Picture this: You’re sitting in your chair doom-scrolling LinkedIn. The search is on to find another candidate since your “favorite” manager recently rejected yet another profile for unknown reasons. 4:59pm rolls around and you’ve made it through another work day; as you close your laptop for the day, you find yourself thinking “is this really for me?” Before you have an existential crisis, decide to move to the Caribbean, and turn into a beach bum, take the time to read ahead for some alternatives.
As sourcers, our job is to help our candidates find the best opportunities or climb the ladder in their respective career path. However, we don’t often stop to consider our own career or growth options. This article’s goal is to highlight both common and unconventional career paths that recruiting can lead to. The following list isn’t completely inclusive but should provide new opportunities that you may not have thought of until now.
Human Resources:
There are a significant number of HR jobs that a sourcer/recruiter can move into. I’m not going to get into each of them, but I’ve listed a few of the most common ones below and actions to help you get there.
- Job Titles: HR Generalist, People Operations, Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP), Benefits Specialist, DEI Program Manager, Recruiting Coordinator, Vendor Management, and many more.
- Actions: Study and pass the SHRM-CP or PHR certification, take on internal Talent Acquisition projects, and network with other recruiters to learn about other projects that you could duplicate.
- Certifications: SHRM-CP and PHR
Sales:
- If you were to ask someone, “What should I do after recruiting?” one of the most common answers would be “Sales.” Sales involves a very similar skill set to recruiting: prospecting, cold calling, and following up with candidates. I won’t go into details because it’s been covered so often by others, but if you’re considering this route I’d recommend starting with industries that you’ve sourced/recruited for in the past. For example, healthcare sales if you recruit nurses or SaaS companies if you recruit in tech.
- Job Titles: Account Executive, Account Manager, Business Development Representative (BDR), Business Development.
- Actions to take: Reach out to current sales professionals and schedule meetings to learn about their work & industry. It is sales after all!
- Certifications: N/A. Read one or a few books from this list. https://www.close.com/blog/best-sales-books
Marketing & Branding:
- Marketing revolves around the four P’s; Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. It can be a broad topic but there is significant overlap into sourcing and recruiting. Without realizing it, you’re likely perfecting your marketing skills when connecting with talent. Common examples are: “What is the sizzle for this new position?, What makes our company better than our competitor? What salary range should we offer to candidates?” As you develop answers to these questions, you’re creating marketing collateral.
- Job Titles: Product Marketing, Social Media, Digital Marketing, Copywriting, and many more.
- Actions to take: Develop or contribute to employer branding initiatives at your company. Create an outline for a “day in the life” article at your current company with a defined target market identified.
- Certifications: Hootsuite Social Media Certification, HubSpot Certifications, & Google Analytics
Customer Success Manager (CSM’s):
- CSM’s are client facing and responsible for keeping customers happy. You’ll be more product-focused than talent acquisition which involves helping customers with specific questions and use cases. Some customer success managers are also responsible for renewals.
- Actions to take: Network with current CSM’s of products that you’re using. Look for industries that you’ve specialized in or tools you’re extremely familiar with. Some examples would be an ATS (Greenhouse, Workable, Bullhorn), HRIS (Workday, ADP), LinkedIn Recruiter, Seekout, or Gem.
- Certifications: N/A, but this is a great YouTube channel to improve your skills. https://www.youtube.com/@CSMPractice
Project Coordination/Management:
- A recruiter’s day to day work involves managing multiple sourcing projects, providing status updates to team members, developing and tracking KPI’s to meet business objectives, and delivering candidates (projects) on time. As a Project Coordinator/Manager you’ll manage multiple projects that span the business. You’ll need to use software to track the projects, provide status updates to stakeholders, and deliver them on time and budget. They almost sound like the same job!
- Actions to take: Lead a new project focused on talent acquisition at your current company. Ex: Onboarding, interview feedback, reporting, tool implementation.
- Certifications: CAPM (https://www.pmi.org/certifications/certified-associate-capm) or PMP Certification (https://www.pmi.org/certifications/project-management-pmp)
Product Analyst, Product Owner, Business Analyst:
- These roles involve working closely with both technical and business teams to ensure alignment on projects. They require data analysis, strong communication, and industry knowledge. I’m sure there are more than a few of us that could prioritize features we’d like to see in our ATS.
- Actions to take: Look for industries that you’ve specialized in or tools you’re extremely familiar with. Some examples would be ATS (Greenhouse, Workable, Bullhorn), LinkedIn Recruiter, Seekout, Gem, etc. Then, watch YouTube videos on how to write user stories. Use that knowledge and free tools (figma, Visio, Notion, Monday.com) to create a new feature for a current product that your team uses. Then ask one of the current PO’s or BA’s to review it with you.
- Certifications:
Pricing Analyst:
- This position involves analyzing the costs of a business before determining appropriate pricing & profit margins for their products compared to competitors. Pricing analysts work closely with finance, marketing, and sales teams to tell a story using data. You’ll want to brush up on SQL, Excel, and data visualization.
- Actions to take: Develop a cost breakdown comparing your company to a competitor, include customer segments and competitor pricing.
- Certifications: Certified Pricing Professional (CPP)
https://www.pricingsociety.com/cpp
Software Development & Quality Assurance (QA):
- Put simply, developers write code and QA tests the functionality of the code written. Software Development, ‘coding,’ and Quality Assurance roles have a higher barrier to entry but extremely high upsides in career growth, compensation, and flexibility. Research the pros and cons of a few common software development languages (Python, Java, C#, JavaScript) to determine which sounds most interesting to you.
- Actions to take: Pick a coding language, find free resources, begin writing code to see if you understand and enjoy it. Once you’ve gained basic skills, try to find a project that you can automate at work. It could be a file sorter, an automated email reminder to a hiring manager to provide feedback after interviews, or a mouse jiggler 😉
- Certifications: N/A but there are a number of free or low cost options to learn. Udemy, Codecademy, Automate the Boring Stuff Book, W3schools, Alex the Analyst YouTube Channel.
Crime Analyst:
- “Crime Analysts help a police department become more effective through better information.” As a crime analyst, you’ll analyze data, identify patterns, research problems, and link intelligence together. Good news is as a sourcer/recruiter, you already practice these skills on a daily basis!
- Actions to take: Join the International Association of Crime Analysts (IACA). Brush up on SQL, data analysis, and OSINT.
- Certifications: Law Enforcement Analyst – Foundational (LEAF)
Medical Coder:
- A strong attention to detail is required for this role as you’ll be reviewing healthcare data and, in turn, generating bills. You’ll need to learn various types of software (similar to recruiting) and be comfortable with medical terminology. You’ll work cross functionally with providers, patients, and medical staff to ensure accuracy. Most employers provide on the job training which makes this have a low barrier to entry.
- Actions to take: Research various medical coding areas to determine which is the most interesting to you. Areas range from primary care practices, inpatient settings, urgent cares, ambulatory clinics/surgery centers, and insurance companies.
- Certifications: Certified Professional Coder (CPC)
Grant Writing:
- Grant writers typically research, write, and submit grant proposals which in turn helps their organization receive funding. This can be a great freelance position that turns into full time work while offering flexibility. Grant writers often work with nonprofits which can appeal to people with altruistic motivations. As a grant writer, you will focus on developing well thought out plans that include timelines, staffing, and measurable outcomes.
- Actions to take: Go to Grants.gov and find a grant that appeals to you. Write a sample grant, in as much detail as you prefer. Be sure to include deliverables, timelines, staffing numbers, and the measurable outcomes that the money will help you reach. To take this one step further, find a cause that you’re passionate about and volunteer to do grant writing for them to see first hand how the process works.
- Certifications: Free certificate in grant writing
Pharmacy Technician:
- After recruiting in the healthcare or pharmaceutical space, you might have discovered a growing interest in becoming a part of it. A pharmacy technician is a great avenue to start a career in pharmacology. You’ll work with pharmacists to dispense prescription medication to customers. Typically you’re able to find on the job training for this role. In order to advance advanced classes, certifications, and degrees are often required.
- Actions to take: Review details about Pharmacy Technician and sample “day in the life” articles.
- Certifications: Some states require certifications, please consult your state’s rules and regulations. The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) is a good starting point.
College/University/Trade School:
- Returning to school for a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree is one of the most direct ways to make a career pivot but likely the most time consuming and expensive option. You could go into Nursing, Psychology, Engineering, Technology; the options are endless.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides details on the median pay, projected job growth rate, number of jobs, and typical entry level education requirement for careers. Remember, this guide and the BLS are a good jumping off point, but make sure to do your due diligence before walking the plank!
[1] About crime analysis
