This one came up last night when I met someone @Mashable Social Media Day Meetup. When I mentioned I was a recruiter, she asked, “So can you get me a job?” Made me wonder if people show their teeth to someone who mentions their a dentist…lord help the proctologists!
My understanding is a buyer/seller perspective.
A headhunter, AKA ‘executive recruiter,’ is a “people” sales person, making a commission off sending qualified people for employment roles that fit a company’s need, and generally more efficient than if they had conducted the search themselves.
An internal recruiter is a company’s staff buyer. What I do is work like the company bouncer. I only let the best fits for a job come in for an interview, and send the best of those candidates on to interviews with hiring managers. This way the hiring managers only need to meet approx. 3 people to find a perfect fit for their role, and do not have their time wasted.