Full-Cycle Recruiting

Full-cycle recruiting (also called end-to-end recruiting or 360 recruiting) means a single recruiter owns every stage of the hiring process for a given role. This contrasts with specialized models where different people handle sourcing, screening, and closing.

The Six Stages

1. Requisition and intake: Understanding the role, team, and hiring criteria with the hiring manager.
2. Sourcing: Finding candidates through job postings, databases, referrals, and direct outreach.
3. Screening: Evaluating applications and conducting initial phone screens.
4. Interviewing: Coordinating and conducting interviews, collecting feedback.
5. Offer and negotiation: Extending offers and managing the negotiation process.
6. Onboarding: Ensuring a smooth transition from candidate to employee.

When Full-Cycle Works Best

Full-cycle recruiting is ideal for small to mid-size teams where each recruiter handles 5-15 open roles. The single-owner model ensures consistency and accountability. For high-volume hiring or highly specialized roles, a split model (with dedicated sourcers) may be more efficient.

AI and Full-Cycle Recruiting

AI tools are most impactful for stages 2 and 3 — sourcing and screening — which consume the most time in a full-cycle recruiter's workflow. By automating these stages, AI frees full-cycle recruiters to focus on the relationship-intensive stages: interviewing, selling the opportunity, and closing offers.