruitment process under the conventional model can be broken down into the following: 

1. Time-consuming process
2. Spreading the word about an available position
3. Waiting for physical applications to arrive for weeks
4. Manually examining each job application
5. Creating test and interview schedules
6. Contacting each of the finalists
7. Choosing someone at last after months

The vast majority of this process can be automated by technology, drastically reducing the time required for hiring. Since it eliminates human fatigue, oversight, and bias, making the process much more efficient.

Recommended Read: Topgrading Interview: Recruiting Tips & Questions

RPO vs. Traditional Recruiting - The Best Solution?

With all these differences, the pros and cons of the two diverse post formats seem challenging to agree on something that is truly best. So what is the best solution that doesn't sacrifice the flexibility of the RPO and is still cost-effective? Don't worry; we have the answer for you.

Why Choose Pitch N Hire as Your Hiring Solution?

Be it a traditional RPO or any other hiring format, Pitch N Hire is the best solution for businesses that are looking for a streamlined, cost-effective, and diverse hiring process.

They provide a diverse pool of pre-screened candidates and a variety of recruitment formats to suit your specific needs. They also offer various recruitment formats and technologies that can be tailored to your particular needs.

Whether a small, medium, or enterprise-level business, Pitch N Hire is the solution you've been waiting for. They combine the best of both worlds to provide you with the most efficient, cost-effective, accurate, and customized staffing solution.

With Pitch N Hire, you are guaranteed a complete recruitment solution that is cost-effective, efficient and minimizes overhead. You can choose to hire candidates via traditional recruitment, rapid-pitch, RPO, or any other recruitment format that best suits your needs.

Join the 100+ Companies that trust PNH for Reliable, Better, and Faster Hiring today!

Conclusion

RPO vs. Traditional Recruiting has always been a trending question in the hiring world. In this blog, we've discussed the difference between RPO and traditional recruiting as well as their pros and cons. Both traditional and recruitment process outsourcing hiring techniques provide a more effective and efficient hiring solution.

However, RPO provides a higher level of response than traditional recruitment. Pitch N Hire is a comprehensive platform that maximizes the best of both worlds to provide you with the most efficient, cost-effective, and diverse recruitment solution.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

Q1. What does RPO mean in the Context of Hiring?

Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) involves the employer giving a third-party service provider the duty of locating potential employees.

Q2. RPO vs. Traditional Recruiting - Which one to choose?

While the traditional agency model provides the client with the level of support they require, RPO extends the internal recruitment operations of the company by taking full responsibility for the tasks. Each solution has advantages to fit the client's needs and improve the company's essential functions.

Q3. Is Hiring less expensive than Outsourcing?

Outsourced employee hiring is reasonably priced. Businesses primarily choose to outsource because it lowers their costs; labor costs are significantly lower in other countries, and companies can save money on overhead expenses.

Also Read: Using Online Recruitment Software in HR