Recruiter Job Description (2026): Duties, Skills and Salary
A recruiter finds, attracts and hires people for open roles. They agree with hiring managers what each role needs, write job ads, source candidates on LinkedIn and other channels, screen applicants, coordinate interviews and manage offers through to a signed contract, giving every candidate a decent experience along the way.
In-house recruiters, often called talent acquisition, hire for their own company; agency recruiters fill roles for client companies and usually earn commission. Recruiters work in an applicant tracking system such as Greenhouse, Lever, Workday or Ashby, and are judged on time to fill, quality of hire and candidate experience.
Recruiter job description template
Copy it, replace everything in [brackets] and cut what doesn't apply. Keep the requirements to what the job really needs.
Template · replace the [brackets]
Recruiter
[Company] · [City and office days, or remote with the countries or time zones you hire in] · [Full-time]
About [Company]
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, who it serves and why this team matters now.]
About the role
We're hiring a recruiter to help [Company] hire [number] people this year across [teams]. You'll run full-cycle recruiting, partner with hiring managers, and make sure every candidate gets a respectful, well-run process.
What you'll do
- Run full-cycle recruiting for [roles], from intake to accepted offer.
- Hold intake meetings with hiring managers to agree requirements and the interview plan.
- Write and post job ads, and source candidates through LinkedIn Recruiter, referrals and communities.
- Screen candidates and present shortlists with a clear recommendation.
- Coordinate interviews and collect structured feedback.
- Manage offers and negotiations with candidates.
- Keep [Greenhouse / Lever / Workday] accurate and report on pipeline metrics.
What you'll bring
- [X]+ years of full-cycle recruiting, in-house or agency.
- Experience hiring for [technical / sales / operations] roles.
- Strong sourcing, including Boolean search.
- The ability to juggle many open roles and candidates at once.
- Warm, clear communication with candidates, and confident advice for hiring managers.
- Experience with an applicant tracking system.
Nice to have
- Experience at a fast-growing company.
- Employer branding or recruitment marketing.
- Knowledge of employment law and right-to-work checks in [countries].
- Structured interviewing and inclusive hiring practices.
What we offer
- [Pay range: e.g. $X–$Y base salary, plus bonus or equity if offered]
- [Hiring bonus scheme, learning budget, flexible hours]
- [Health cover, retirement or pension plan, paid time off, parental leave]
- [Work authorization: whether you can sponsor a visa or hire through an employer of record]
[Our process: a call with the talent lead, an exercise sourcing and writing outreach for one of our open roles, an intake role-play with a hiring manager, and a final team conversation.]
[Your equal opportunity statement, and how candidates can ask for adjustments during the process]
Put the pay range in the ad. Several US states, including California, Colorado, New York and Washington, require it in job postings, and the EU Pay Transparency Directive gives applicants the right to know the starting pay or its range before the interview.
What real recruiter job ads ask for
The skills named most often in the 463 newest recruiter job ads we analyzed (out of 2,780 live postings), as the share of ads that mention each. A skill most ads name is a fair must-have; one few ads name belongs under nice-to-have.
- 1Sourcing69%
- 2Applicant tracking systems48%
- 3Hiring manager partnership48%
- 4Interviewing45%
- 5Full-cycle recruiting25%
- 6LinkedIn Recruiter21%
- 7Onboarding19%
- 8Recruiting metrics17%
Degrees mentioned most: Bachelor's degree (29%).
From live job ads · computed November 2, 2026 · refreshed daily
Recruiter duties by seniority
What the job usually looks like at each level. Pitch the ad at one level and say which in the title.
Junior
- Schedules interviews, screens applicants and sources for a senior recruiter.
- Handles day-to-day candidate communication.
- Learns intake and offer processes.
Mid-level
- Runs full-cycle recruiting for a set of roles.
- Advises hiring managers on the market and the process.
- Owns their own pipeline numbers.
Senior
- Hires for senior, specialist or executive roles.
- Designs hiring processes and trains interviewers.
- Mentors recruiters and plans hiring with leadership.
Recruiter career path
- Recruiting Coordinator or Sourcer
- Recruiter
- Senior Recruiter
- Talent Acquisition Manager or Head of Talent
Recruiters come from recruiting coordination, agencies, sales, HR or other customer-facing work; persuasion and organization carry over well. Later paths include talent acquisition leadership, HR business partnering, employer branding, people operations, or running an agency desk.
Advertised pay for recruiter jobs
Median advertised base salary in Recruiter job ads in the United States: $130,000 (middle half: $89,300–$161,000), from 569 job ads with a published salary in the last 90 days.
This is advertised pay, not total compensation: bonuses, commission, equity and benefits aren't included, and many ads publish no pay at all.
- Recruiter salary in the United States · median $130,000, 569 ads
- Remote Recruiter salary · median $137,500, 237 ads
Similar roles
- HR Manager job description
Covers the rest of the employee lifecycle once someone is hired.
- Sales Representative job description
Uses the same outreach and persuasion skills to win customers.
- Account Manager job description
Manages client relationships, much as agency recruiters do with hiring clients.
- Operations Manager job description
Runs the teams and processes new hires join.
- Customer Success Manager job description
Builds long-term relationships, as recruiters do with hiring managers.
Recruiter job description FAQ
What does a recruiter do?
Finds and hires people for open roles: agreeing requirements with hiring managers, writing job ads, sourcing and screening candidates, coordinating interviews, and managing offers through to acceptance.
What's the difference between an in-house and an agency recruiter?
An in-house recruiter works for the company that's hiring and focuses on its roles and culture. An agency recruiter works for a recruitment firm, fills roles for several clients and is usually paid partly on commission. The skills overlap; the targets and pace differ.
What should a recruiter job description include?
The roles and volume they'll hire for, whether the job is full-cycle or sourcing only, the applicant tracking system, the stakeholders and how success is measured. Sharing the year's hiring plan helps candidates judge the workload.