An external recruiting partner collaborating like an internal partner.

About Internal external

Internal External is a technology recruiting and people solutions company. We’re highly skilled in building engineering, data, and product teams for NYC-based technology companies from Seed to Series C - and even some later-stage companies. And we’re completely obsessed with transforming the impersonal, expensive, and often ineffective recruiting process into a humanized, results-oriented, and cost-effective experience. We only recruit directly for our clients. That means, we don’t farm recruiting responsibilities out to other firms, and we don’t recruit for other recruiting firms.


What’s in a name?

Turns out, there’s a lot packed into our name. Internal External is an external recruiting partner that collaborates with companies and talent just like an internal partner would. And we’re obsessed with living up to our name.

Our Guiding Principles

At Internal External, we’re driven by five principles that guide what we do and how we do it.

  1. Break old standards that add little to no value to companies or talent.

  2. Recruit directly only to humanize the recruiting process and help preserve employer brands.

  3. Collaborate as if we were embedded with companies

  4. Keep a quality mindset reflective of the engineers we work with.

  5. Treat others with dignity and empathy, the way we want to  be treated - especially talent.

“When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.”

— Walt Disney

the talent behind the name

Claudia Colonna, founder of Internal External, believes recruiting can and should be better. With deep experience as an internal and external recruiter, she knows the technology and recruiting market, its strengths, and its opportunities.

About Claudia

Knowledge and customer-centricity were themes that emerged from Claudia’s internal recruiting experience. As a full-time recruiter for software company Perka (now Clover), Claudia learned the value of working shoulder-to-shoulder with technologists and was inspired by the company’s commitment to customer loyalty. Her internal experience with Clarifai, a leader in computer-vision, led Claudia to collaborate with leading scientists, pioneers in deep learning, and top former-Google engineers and gain a deep knowledge of engineering concepts, AI research, and top labs in the US and Canada.

External recruiting experience taught Claudia the additive value of making intelligent connections. In her collaboration with seed-to-public companies in the New York technology market, Claudia partnered with engineers and founders to design organizational structures that drove on-point job specifications and build functional, effective teams. Working with talented technologists and growth-forward technology companies, she was also able to connect dynamic companies to standout technologists who either weren't thinking about or finding unique opportunities on job boards or through their own network.

In her work with Internal External, Claudia strives to honor her reputation as a trusted, collaborative go-to resource for technologists. She’s built knowledge and teams in almost every area of product development, data, and engineering. She’s curious, creative, and passionate about constant learning - especially new engineering concepts and technologies.

The uncommon inspires Claudia: “Walt Disney and Steve Jobs inspire me to be uncommon and persist with my vision - to push through limits, adversity, and road blocks with a creative and principled mind.”

Family and heritage have remained an essential priority to Claudia as she’s built her career. And she understands family is often fundamental to considering a career change. Raised to value the importance of hard work, three personal principles guide Claudia:

  • Passion first; money follows.

  • Hang on to hope and humor.

  • Treat each person with dignity and empathy.

For Claudia, good work matters.


Get to know the talent behind Internal External.

Just contact us or schedule time for a conversation.