The Five attributes we look for in talent acquisition specialists

Exceptional, innovative, industry-leading employees won’t simply walk through your company’s front door, no matter how impressive the reception. Competition is too high at the moment to be complacent or passive when it comes to hiring talent acquisition staff. To adapt an old saying, good things come to those with… a strong talent acquisition team – and building that strong team means knowing what to look for in a candidate.

But what is talent acquisition? It’s not simply a matter of recruiting to fill existing roles – it encompasses elements of HR, business strategy, marketing and trend forecasting, and thus calls for people with several strings to their bow.

Five key attributes of talent acquisition specialists

Good judge of character

It may seem overly simple, but an essential starting point for any talent acquisition professional is a strong intuition about who is the right fit for the role in question. This goes beyond gut instinct; a top talent acquisition specialist will train this perception by being deeply immersed in the ins and outs of their company, its industry, and the wider culture.

Within this context they will need to weigh the prospect’s personality, skillset and experience against the company’s needs, the dynamic of the team already in place, and the challenges in the future. The latter point leads us onto another important trait.

Future-conscious

Time waits for no company, so staying ahead of the curve requires constant attention. The ways we do business have changed drastically even in the last 10 years, often leaving skills gaps within your workforce that must be plugged swiftly.

Your TA team should be in the vanguard looking for potential challenges and opportunities up ahead and keeping a close eye on the competition. This way they can report to business heads on the company’s blind spots, advise on recruitment drives and in-house staff training to ensure future-proofing across the whole business.

Tech-savvy

Hand-in-hand with a forward thinking mindset is technological know-how. Recruiting for roles is becoming increasingly data-driven, and while the latter stages of choosing the right candidate will always benefit from the human touch, starting with the data approach is more and more essential.

The best TA teams understand this and are well trained in the latest data software and analysis. They put in research on candidates through a variety of means that go well beyond the typical CV and interview route.

Speak the language

It’s often new technology and changing cultural norms that expose holes in a company’s operational knowledge, so it follows that those with the necessary skillset are typically in the younger demographic. It’s important then to be able to communicate with them in a way that will catch their interest and draw them in.

We’re not suggesting going all-out on memes or TikTok videos, but tweaking certain aspects of company branding and your job adverts will show your company to be a player in the here and now, facing the future. Talent Acquisition teams should work closely with marketing departments to ensure they’re talking to the right audience in the right language.

Relationship-minded

Identifying a highly promising prospect is only half the battle for talent acquisition managers; attracting and then securing them as a new hire requires a different set of relationship management skills. We’ve spoken of the importance of talent recruiters planning for and targeting business growth, but they also need to think of the other side of the table and show prospective employees the opportunity for their career growth at the company.

And that’s not all; it’s also crucial that TA teams think internally as well as externally. The best TA specialist will follow through on the promises made in the courting phase and pay close attention to the needs of these new hires (and indeed the full gamut of employee retention), devising training and development plans and wellness initiatives that both attract and retain.

Along with the wider HR department, talent acquisition perform an impressive balancing act between business needs and employee needs, something that has been at the front of everyone’s minds since the pandemic began. Having a strong TA team can thus be a key piece of the puzzle in staying ahead of the competition.

As for acquiring the acquisition, Tiger are leaders in placing talent acquisition candidates in all manner of businesses, so please get in touch today to talk to a consultant about your needs.

Author David Morel Tiger Recruitment Team