Nowadays the role of acquiring talent in a company has transitioned from strategies your company could implement, to a management or specialist role that takes on a great importance in many organizations. Even though, you can actually read more about talent acquisition strategies on the Jason Hanold Blog, this post will focus on those who want to know how to land a talent acquisition specialist in a company. This profile has become more and more sought out, in the hopes to make sure that the organization has the absolute best people out there that fit to its climate and culture. The role is within the realm of HR professionals, but they have taken it upon themselves to develop their recruitment strategies to fill vacant positions within a company. Thus, the initial requirement is to hold the qualifications and experience in the HR field. To take on this role there are many characteristics you should ensure to be successful.
First things first, you’ll need to realize what options you have out there and the kinds of roles you could potentially fill. Most talent acquisition specialists are hired by recruitment agencies that in turn consult as in-house specialists that collaborate with the Human Resources. This kind of role is usually outsourced, independent of it’s a small or large company, to entail a lot of different tasks, which will be explored a bit further, but overall they are the ones in charge of reviewing job applications and doing the complete hiring process including the interviews and pre-screening process. In most cases, to be able to do this successfully, companies prefer talent specialists that have has previous experience in management or supervisor HR roles, and qualifications demonstrating their expertise in talent acquisition.
You have to also begin to understand the differences between recruiters and talent acquisitions managers, so as to make sure you hone in on the skills required to develop and perform successfully. Initially, where a recruiter’s main concern is to simply fill a vacancy, a talent acquisition’s task will be to set up a series of strategies that will not only fill the vacancy, but also determine budgets for the process and other decisions like how to advertise the job vacancies. This brings up another requirement, which is being able to handle budgets, as well as, when working as consultants, knowing how to petition the requisitions needed. The level of difficulty will vary depending on the job position that needs to be filled. The experience that the talent acquisition specialist has will pay off when facing the tough challenge of filling a C-level vacancy. Unlike filling entry-level jobs, that could be easier to fill simply by matching the profile with a set of skills that have the credentials and necessary experience, a c-level position will require a lot more. These c-level roles are the ones that really need a talent acquisition manager, since they are the ones that need to be specialists in specific fields, have an extensive background in similar companies or at least companies that could potentially transfer knowledge. When this is the case, as a talent acquisition specialist you’ll need to most likely have experience in that particular field, so as to be able to identify a good profile for the job. This is a job that not everyone has the skills and experience to do, so it’s important that if you’re interested in following this career path, you start preparing yourself in advanced. Another big requirement to be successful in this field is to be proficient in a foreign language, since sometimes you’ll need to call abroad when getting references.
Courtesy of Tony Streeter at flickr.com
In general, it’s also indispensable to comprehend some of the tasks and responsibilities a talent acquisition specialist has. Being able to work with HR teams and professionals will be one of the main skills required. As an outsourced member of the HR team, you’ll of course need to assist in the hiring process, although their main objective will be creating a recruitment strategy including where to look for possible candidates and enrich a pool of candidates. Within the strategies to continue getting more possible future candidates, talent acquisition specialists need to determine future talent needs in the company. Many spend quite a bit of time designing these plans of action, and at the end of the day the success in finding the right talent does require a team of people who are able to provide assistance throughout the process. Finally, you’ll also need to a digital citizen who hits the floor running. As talent acquisition specialist, it will be an advantage to be able to use social media, ensure your ads are on the right job boards, and be skillful at using CRM software that make life easier.