Talent Acquisition

What is talent acquisition?

Talent acquisition is the umbrella term for the HR functions necessary to source, attract, process, screen, qualify, and hire talent. They include:

• Developing a hiring plan
• Creating a job requisition process
• Writing job descriptions
• Posting jobs to job boards, careers pages, and social media accounts
• Tracking hiring metrics
• Receiving and tracking applications and resumes
• Creating screening questionnaires, candidate scorecards and interview scripts
• Scheduling and conducting interviews
• Performing background and reference checks
• Writing offer letters
• Negotiating employment contracts
• Creating employee referral programs
• Sourcing and nurturing passive candidates

Who manages talent acquisition?

Depending on the size of the company, multiple job roles might include talent acquisition tasks. In a small business, the owner might handle all all talent acquisition. In larger organizations, a Human Resources director or hiring manager would perform talent acquisition. Enterprise-level companies may have a talent acquisition team that includes many talent acquisition specialists. Companies also outsource talent acquisition to staffing agencies or professional recruiters (sometimes called headhunters).

How does a talent acquisition specialist fill an open job?

Here is the general process a talent acquisition specialist or hiring manager would follow:

• Submit a job requisition to the necessary members of leadership and obtain approval
  • Perform a job analysis to determine the requirements for a new or open position
  • Decide how the new position will be filled: with an outside candidate or through internal placement
  • Write a job description based on the position analysis
  • Create the application including any screening questionnaires included in the application process
• Post the job to job boards, social media sites, careers pages or other job advertising venues
• • Seek referrals from current employees
  • Review applications and resumes
  • Isolate a group of top candidates from the overall applicant pool

• Manage the interview and evaluation process:
  • Determine which candidates from the initial pool will advance to a phone interview
    • Of those candidates, choose which candidates to invite for in-person or video interviews
    • Schedule interviews
    • Conduct interviews
    • Gather feedback from the hiring team
• Make the final hiring decision
  • Obtain approval from the executive team (or other necessary stakeholders)
  • Conduct background and reference checks
• Extend an offer letter
  • Negotiate the employment contract

See also

• Recruiting
• Hiring Processes
• Applicant Tracking System
• Job Board
• Video Interview Software

Additional resources

• Talent Acquisition: A Guide to Understanding and Managing the Recruitment Process, SHRM
• How to Hire Your Next Employee; The Ultimate Guide
• How to Find Employees: 4 Talent Acquisition Techniques to Embrace