What is RPO ?
Three letters you hear more and more often when it comes to hiring, and which mean something completely different in IT and broadcasting. Here we explain in plain language what Recruitment Process Outsourcing is, what it covers, which forms exist, what it costs and when it becomes interesting.
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What is RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing)?
In recruitment, RPO stands for Recruitment Process Outsourcing (not to be confused with the IT term Recovery Point Objective): you place your hiring process with one external partner on a structural basis. That partner runs the full funnel, from employer branding and campaigns to sourcing, screening and follow-up, under your name. You pay for the process, not per placement.
This is what that process looks likeWhat does RPO include?
In an RPO partnership, your partner takes the entire recruitment process off your hands, or an agreed part of it. Think of sharpening your story as an employer, creating content, running campaigns, personally approaching latent talent, screening candidates and following up right through to the interview. At SocialFind, all of that happens under your own name: candidates get to know you, not us.
The big difference with standalone services: one team looks at the whole. If a campaign delivers lots of applicants but few hires, you see it in the numbers and the approach gets adjusted. Nobody points at another agency.
How does RPO differ from an agency?
A recruitment and selection agency delivers you a candidate and sends an invoice per placement. Fine for a single vacancy, but you build nothing with it: the knowledge, the candidates and the network stay with the agency. With RPO you work with a fixed team that gets to know your organization, and every campaign makes your employer brand stronger. The full comparison, including when an agency actually makes more sense, is at RPO or recruitment and selection.
Who is RPO meant for?
RPO is built for organizations that structurally need people: multiple vacancies per year, recurring inflow or hard-to-fill roles. If you have one common vacancy without time pressure, outsourcing recruitment in a lighter form is often more logical. Not sure? On who is RPO for we lay it out honestly.
Who does what in an RPO partnership?
RPO is a partnership, not a takeover. Your team remains the owner of culture and decisions, the RPO partner provides the recruitment engine around it.
Your team
- Organisational knowledge, culture and hiring managers
- Interviews and the final selection decision
- Terms of employment and the offer
- Internal processes and stakeholders
The RPO partner
- Labour market strategy and target group analysis
- Employer branding, content and campaigns
- Sourcing and personal candidate outreach
- Application funnels, screening and fast follow-up
- Data, reporting and continuous optimisation
This is what an RPO partnership includes
Which components we deploy differs per vacancy. This is the toolbox.
- Employer story and content
- We sharpen why someone would want to work for you and create the videos and content that tell that story, on your own work floor.
- Campaigns and visibility
- Vacancy campaigns on the channels where your audience really is, from Meta and TikTok to LinkedIn.
- Sourcing and personal outreach
- Latent talent that doesn't respond to vacancies, we approach in a targeted, personal way.
- Application funnels
- Short, mobile funnels that let candidates respond in a few minutes, without resume hassle.
- Screening and follow-up
- Fast phone follow-up and substantive screening, so you only speak to relevant candidates.
- Data and adjustment
- Every step is measured. What doesn't work goes, what works gets more room.
THE VARIANTS
Which forms of RPO are there?
RPO is not a standard package. These are the four forms you come across in practice, and how they differ.
| Full RPO | Project-based RPO | RPO alongside internal team | Recruitment marketing only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What is taken over | The complete process, from strategy to hire | The process for one defined need, such as a new site or a peak | An agreed part: reach, sourcing, funnels and follow-up alongside your own recruiters | Only visibility and applicants; screening and follow-up stay with you |
| Duration | Ongoing | Defined, with an end date | Ongoing | Per campaign or per month |
| Payment model | Fixed monthly fee | Fixed fee for the project period | Fixed monthly fee | Monthly budget plus media budget |
| Who steers towards hires | The RPO partner, together with your hiring managers | The RPO partner, for the duration of the project | Shared: your team selects, the partner fills the funnel | You; the agency steers towards applicants, not hires |
| Best suited to | Structural intake and several types of roles | One-off large hiring need with a deadline | Strong internal team that lacks reach or speed | Well-running internal process, too little visibility |
| At SocialFind | Yes, this is the standard partnership | By arrangement, for example for volume recruitment | Yes, one of the most common forms | Only as part of the recruitment mix, not as a standalone product |
All forms of outsourcing, including those outside RPO, are shown side by side on the page Outsourcing recruitment.
AT A GLANCE
RPO next to the familiar alternatives
An honest overview: every model has situations where it's the best choice.
| Recruitment and selection | Interim recruiter | RPO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | One candidate per assignment | Extra capacity for your own process | A complete recruitment process |
| Payment model | Fee per placement | Hourly or monthly rate | Fixed monthly rate |
| Employer branding | Not included | Only if you arrange it yourself | Core component |
| Who candidates get to know | The agency | Your organization | Your organization |
| What you build | Little, knowledge stays with the agency | Knowledge leaves with the person | Brand, talent pool and data remain yours |
| Best suited for | One single, common vacancy | A temporary capacity gap | A structural staffing need |
You'll find the detailed comparisons per model under Compare, including the situations where you don't need us.
What does RPO cost?
The price of RPO depends on the size of your hiring need: how many vacancies, which types of roles, how scarce the target group is and how much media budget is needed to reach them. Most RPO partners work with a fixed monthly fee, sometimes supplemented with a fee per hire. At SocialFind you pay no placement fees: the START package costs EUR 6,500 per month, including a EUR 1,000 media budget. For larger scopes we prepare a tailored quote. How that price compares to your current recruitment costs is calculated in the business case for RPO; the packages are on our pricing page.
When is RPO interesting, and when not?
RPO pays off as soon as you structurally need people: several vacancies a year, recurring intake or roles that have been open for months. Then, for a fixed fee, you pay for a system that builds knowledge, data and an employer brand that stay yours. If you have one common vacancy without time pressure, a lighter form of outsourcing recruitment is often more logical, and we will say so. The honest checklist is on who is RPO for. How the partnership works with us is explained on the RPO page and at our way of working.
Further reading on RPO
Curious whether RPO fits your vacancies ?
Tell us who you need. We determine how to find, convince and hire them.
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