What Makes a Good Talent Acquisition Manager?
From giving a full view of the corporate culture to having a comprehensive skill set, here are 10 answers to the question, “What makes a good talent acquisition manager?”
- Paint the Entire Picture
- Will Define What It Takes to Succeed
- Able to Find the Talent Without the Resumes
- Takes an Empathy-Forward Approach
- Appreciates Varied Experiences Through Curiosity
- Conforms to Ethical Standards
- Can Adjust to New Trends and Changes
- Understands We Are All Human
- Proficient in People Analytics
- Possesses Both Technical and Interpersonal Skills
Paint the Entire Picture
A good talent acquisition manager paints the entire picture for candidates. For example, they give candidates a comprehensive view of not just the job and its daily functions, but of corporate culture and how the team operates as a whole. By offering this information to a prospective candidate, a talent acquisition manager is ensuring that a candidate is an ideal fit outside of their individual skills and qualifications.
John Berry
CEO and Managing Partner, Berry Law
Will Define What It Takes to Succeed
Talent acquisition managers should be able to articulate and define the role requirements for the position they are hiring for clearly and identify the qualities and skills that will enable success in this role.
They should be able to identify the key skills and experience that are needed to be successful in the role and know how to match these requirements with the candidates who are applying for the position. They should also be able to identify the best candidates for the position, regardless of experience or education.
Talent acquisition managers should be able to work with a wide range of people, from candidates to managers and team members. They should be able to build relationships with candidates and help them feel comfortable during the hiring process. They should also be able to help candidates understand expectations in the role, and how they can be successful in the company.
Matthew Ramirez
CEO, Paraphrase Tool
Able to Find the Talent Without the Resumes
There is a skill to finding the best talent in far-off places. Often, the best candidates are the ones who aren’t seeking a new job. Find them and you have to convince them they would be such a great fit at your company that they would want to leave their current job. That’s not an easy sell if the candidate has shown no signs of wanting to leave.
But the best recruiters are those who find the diamonds in the rough and convince them to come to your brand for better polishing. Anyone can sift through a pile of resumes and job applications and find the best candidates. It takes a special skill to go out and find the best candidates who aren’t handing out resumes.
Rachel Blank
Founder and CEO, Allara
Takes an Empathy-Forward Approach
Talent acquisition managers should provide an empathetic environment for candidates. For example, an empathy-forward approach helps talent acquisition managers develop deeper connections with their candidates and showcase a vital component of a healthy company culture. Empathetic exchanges can attract top talent to the organization and increase the chances of retaining them.
Patricio Paucar
Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer, Navi
Appreciates Varied Experiences Through Curiosity
Whether sourcing, attracting, interviewing, or making the case for exceptional talent to hiring managers, one of the best characteristics of a talent acquisition manager is an appreciation for a variety of experiences and an understanding of the world outside your office doorstep. We can gain understanding and appreciation through curiosity alone.
Characteristics of exceptional talent are clear when looking into hard skills, and less clear for soft skills. The beauty of a profile hides in the details and the amount you can learn in a brief space of interview time. The extent of a manager’s curiosity, and how it creates a familiarity with a wide range of roles, organizational structures, responsibilities, and especially workplace motivations, desires, and mental habits, will turn an average talent acquisition professional into a great one.
Tony Topoleski
Project Manager, ECA Partners
Conforms to Ethical Standards
The recruitment procedures of a good talent acquisition manager should conform to ethical and professional standards, and they should handle all candidates with respect and fairness. This involves preventing any form of discrimination based on a candidate’s color, gender, age, or any other personal traits, and treating all candidates with dignity and respect throughout the entire recruiting process.
Jay Soni
Marketing Director, Yorkshire Fabric Shop
Can Adjust to New Trends and Changes
Recruiting is changing, and a talented hiring manager should be able to adjust to new trends and technologies to stay ahead of the competition. This may entail developing innovative candidate engagement methods to attract top talent or using artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to streamline the recruitment process. Another possibility is to use these tools.
Hamza Usmani
Head of Content, SEO-Audits.io
Understands We Are All Human
Too often, talent acquisition managers ignore the fact that a candidate is also a person and not just a name with skills on paper. Thus, creating valuable and meaningful relationships or connections with people is something that a good talent acquisition manager should be able to do.
This includes finding a common ground during interviews or even simply treating a candidate as more than a CV. Yes—we all hate typos, or an answer to a recruitment task may not be exactly what you would like, but again, we all make mistakes and sometimes giving a potential candidate a second chance can produce a really valuable employee.
Derek Sall
Founder and Financial Expert, Life and My Finances
Proficient in People Analytics
A good talent acquisition manager is one who understands people’s analytics and can leverage this competency to optimize the company’s talent acquisition efforts. Such a professional can use data to identify the most effective recruitment channels, evaluate candidate sourcing strategies, and optimize selection processes. They also use data analysis to help identify factors that contribute to successful hires and to develop effective screening tools.
Their competency in people analytics allows them to identify gaps in the organization’s talent pool and develop strategies to address these gaps. They can use their analytical skills to identify areas of the organization that may be at risk of skills shortages or areas where they should invest in talent development.
Lilia Koss
Community Manager, Facialteam
Possesses Both Technical and Interpersonal Skills
They should have a deep understanding of the company’s business objectives, recruitment strategies, and industry trends. They must also be excellent communicators, relationship builders, and problem solvers.
Ranee Zhang
VP of Growth, Airgram
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