I never thought I’d be writing a post like this.

You’re telling me I have options when it comes to my career as recruiter?

For most of us who graduated college and stumbled into recruiting, the ideal path was get into an agency, grind, make the transition internally and call it a day and that would have been a fantastic career.

As I enter into this next stage of my recruiting career, I have started to wonder though— what else is out there?

What choices do I have?

What if I wasn’t cut out for the corporate world? What if I was? What if my strengths are better suited for a smaller teamed startup environment? What if it’s actually ‘ok’ to stay in an agency?

It’s an incredible time we live in to be able to even ask those questions. The fact that we have so many options gives us both the freedom to explore but also the dilemma of having to choose.

In this post, I will attempt to map out some of the choices we have as recruiters that I hope will either challenge OR cement the way you feel about your current track today.

To start, let’s take a look at this graphic below. It’s a generalized ideal of the different track I know are available. There are of course, a plethora of adjacent tracks that I haven’t included such as Program Management, Ops, Insights and I’m sure a ton others.

This is just a starting point that I hope will inspire you to reflect, ask questions and seek out conversations.

Where are you today? Have you made lateral or vertical decisions in your career? How do you feel about those decisions?

You’ll also see that I’ve included something called Inflection Points. An Inflection Point is a point where we decide if we want to stay, move laterally or move vertically up the ladder from something more tactical to something more strategic. There’s not one path fits all as we all have different goals, motivations and personal situations but what’s important is that we take the time to chill out, be introspective and just…think.

Yes it can be stressful and yes, it would easier to go into avoidance mode but I can promise your future self will thank you for the actions you’re taking now to just…think.

Let’s take a closer look at each Inflection Points.

Inflection Point #1— Where to start?

So we’re just starting out and trying to get our foot in the door. We have a blank sheet with nothing to show but everything to prove.

Agencies are a grind but the training is great and it may expedite the path forward. Coordinating in a bigger company gives you instant brand recognition and offers a birds eye view on how well oiled recruiting engines are run. Working in a startup is a nice mixture of the two.

Questions to consider: Do I enjoy a more structured or unstructured environment? How long am I willing to wait in order to move up? How competitive am I? How well can I work through rejection and adversity? Do I have an entrepreneurial, ultra-ambitious spirit? Inflection Point — Where to go?

Inflection Point #2 — Where to go?

We’ve got a few years under our belts now and know more than just the simple boolean string. We’ve proven something to ourselves and can definitively say we add value to a company. We’ve got a little swagger to our step and now have options. Quite a few options actually and it’s kind of stressful to have to choose. Most of us at this point can’t confidently say that we’ve found our dream company, dream calling in life and feel ready to coast it away forever. The reality is that we’re probably just a bit confused and to solve for that, we experiment.

Maybe we scratch that itch to go from agency to internal. Maybe we leave the big corporate world to a tiny startup. Maybe it’s the opposite.

Questions to consider: How much do I enjoy the day to day recruiting work? Working with clients more versus candidates? Do I see myself managing one day? How much do I value financial stability? How risk tolerant or averse am I? How much do I enjoy being told what to do versus being charge and having control?

Inflection Point #3 — How to grow?

We’ve made it! We’re still here recruiting and we’re pretty much in it for the long run at this point. Starting at the bottom of a totem pole just doesn’t seem like a plausible idea…but that’s okay! We love what we do and have some big decisions to make. Ultimately this next step is figuring out if we want to move into a more strategic, managerial role or staying tactical, executing and staying in the hands-on recruiting work that we’ve become an expert in for the past 5–10+ years.

Most of us will have done our fair share of experimentation and have pretty much figured out what we like, don’t like and have a general idea of what the next 5–10 years is going to look like. The percentage of recruiters looking to make it to the next step dwindles quite a bit so in some ways, you’ve made it.

Questions to consider: How strong are my communication, conflict resolution and problem solving skills? How much do I enjoy public speaking? How passionate am I on building teams, improving metrics and providing training? How hands-on do I still want to be? How’s my emotional and mental health? Is it time to rev up or rev down the engine given where things are in my personal life?

Inflection Point #4 …and Beyond

Beyond this point takes sacrifice and commitment. There’s a reason why there’s only so many Directors, VP’s and successful agencies. At this point, you’re completely hands-off and your impact flows and multiplies through the teams you lead. You’re an expert communicator, manager, and problem solver and plan on staying in this executive role for the foreseeable future.

Questions to consider: How much would I enjoy a purely strategic role? How well do I handle pressure and expectations? Do I see myself traveling, speaking and writing more?

Recruiting as a career has clearly evolved so much over the years (where my seasoned vets at? Y’all know what’s up!) and I can only imagine where I’ll personally be in 5, 10 years from now.

At the end of the day, there’s no race to get to one stage or the other — everyone has their personal passions and strengths, life situations and things they value. It’s just about being intentional in understanding your gifts, talents and strengths and taking bold steps to seek them out.

So what are your thoughts? What advice can you share with the other readers on navigating recruiting career decisions? What do you agree or disagree with? Feel free to comment below.