Freelance Recruiting as a Path to Independent Earning

What Is a Freelance Recruiter?

A freelance tech recruiter is a talent acquisition specialist who does the same job as an IT recruiter in an agency/company yet works independently. Freelance recruiters are characterized by the following:

• They work alone. Freelancers don’t have a standard work contract with a company/agency and are usually self-employed. Consequently, they don’t have a team and do all the work on their own. While in-house TA teams may share responsibilities between researchers and recruiters, freelance specialists are in charge of the entire recruitment process, from crafting a job description to introducing a new employee to the team. 
• They look for clients on their own. As there’s no company that provides freelance recruiters with permanent tasks, they are the ones responsible for their own workload. To ensure having enough work to make a living, they might take orders from former clients and/or search for new ones on online platforms. 
• They have more flexibility. Since the “freelance” concept implies more freedom than traditional employment types, recruiters following this workstyle have more control over their work conditions. They choose their schedule, rate, and the industries they work with ‒ without the need for anyone’s approval.

Is Freelance Recruiting Beneficial?

According to the recent McKinsey’s report, 36% of employed Americans work independently and identify themselves as freelancers, contractors, temporary, or gig workers. Some of them also have side jobs besides their official employment places. When asked how they feel about being freelancers/self-employed, a third of respondents said they are optimistic about their economic opportunities and future in general. As a comparison, the average American employee doesn’t express such positive expectations.

So what makes freelancers happy with their work? Let’s have a look at the most meaningful benefits. 

Flexible Work Arrangements

This is the first reason why people change from the office chair to a home office: no more 9/5 restrictions, instead full freedom to schedule your days as you wish, more time for family, yourself, side projects, etc. Freelance recruiters can work from anywhere in the world, when and how they want. They can either work with local businesses or provide services to companies that practice software outsourcing to Eastern Europe and other regions, thus adding new markets to their recruitment portfolio.

Higher Earning Potential

I’ve already mentioned that freelance specialists tend to feel confident about their earnings. While they don’t have a base salary, they can still earn decent money by combining jobs with different payment options and opportunities. Here are some examples:

• Working on difficult positions. One of the most popular payment options for recruiters is the percentage they get for a closed position. On average, this percentage makes up 15-30% (sometimes even up to 40%) of the specialist’s first annual salary, so the higher the salary of a specialist they hire, the bigger their bonus. 
• Setting up hourly fees for their services. Recruiters working on freelance platforms can ensure stable income by charging an hourly fee. Taking into account the fact that freelance TA specialists don’t have a base salary, such a payment option can be a viable substitute.
• Working in flourishing markets. While the global economy is not undergoing the best of times, freelance recruiters decide on the locations to work with on their own, thus switching to markets where IT hiring is in high demand is another way for freelance recruiters to secure their earnings.

That said, freelance specialists have some financial freedom by choosing (and often mixing) different payment options as well as the market(s) they work in. 

Diverse Client Base

Being a freelancer allows recruiters to build a great network of clients who they really enjoy working with. In addition to diverse clients, it’s also possible to work with different industries. Have you ever dreamt of trying yourself as a Healthcare recruiter? Freelance is the right opportunity to do so! 

One more benefit is that freelance recruiters can easily (or at least, easier if compared to full-time permanent contractors) change their clients if something goes wrong. If it’s uncomfortable to work with current clients, independent recruiters can solve this issue by extending their client base or temporarily switching to another project.

Low Overhead Costs

Becoming a freelance recruiter is easier than starting your own e-commerce shop, for example. All you basically need is your knowledge, although you might also need to pay for sourcing tools to do your job more effectively.

Once you find your first clients and plan your income, you’ll likely have to register as a solo entrepreneur (or maybe you’ll choose a different employment form) which will also require some expenses. But that’s pretty much it for the start. 

Freelance VS Employed

When considering freelance recruiter opportunities, you should pay attention to different aspects of freelancing. While it may be attractive in many ways, there are things you should be aware of to make an informed decision. For example, since you’re a one-man recruitment agency when working as a freelancer, you’re likely to face the consequences of hiring developers mistakes (if you make any).

In the table below, I gathered other pros & cons of being a freelance and employed recruiter, so you have the full picture of IT recruitment opportunities.

To sum up, each employment type has its pros & cons, thus to get the most out of your recruitment career, you might combine your full-time job with freelance activities. And this is where Huntly can help!

An innovative online platform for recruiters, Huntly allows you to get the best of both worlds. We provide our recruiters with all the benefits of freelance recruiting, including a vast client base, so you don’t need to look for them! 

As well, Huntly ensures decent bonuses for a successful hire, the ability to work as much as you want, and on the positions you desire. Finally, by being a Huntly recruiter, you can broaden your recruiting portfolio and help tech companies grow!

Join Huntly as a freelance recruiter!

Secure your income with decent bonuses for successful vacancy closing.

Refer a Candidate

How Much Do Freelance Recruiters Make?

Since a freelance workstyle implies a lot of flexibility, the earnings can vary dramatically. This depends a lot on every specialist’s workload, positions and markets they work with, the number of clients they have, etc. 

According to Glassdoor statistics, the amount of IT recruiters’ additional annual pay ranges from $29K to $55K. That amount may include bonuses for filled positions, performance bonuses, or profit-sharing (and excludes base pay). 

Therefore, taking into account the fact that freelance recruiters don’t have a base salary, generally they can expect to earn around $2-4K a month.

However, they can increase income considerably as a freelancer on Huntly. We value our recruiters, offering decent bonuses for experience and referrals: thus by joining our platform, one can earn up to $15,000 for a hire.

How to Become a Freelance Recruiter?

By this part of the article, you might be inspired enough to ask “How do I start as a freelance recruiter?” Below are the steps I would suggest taking to anyone switching to an independent career.

1. Gain some experience

Whether you believe it or not, it’s hard to work alone if you don’t have any experience. You just won’t know how to freelance recruit if you haven’t done this before. So, the first thing you should do is work for a company/agency and test the waters. Spend at least a few years working in different industries with different positions to gain the experience you’ll need as an independent recruiter (and in the process build a network of both candidates and clients).

2. Decide what you do and don’t like about your job

The time you spend working as an employed TA specialist will provide you with an understanding of your preferences to build your dream career. By the time you decide to switch to freelancing, you’ll know for sure what industries you want (or don’t want) to work with, what schedule you prefer, how much your services cost, etc.

3. Start building your personal recruitment brand

Switching to freelance is similar to starting a new career. It’s unlikely that new clients will order your services if they know nothing about you. So it’s important to have your personal recruitment brand when you’re about to start an independent career. To do this, make sure to be present on professional social media, provide feedback from your former employers/clients, and share your expert thoughts on trending topics, etc.

4. Choose a platform to work at as a freelancer

There are loads of platforms to choose from and Huntly is yet another beneficial option. At Huntly, we do our best to ensure comfortable conditions for our freelance recruiters. Those include easy registration, no payments from your side, decent bonuses, the freedom to choose positions to work on, and a user-friendly experience. 

We also strive to optimize tech recruiting allowing you to earn good money by doing the sourcing part only (all interviews are on our clients’ side). Finally, Huntly is more than a recruitment platform. It’s a strong community of professional IT recruiters from all over the world where every member can feel support, ask questions, share concerns, and exchange experiences. 

5. Do what you love and earn money

Once you finish all the previous steps, you can finally enjoy your freelance recruitment career or just keep your job and do both to increase your income (if your employment contract allows you to do so). 

Start Your Freelance Recruiting Career with Huntly

We created Huntly with recruiters in mind. If you wish to start your freelance recruiter remote career, we’ll be happy to have you as a part of the Huntly recruitment community. All you need to do to join Huntly is undergo a simple registration process and wait for your application to be approved. Once you register successfully, leverage all the Huntly benefits including generous bonuses, the ability to work with global positions, community support, transparent working and payment processes, and more. 

Therefore, don’t hesitate to create your account, choose vacancies, refer candidates, and earn decent bonuses!