Is this normal? Contacted by a recruiter when... (interview, job, companies)

[LivingInAmerica]

...I already work at the company?

I recently applied for an internal promotion at the company I work for. Previously, a committee would interview every internal candidate who applied, which dragged out the process. I work at a large corporation, so this meant 30-40 people were interviewing for only a couple of spots. This time, however, the head of our program stated that not everyone would receive an interview this time around.

Today, I was contacted by an internal recruiter who was impressed with my resume/work and wanted to set up an interview. While this sounds like it's good...is this normal? I thought that recruiters primarily try to bring in people from outside the company.

I've been on all sorts of interviews, but being contacted by an internal recruiter while I am already inside the walls of the company is a first.

[macrodome2]

There could be a couple of reasons for this. The department may have wanted the recruiter to manage the process. The company may have wanted to cover their bases if one of the people who wanted to interview was not invited. Since they already stated they would not interview every candidate, I wouldn't read anything into the recruiter contacting you and be happy you are being interviewed.

[Mr_Geek]

Completely normal.

[fishbrains]

Sounds normal to me. One of the recruiter's job responsibilities is to set up interviews, and that is what they are doing.

You can decline the interview, but you were the person who applied for the job in the first place, so that doesn't make much sense.

Speaking as a hiring manager, that is how I have typically seen it done. Our HR recruiting staff assists me in scheduling interviews. It is an admin function that I appreciate.

[jribe]

yes, quite normal, in my experience. for my company, we have thousands of internal HR people, a lot of those are in recruiting roles and they handle the process the same way for internal/external candidates. There's a phone interview, then cuts are made before the next round - which could be one on one or panel interviews.

[LizfromtheBronx]

Completely normal as others have said. I think people always associate the title "recruiter" with someone external trying to get you into a company. Larger companies, though, have internal recruiters who manage the process for pretty much every opening, whether the candidate is internal or external.

I applied for a new role in my company last year and dealt extensively with an internal recruiter. I am in the final stages for a new role at a new company, and the process is being managed by one of their internal recruiters. He scheduled interviews and provides me updates - if/when the time comes that I am offered the job, I expect he will be the one to give me the offer.

[LivingInAmerica]

Thanks for the feedback. I met and interviewed with the recruiter today, so now I know what the situation is.

You all were correct that this is nothing out of the ordinary. For this internal promotion, the company conducting the interviews would normally speak with every applicant, which became a significant burden. The process would drag on and some of the better candidates were getting lost in the numbers. With that in mind, the company changed things. The committee who makes the decision started working with the recruiter to drastically trim down the field. Instead of 40 or more candidates getting an interview, the recruiter would speak with a pre-selected "Top 15," and then submit her Top 10 to go on to the committee round.

Being on the right side of this cutdown, I feel this is beneficial. Investing more time in the top candidates instead of every single person who applies is the smart play, even though there will be plenty of hurt feelings.