So, what exactly distinguishes RPO from the traditional request for candidate search commissioned to a recruitment agency? After all, whenever an employer engages an agency to find candidates, they are outsourcing a part of the recruitment process. While reading online definitions and articles on RPO (often published by recruitment agencies themselves), I noticed that they usually lack a clear explanation of the difference between RPO and traditional cooperation with a recruitment agency.

Traditional cooperation with a recruitment agency involves the agency being tasked with searching for and presenting the employer with suitable candidates for employment. This service is often referred to as search & selection. This form of cooperation is usually settled on an advance payment and a success fee basis (the so-called retainer and success fee). Success is defined as the employer selecting a candidate presented by the agency for employment. This is known as the agency model of cooperation.

In the RPO model, the recruitment agency becomes a significant part of the employer’s recruitment department. The agency, and specifically the recruiter or recruiters within it, take over all or most of the duties associated with the recruitment process for the employer. It is therefore a much broader service than just searching for and presenting candidates.

The agency’s recruiter, acting as part of the RPO service, operates as if they were employed by the employer and usually manages the entire recruitment process. The recruiter within the RPO typically administers the recruitment process, organizes and participates in candidate meetings, collects and provides feedback, advises on decision-making, and communicates directly with decision-makers on the employer’s side.

An employer using the RPO service “hires” a recruiter (one or more) for a certain period of time and uses their services as if they were an employee. There is, of course, no employment relationship or any other direct agreement between the employer and the recruiter. Cooperation is regulated by a contract between the employer and the agency.

The difference between the agency model and the RPO model is therefore clear. This difference also brings numerous benefits (primarily financial) for customers ready for such a service.

How can you tell if the recruiter is actually an employee of the employer or a recruiter hired for the RPO service? The easiest way is to check the recruiter’s LinkedIn profile. On the profile, you can see that the recruiter is employed in recruitment agency X, but their current position is, for example, Recruiter at Y, meaning that company Y hires a recruiter from company X.

In summary, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is the outsourcing of recruitment processes to an external company, usually a specialized recruitment agency, for the execution of all or part of a company’s recruitment processes. The parties to such cooperation may individually determine how far the recruitment agency enters the recruitment area, as well as tasks related to recruitment, such as employer branding.