We read the career records of 817 in-house recruiters, partners, managers and heads of talent at 150 UK construction and engineering employers, the same panel as the first paper in our talent acquisition series. This fourth paper follows those careers to the two milestones that shape an in-house function: the first management role and the head of the function. It is written for heads of talent and HR directors planning how to grow and keep their teams, and for the recruiters and partners working out where their next step will come from.
Into management
344 of the 794 careers we can date include an in-house management or lead role, and the first one arrives a median 5.6 years into a recruitment career, with half the field between two and nine years. 55 got there inside three years, about half of them stepping across from HR or another function, and that fast track has gone further since: 27% of them have held a head of function title, against 13% of those who took longer.
Promotion or move
Most people step up by moving. 56% of first management roles and 57% of first head titles came with a move to a new employer. Those promoted where they already worked had been there a median 2.5 years, usually from the first role they held at the business, and promotion to head of the function takes about twice as long at 5.2 years.
To head of the function
67 of the 794 have held a head of talent, recruitment or resourcing title, or a director title over the function, a median 7.1 years into a recruitment career. Almost half came from an in-house TA manager or lead role, while 22 of the 60 we can trace went straight to the head title as their first in-house management role, from partner roles, agencies, HR and RPO providers.
Where they started
59% have worked in a recruitment agency, and moves from agency to in-house outnumber the reverse 159 to 18, after a median 3.8 years agency-side. A long agency career buys a higher starting grade: 30% of those with six years or more in agency joined in-house at lead or manager level, and most reached in-house management within about a year of joining. Only 81 of the 355 careers recorded in full began in in-house recruitment, and the largest group, 140, began outside recruitment and HR altogether. A degree is not a condition of progress: the share holding one is much the same at every level.
A market on the move
64% of the panel started their current role in or after January 2024, including 37 of the 62 heads of function we can date, and the median time in the current role is 1.8 years.
What is in the report
Thirty-five pages: the profiles and an organogram of the panel, then seven sections on reaching management, the head of the function, starting points and the agency years, promotion versus move, career trajectory, time in the role and the 150 employers behind the analysis, each closing on its key findings, followed by the full methodology. Career records are self-reported on public professional profiles and list each person's five most recent employers, so timing figures use only the careers whose recruitment start is on record. Ages are estimated from education dates and reported only in aggregate, and the analysis uses no pay data.