What is Talent Acquisition?

Talent acquisition, contrary to popular belief, is more nuanced than simply recruiting new employees. Although talent acquisition typically begins with general recruitment, there are more steps needed with talent acquisition. Once you have reviewed job candidates’ resumes, you screen the resumes and pick the resumes that are the most relevant and eye-catching. The next step in the talent acquisition process is actually hiring the job candidate. Talent acquisition is not recruitment because the recruitment period is just a portion of the entire talent acquisition process. Basically, recruitment is short-term and acquisition in long-term.

With recruitment, more focus is put on filling a vacant job, but with talent acquisition, finding the most talented, skilled individuals is paramount. Acquisition also requires an in-depth review of the company’s needs and operations and how the candidate might fit into the company and even more importantly, positively impact the company. There are four questions you should ask:

  1. Does the job candidate align with the company’s culture, mission, and operational strategy?
  2. Will this job candidate fit in with the overall company brand and ultimately become a positive, integral part of the employment brand?
  3. Do we have a strong employment brand already set in place for the company that will only attract the most relevant, desirable, and qualified job candidates?
  4. Do we have a strong Candidate Relationship management strategy set in place that will create an overwhelmingly positive experience for every job candidate that is screened along with impeccable communication strategies?

Basics of Talent Acquisition for Beginners

Talent acquisition is generally its own individual department within Human Resources. People who work in talent acquisition are assigned the following tasks: acquiring, reviewing, and ultimately hiring job candidates that fit the roles that need to be filled.

Talent acquisition isn’t a onetime thing or even necessarily an occasional practice. Talent acquisition is an ongoing process and people who work in the talent acquisition department must continuously find job candidates that will benefit the company and help the entire entity move forward toward its goals.

People who work in talent acquisition need a specific set of skills include excellent sourcing strategies, candidate assessment, and the ability to comply with the current hiring standards. In many cases, the talent acquisition department works closely with both human resources and public relations. Talent acquisition professionals will also find themselves assigned the tasks of creating a powerful distinct message that represents the company and using that message to attract the crème of the crop to the company.

How to Know if a Company Should Recruit or Acquire Job Candidates

Anyone that operates a niche company should most certainly use talent acquisition as their method for hiring new employees. Examples of employees that work in nice markets include law, finance, tech, and medicine. If you anticipate that your business will be growing more rapidly than normal, coming up with a solid talent acquisition strategy is in your best interest as doing this will make it easier to secure top-tier candidates and save more time in the process. If you want to be able to stay ahead of your competitors, having a strong talent acquisition strategy will help you do that.

Graduating from Basic Recruitment to Talent Acquisition

As previously stated, talent acquisition isn’t a one-time deal; it is something you will do over and over again probably quite frequently, especially if you operate a large corporation. If you take the future of your company’s success seriously, it is critical that you continue to foster new relationships and network with the most talented professionals in their field. In a way, you want to create a talent acquisition strategy that is similar to a sales or marketing campaign. You want to market to the best, most talented professionals in your industry and convince them that you company is the best one that they could work at.

Starting Your Talent Acquisition Strategy

There are three basic steps you need to take to set up a talent acquisition program:

  1. Get organized. Don’t do anything until you have a clear strategy laid out.
  2. Enhance your current employer brand.
  3. Source talent.

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