Lateral hiring is the process of recruiting a professional into a position with a similar level of seniority, responsibility, and expertise as their current or previous job. Employers typically recruit lateral hires from other companies to fill positions that require existing experience, industry knowledge, or specialized skills.
A lateral hire moves into a comparable career-level position rather than receiving a promotion or starting in a substantially more junior role. The new job may offer higher compensation, different responsibilities, or a different title while maintaining a similar level of organizational responsibility.
Lateral hiring is also called lateral recruitment.
A lateral hire is the employee recruited through this process, while lateral recruiting refers to the activities employers use to identify, assess, and hire these candidates.
Examples of Lateral Hiring
A lateral hire joins a new position at approximately the same professional level. The move may involve a different employer, industry, department, or geographical location.
Consider these three examples:
Example 1: Marketing Manager
A marketing manager at a software company accepts a marketing manager position at an e-commerce business. Both positions involve managing campaigns, coordinating specialists, and reporting on marketing performance.
The employee changes companies and industries while maintaining similar responsibilities.
Example 2: Senior Software Engineer
A senior software engineer leaves a financial technology company to join a healthcare software company as a senior engineer. The new position requires comparable technical experience, project ownership, and engineering responsibility. The move qualifies as lateral hiring even though the employee must learn a different industry.
Example 3: Finance Director
A finance director joins another organization as a finance director with similar decision-making authority and team responsibilities. The employee remains at the same seniority level, even if the new company provides a higher salary or manages a larger budget.
These examples illustrate an important distinction: lateral hiring depends on the level of the position, not an identical job title or salary. A professional can move laterally at an individual contributor, management, director, or executive level.
Lateral Hiring vs. Other Types of Hiring
Lateral hiring differs from internal transfers, promotions, and campus recruitment based on the employee’s prior experience, source of recruitment, and movement within the organizational hierarchy.
| Hiring method | How it works | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Lateral hiring | Recruits an experienced professional into a comparable-level role, usually from another organization | A sales manager joins another company as a sales manager |
| Internal lateral transfer | Moves an existing employee into a comparable-level role within the same organization | An account manager transfers to another business unit |
| Vertical movement or promotion | Moves an employee into a position with greater seniority or responsibility | A marketing specialist becomes a marketing manager |
| Campus hiring | Recruits students or recent graduates, generally into entry-level positions | A company hires a recent graduate as a junior analyst |
Lateral Hiring vs. Internal Hiring
Lateral hiring usually involves recruiting talent from outside the organization. Internal hiring fills positions using existing employees through promotions, transfers, or other internal opportunities.
An internal lateral transfer follows the same sideways career movement, but the employee remains with the same employer. Some HR teams group these transfers under lateral hiring, although external lateral recruitment and internal mobility are distinct staffing activities.
Lateral Hiring vs. Vertical Hiring
Lateral hiring places a professional into a comparable-level position. Vertical hiring or promotion moves an employee into a role with greater authority, a higher organizational level, or expanded responsibilities.
A sales director who joins another company as a sales director makes a lateral move. A sales manager who becomes a sales director makes a vertical move if the new position represents a meaningful increase in seniority.
Lateral Hiring vs. Campus Hiring
Lateral recruitment evaluates candidates who already have relevant professional experience. Campus recruitment focuses on students and recent graduates who generally require more foundational training and work experience.
Both approaches serve different workforce needs. Employers can use campus hiring to develop early-career talent while recruiting experienced professionals for roles that require established competencies.
Why Do Companies Use Lateral Hiring?
Companies use lateral hiring to acquire experience and capabilities that a position requires from the beginning. The strategy can support several objectives within a broader talent acquisition plan.
Fill Specialized Skills Gaps
Organizations recruit laterally when existing employees lack specific technical, operational, or industry experience.
For example, a marketing agency expanding into paid media may recruit an experienced advertising specialist who has already managed campaign budgets, advertising platforms, and performance reporting.
The company gains access to demonstrated capabilities while avoiding the need to develop every technical skill internally.
Reduce Role-Specific Training
Lateral hires already understand many responsibilities associated with their profession. An experienced accountant, for instance, may already know financial reconciliation, reporting procedures, and common accounting systems.
That experience can reduce the need for foundational instruction. However, lateral hires still require training on their new employer’s procedures, software, customers, and internal expectations.
Bring Experience From Other Organizations
Professionals develop different methods and perspectives through their previous employers.
A customer success manager who has worked with several account management systems may introduce useful approaches to customer segmentation, renewal processes, or escalation management.
The value comes from applying relevant experience to the new organization’s actual requirements.
Expand the Candidate Pool
Lateral recruitment allows employers to consider qualified professionals outside their existing workforce, including individuals who may already be employed elsewhere.
Companies can source candidates through professional networks, industry associations, referrals, specialist recruiters, and direct outreach.
For specialized marketing positions, the recruitment criteria may include experience with particular channels, technologies, budgets, and business models. A marketing recruitment strategy can organize sourcing and evaluation around those requirements.
What Is the Lateral Hiring Process?
The lateral hiring process involves defining the role, finding experienced candidates, verifying their capabilities, negotiating employment terms, and integrating the selected professional into the organization.
1. Define the Role and Required Experience
The hiring manager identifies the responsibilities, competencies, decision-making authority, and expected outcomes of the position.
A job analysis establishes the connection between job responsibilities and the skills required to perform them.
For example, an employer recruiting a senior digital marketing specialist might require experience in paid advertising, campaign attribution, reporting platforms, and budget management.
The employer should identify which competencies candidates must already possess and which skills can reasonably be developed after hiring.
2. Source Experienced Candidates
Recruiters identify professionals working in comparable positions through industry networks, professional platforms, referrals, and specialized recruitment channels.
Candidate sourcing should account for demonstrated responsibilities rather than relying entirely on job titles.
An employer searching for an operations manager might consider professionals with different titles who have managed comparable teams, workflows, and operational decisions.
Recruiters should also explain the opportunity clearly. Experienced professionals may evaluate changes in compensation, management structure, career development, flexibility, and working conditions before considering a move.
3. Evaluate Relevant Skills and Experience
Hiring teams assess candidates using evidence of past performance, work samples, references where appropriate, and job-related interviews.
A structured interview allows employers to evaluate applicants against consistent competencies, questions, and scoring criteria.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s definition of structured interviews also emphasizes standardized questions and ratings based on job-related competencies.
For a senior account manager, interview questions might examine account retention, client escalations, revenue responsibility, and communication with internal teams.
Employers should select assessments that reflect the actual job. The EEOC’s guidance on employment tests and selection procedures explains the importance of job-related assessment methods and compliance with applicable employment discrimination laws.
4. Align Compensation and Career Expectations
Employers evaluate compensation expectations, existing experience, position requirements, and internal pay structures before making an offer.
Experienced candidates may expect a salary increase, additional flexibility, or stronger professional development opportunities to justify leaving their current employer.
Salary benchmarking helps companies assess compensation against comparable positions and relevant labor markets.
The employer should also explain how the position supports future advancement. An employee can accept a lateral move for better working conditions, new industry experience, or long-term development without receiving an immediate promotion.
5. Complete the Hiring Decision and Offer
The hiring manager compares candidates against the established requirements and selects the professional whose demonstrated competencies align with the position.
The offer should clearly establish the job title, responsibilities, reporting structure, compensation, benefits, location or remote-work requirements, and proposed start date.
Recruiters should also account for notice periods, competing offers, and any relevant contractual obligations before confirming the transition.
6. Onboard the Lateral Hire
The hiring manager introduces the new employee to the organization’s people, systems, workflows, performance expectations, and operating procedures.
An experienced professional may understand the work but still need time to learn how the new organization performs it.
A structured employee onboarding process helps establish responsibilities, working relationships, and measurable expectations during the transition.
Advantages and Challenges of Lateral Hiring
Lateral recruitment offers practical benefits, but employers must assess those benefits against compensation requirements, adaptation needs, and existing employee opportunities.
| Potential advantage | Associated challenge |
|---|---|
| Existing professional experience may reduce foundational training | Previous methods may differ from the new employer’s procedures |
| Specialized skills can address an immediate capability gap | Experienced candidates may have higher compensation expectations |
| External professionals can introduce new ideas and practices | Their experience may not transfer directly to a different business environment |
| Employers can access talent outside their existing workforce | External recruitment can affect internal employees who expected advancement opportunities |
| Relevant experience can support earlier independent work | Productivity still depends on access, onboarding, management, and role clarity |
The strongest lateral hiring decisions balance immediate capability requirements with compensation, team integration, and long-term development.
For example, a company may hire an experienced customer support manager to establish a new department. The candidate brings experience in ticketing systems, escalations, and workforce planning, but still needs to understand the employer’s customers, service standards, and internal processes.
Experienced candidates should therefore receive the same careful evaluation and organizational support as other new employees.
How Should Companies Onboard Lateral Hires?
Lateral hire onboarding should focus on transferring existing professional capabilities into the new organization’s operating environment.
A practical onboarding plan includes three stages:
Before the start date: Confirm employment arrangements, provide access instructions, prepare equipment, and communicate the initial responsibilities and reporting structure.
During the first month: Introduce stakeholders, explain business priorities, provide system access, and establish the first deliverables. The manager should identify where the employee’s previous experience applies and where new procedures require training.
During the following months: Review work quality, collaboration, independent decision-making, and progress against agreed objectives. Address knowledge gaps and clarify development opportunities.
Employers can evaluate onboarding through factors such as time to productivity, early performance against role requirements, and employee retention. The relevant measures should reflect the responsibilities of the position rather than assuming that every lateral hire becomes productive within the same period.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lateral Hiring
What does lateral hire mean?
A lateral hire is a professional who joins a position at approximately the same career level as their previous role. The employee typically changes employers while maintaining comparable responsibility and seniority. The new position may involve different duties, compensation, or industry requirements.
What is a lateral joiner or lateral joinee?
A lateral joiner, sometimes called a lateral joinee, is a new employee who enters an organization with relevant professional experience at a level comparable to their previous position. The terms commonly refer to experienced recruits rather than students or first-time employees.
Does lateral hiring involve a salary increase?
Lateral hiring can involve a salary increase, but higher compensation is not a requirement. A professional may accept a comparable-level position with better pay, benefits, flexibility, or working conditions. The defining characteristic is the similarity in career level and responsibility.
Is lateral hiring limited to senior positions?
Lateral hiring can occur at several experience levels, including specialist, management, director, and executive positions. An experienced individual contributor can make a lateral move just as a senior executive can. The employee’s level before and after the move determines whether the transition is lateral.
Can lateral hiring work for remote positions?
Lateral hiring can apply to remote, hybrid, and on-site positions. A remote employer can recruit an experienced professional into a comparable-level role if the candidate meets the required competencies and responsibilities. For U.S. businesses considering international candidates, nearshore staffing can extend the search to experienced professionals in Latin America while supporting workday overlap with U.S. teams.