“Real-world” interviews are quite different, and for myself, I was able to use this lengthier process to learn about the industry.  Google was also very helpful to understand the industry’s expectations from candidates.  Some nights, I would be lost on the world wide web and end up watching some of the best scenes from the infamous 2000’s hit Boiler Room.  This definitely skewed my perception of the industry early on.  I was imagining early retirement by 30, with a couple of Ferraris parked out front on my mansion’s driveway.

In school, I always enjoyed Marketing so when I was presented with the opportunity to recruit within Ambition’s Sales and Marketing team I was glad to accept the offer.  It definitely helped that I liked my future teammates and bosses and the firm had a respectable reputation in the industry.

I am now nearing my 1-year anniversary with Ambition.  No Ferraris (or any car for that matter) and I am probably not on the fast track to 30 and retired.  But I have learned a lot.  Here are 6 reasons why I believe recruitment is a great first job.

 1. You think like a boss.

Recruitment gives you a lot of autonomy, which is followed by accountability.  Ambition is a specialist firm and as such, we all focus our recruitment efforts on a specific function and industry.  You start thinking about your desk as a small business, a profit centre.  What are the projections for the quarter?  How will my performance affect the overall business objectives?  The results are tangible and impact is immediate.

2. You learn about the world.

I am not sure if there is another job out there where you meet as many people as you do in recruitment.  As the age-old cliché goes, every person is unique – you meet the successful, the not as successful, the driven, and the unsure.  The job allows you keep up with the skill demands of the global market.  You understand what typical career paths are and learn about the rewards and risks of taking the path less travelled.  At the end of the day, you become more self-aware.

3. You learn to listen.

In recruitment we work with our clients to find them an ideal candidate whilst simultaneously working with our network of candidates to find them their next job.  It can be a long process and it can be hard to stay on the same page with everyone.  Successful recruiters listen to needs, wants, goals, challenges before offering a solution.  They ask questions to understand the situation, take out their self-interest from the equation, and build trust with others.

4. You can pitch an idea.

Sales is everywhere, all the time.  Convincing your boss for that day off, or selling your partner on a movie, or even worse, a restaurant!  Most sales roles teach you how to sell yourself and your business, but recruitment provides a great platform to work with a very unique product – a human being.  As I said, each person is different so it requires you to stay innovative with your pitch being mindful that not everyone is motivated by the same things and different company cultures will appeal to different types of people.

5. You prioritize like a pro.

Recruitment is a fast-paced job and when starting off you can guarantee longer hours just to fit everything into your schedule.  As you gain more experience, you learn the importance of qualifying your actions.  Is it worth my time, money, blood, sweat, tears?  Prioritization is the key to being successful – how can I ensure that my actions are multiplying my efforts and that they are always contributing to my end goal.

6. You respect the hustle.

I am surrounded by some of the region’s most reputable recruiters as well as recognized mentors.  Their work ethic is a clear sign that this is an industry where you get back what you put in.  Success breeds expectations so this job helps you to remain calm amidst the wins and losses.  You can’t knock the hustle, and most definitely cannot leave anything in the job to luck.

In recruitment, every day is different and, as a result, so is the learning.  You can take what has and has not worked from today, and improve on it tomorrow.  The learnings mentioned above are important to me because not only will they allow me to be successful as a professional, irrespective of career, but I am confident that they will hold merit in my personal life as well.

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Shaurya Saxena is Consultant at leading boutique recruitment company Ambition Asia in Singapore. You can see his Linkedin profile here.

Dear Millenial/Generation Z/brand new recruiter,

I write this letter to you by way of imparting my experiences after spending almost 18 years (to date) in the recruitment sector. I do so because I don’t want you to be “oversold” on what the job entails, nor be surprised by some of the challenges you WILL face.

It’s funny because by writing this letter, you may assume I have all the answers. I don’t. I am still learning daily. Surprised? Don’t be as that is your 1st lesson.

People

This job is all about people. And people are intangible in every respect- we “feel” our way into a new role; it is not an exact science. And even with every will in the world, episodes may occur which create an unpredictable sequence of events that we can do nothing about and this may result in people changing their minds!

You cannot force, coerce, manipulate or lie to another person to get them to do something they don’t want to do; The sooner you learn this the better. Empower people – your role is to facilitate a process, yet allow them to make an informed decision- it takes a braver recruiter to do this – trust me.

Integrity

The most overused, least understood “value” you will see banded about in recruitment; do the right thing even when no-one is looking

Don’t lie. Be candid. Call people back even if it won’t result in a fee- your customer IS King…. See the long term view. You may not place someone now but they may be your next best customer in the future. Be kind to people at all times and they will remember you.

Remain objective during each and every process. Take your own potential gain out of the equation as apart from anything else, people can smell your desperation to make a fee- let the two parties make their own decision. you are less likely to have credits (fees falling out) if you remain impartial and will earn so much respect from your customers.

Technology

The technology that is available to assist recruiters now is ever changing and to be honest can be a double edged sword. Use it wisely. Social media channels are fantastic but if you are not “human” in your approach when representing someones career or filling an important role, the best database in the world is not worth anything. So use it carefully.

Tenacity

I always say that recruitment is the most rewarding job in the world. And after 18 yrs of doing it, I work smart as oppose to long hours (esp as I am a working mum too). But don’t underestimate how much effort you need to put in. I don’t mean VOLUME of sales calls. I mean think creatively, come up with solutions. Speak to people. Meet people. Go to events. Make yourself available. Recruitment is a meritocracy. And sometimes it will reward you financially. Don’t assume the technology will make you a good recruiter. It won’t. Don’t hide behind it. Don’t be complacent with it. Humans want to deal with humans and always will – no matter how advanced technology and data becomes- people buy from people. 

Customer

Who is most important- the candidate or the client? If you can answer this with “they are equally my CUSTOMER”, you will be massively successful. Be proactive for your candidate – if you get it right for their motivators and skills, you are ensuring then your client’s needs are fulfilled at the same time. But the candidate may become a client so please show respect to every single person who approaches you for a job. You never know where your paths may cross again!

Rewards

You have to remember that an economy of scale works in recruitment as it does in any sector. The more revenue you generate, the greater the profit you create for your company, the more you (should) be rewarded in your pay packet.

Be commercial in how you behave- don’t demand a high basic if you can’t generate a surplus ROI for your employer. But equally, be vocal in how you want to be rewarded- contribute to discussions in your appraisal if you think there is a fairer way to do things.

Culture fit

You will probably be working with people who have more experience than you and are older/wiser than you are- for now. Take heed of their advice – use it well. However, you can contribute with your skills and be symbiotic in this approach- chances are, your demographic will make me assume you are very agile with social media so suggest you become a champion of this internally to those who are maybe less understanding of how to use it. Be the one who arranges team nights out for example. Use your youth to the advantage of the whole business.

Highs and lows

Recruitment is a true roller coaster- when things are going well, you feel invincible- creating career opportunities for people, hitting your sales targets, earning commission.

The lows are horrendous though- out of your control? Devastating. Within your control= Learn from it, be pragmatic, move on. Talk about it – use the testimony for others. But don’t dwell on it. Walk away briefly but always come back with a pragmatic approach from what you have learned.

Don’t chase fees – yes this is a “sales” job and I expect most recruitment companies hiring “You” – the millenial/generation Z/newbie will focus your early days on the core basics of recruitment which is generating vacancies and finding candidates. This will afford you success – of course it will- but if you want a recruitment career that will endure, that will take you to the higher echelons (than the average billings recorded in 2015 by the REC of £97k (which would probably earn you around £32k total earnings)), then you should focus on RESULTS. Not a contradiction, think in terms of  ratios- If I want to earn £X I need to place X number of people so I need to meet X number of clients/candidates. How do I do this latter part? That is what your focus should be.

Please don’t be ashamed to say you are motivated by getting the right person into their right job. Be proud if you are driven by “helping people” get a career! If you have this underlying goal as your key driver, you will succeed over a longer period of time in recruitment and this will create a cascade affect in your customer peer group and subsequently have a huge impact on increasing your overall earnings long term.

Above all, leave the arrogance at the door – ask questions, LISTEN to your trainer/manager/experienced people around you, own up to mistakes- be candid with your customer, always keep learning and above all else, be PROUD to be a RECRUITER. Be discerning. Be loyal. And remember to always BE KIND.

Thank you for reading this far and I wish you all the best.

Yours,

Lysha Holmes

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Lysha Holmes is the Owner and Managing Director of Qui Recruitment in the UK. Her company provides a discreet and proactive service to the Recruitment to recruitment sector across the Northwest. You can see her Linkedin profile here.

The day is 2nd of June, 2015. It’s around 11:00 and I’ve been at InfoSec Europe for about 20 minutes investigating a few stands from companies I’ve never heard of to learn about what they do.

“…so our software not only allows you to encrypt all…oh, you’re a recruiter.”

My job title ‘Search Executive’ hangs printed on the card on the end of the lanyard around my neck. I know it’s pretentious, but it stands out a little from ‘Recruitment Consultant’, is preferable to ‘Headhunter’ and at least, in pretentiousness, falls short of ‘Employment Broker’. I also flat out refuse to call myself an Information Security Consultant – because I’m not one.

“Yeah, we’re not hiring at the moment” says the girl who, moments ago, was enthusiastically regaling me with the details of her companys’ latest product. She flashes a fake smile and starts to turn away.

“Oh, that’s fine” I say, “I’m just curious as to what you guys do.”

“Well here’s a leaflet” she replies, disinterested, handing me a glossy A5 brochure. I thank her and move on.

I’m not surprised or offended by this reaction. It’s pretty rude, sure, but then she’s in sales and I’m clearly not a potential buyer. Besides, something similar happened a couple of stands back. And at 44CON CS a month ago. And at DC4420, and at SC Congress and I’m pretty sure it will probably happen at Bsides tomorrow. And often it’s not just salespeople.

So why, especially in security, do recruiters receive such derision? Well, I think we all know the answer there, I mean where to start? Is it the reputation for the wide-boy, wheeler dealer attitude to finding people work? The level of greed and utter selfishness among some recruiters that would make Patrick Bateman blanche? Or is it the age old dilemma of recruiters not understanding, or even trying to understand, the community and industry they recruit for? All of these, and more.

I spoke to a security recruiter recently who had about 5 years experience (and had had middling success) who didn’t know what Tor or IRC are. I’ve met many others who struggle with the difference between blackbox and whitebox pentesting, between blue team and red team, who have never heard of Blue Coat or Red Hat and even one who believed that all code was written in green. Oh alright, that last bit was just to fit in with the colour matching I was doing there but the point still stands. I should add here that I have met some who are very savvy, but they are the few amongst the many. The exploit developers amongst the script kiddies.

Would I trust someone with my career who just matched a few keywords on a CV with a job specification his client had given him? Nope! I compare it to learning a language (spoken or programming) for the first time. Maybe you learn five or so sentences/commands in that language which have five set outcomes that you understand, but the moment you sway vaguely from the path you’re completely lost. Many of us have had this trying out our rudimentary French/Spanish/Italian/C/Python/Java on a <insert relevant origin/job title here> who then baffles us with their response. Trying to blag it is going to result in you looking foolish, and besides, nothing new will be learnt.

Some of this can’t be taught. I believe that to be a fully effective recruiter in any industry you should have a genuine interest its’ community and culture. This is why I chose security recruitment (and left behind pharmaceutical statistics). If, as a recruiter, you’re not interested in people for their own sake and you just treat them as numbers on a board, then you cannot be surprised if you find yourself as popular as a pork chop at a bar mitzvah, especially in infosec. To those who genuinely do want to learn – it does take time, and there’s nothing to stop you doing the job while you do. I for one don’t know nearly as much as I would like to about security, but I try to learn something new from everyone I speak to and am constantly updating my knowledge in one way or another.

This having been said I’ve never worked in a recruitment firm that I felt treated the community in the way that it should (hence why I set up on my own) and rarely meet other recruiters who agree with me. The previous company I worked for convinced me to join by saying they had set up in security because they were genuinely interested in it but later told me that it had been a toss up between infosec and digital marketing and decided that infosec would make them more money quicker. Great.

Will our reputation be fixed? I doubt it, for a while at least. With infosec becoming a growing market the sharks have smelled blood and more and more “hybrid firms” are setting up security desks and putting twenty-year-old ex estate agents on them. I’m sure many of you will have your horror stories of working with most of the “infosec only” recruitment firms as well. As those of you who follow me online will have heard me say a million times; It’s 95% of the industry that gives the rest of us a bad name.

You may well find that every recruiter agrees with that last statement. It’s for you to decide who’s in that 5%.

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Marcelo Mansur is the Founder & CEO at RedBlue Security. He has spoken at DEF CON 24, HackMiami ’16, Bsides Manchester ’15, DC4420 and Austin Hackers Association. He has a love for all things hacker related. You can see his Linkedin profile here.

On-demand staffing platforms

Jobandtalent, Coople and JobToday focus predominantly on temporary and shift jobs in hospitality, logistics and retail in specific locations. All three see themselves as a ‘mobile first’ offering and follow the same charging model, yet at a lower value, as recruitment agencies. But instead of people, it is technology that matches people with jobs and worker and employer communicate directly via the platform.

At Coople, employers can rate workers and vice versa. “It is a self-cleansing system, where good people and good employers rise to the top”, explains David Klein, managing partner of One Peak Partners. “Managers spend 40-50% of their time interviewing and handling administrative task such as payroll. We make this more efficient for them: workers are paid via Coople, and the employer only receives one invoice at the end of the month instead of having to pay each worker separately.” Jacques de la Bouillerie, the CEO of Coople adds: “The job application process for many companies still remains a very lengthy process. The whole process can take weeks . At Coople we have a success rate of 98% within 4 hours of searching.”

Yann de Vries, a partner at Atomico, says: “These mobile marketplaces can optimise flexibility and productivity for workers and employers as [they display] jobs by proximity, location and availability and help governments raise taxes.” As it is priced at an hourly rate and a clearly stated markup added, “the transaction becomes more transparent but is cheap enough for business owners who can’t afford job boards”, explains James Peck, UK MD for Jobandtalent.

Traditional recruitment agencies will be disadvantaged when it comes to growth. “The new players can scale much faster than traditional recruitment businesses as they are not reliant on branches”, explains Klein. De Vries agrees: “With the matching technology in place, the product and platform developed, they can become truly global players. Workers and employers in London and Sao Paolo face the same difficulties.”

Marketplaces for tech talent

Whilst Coople and company serve a candidate rich market and focus on minimising the pain for the employers, other platforms such as Hired.com and Landing.Jobs work in candidate-dry markets such as IT. Their attention is on improving the candidate experience.

Sophie Adelman, Head of EMEA for Hired.com outlines their model: “Candidates apply to be part of our marketplace. We select the Top 5% through a combination of human curation and machine learning algorithm. Then we allocate a Talent Advocate who acts as their personal career coach.”

The Talent Advocate is particularly interesting as it removes the one competitive advantage many recruitment agencies believe they still possess: the human interaction. The model as Adelman explains it, goes even beyond the human interaction provided by recruitment consultants: Instead of being focused, measured and paid per placement, the talent advocates are judged based on their net promoter score from candidate feedback. They, therefore, can concentrate on coaching the candidate instead of selling a specific role to a candidate.

Companies also have to go through a vetting process and have to provide transparency around salary, equity and bonus right from the start. Adelman explains: “Offers are non-binding, but being upfront about them ensures that neither side wastes time on a lengthy interview process if they’re not aligned on compensation. Companies can see competing offers and update theirs in real time.”  This approach, as per Adelman, results in an average time to hire of 19 days, which, if verified, is far lower than the industry average and therefore minimises one of the key complaints from candidates.

Expanding job boards

Existing job boards will face different pressures, De Vries believes that the business model of paid job listing makes them too expensive and unattractive for SMEs. Klein thinks that an end-end solution – i.e. including payroll – is required to be successful. Something that most job boards don’t offer.  Job boards, however, are not standing still.

Some job boards are also offering recruitment agency service. “At eteach, schools can choose if they want a light touch service of advertising a job and dealing with the applications on their own, or if they want us more involved. Our latest product release is an applicant tracking system (ATS) that helps schools take the worry out of recruitment by better tracking and improve time management, “ explains Paul Howells, chief executive officer and founder of eteach, “Our success is based on our own self-refreshing talent pool of teachers and in developing our services to match the needs of our clients.” eteach are not on their own, other job boards all over the world transition in a similar way.

It’s not only job boards that are evolving but also aggregators. Indeed launched Indeed Prime which appears to be modelled on Hired.com. In the words of Bill Richards, the UK managing director, Indeed Prime is “a speciality job site that provides employers with top talent based on coding skills, education and work experience. “ The website claims that companies can “hire the tech talent for less than the cost of a recruiting agency”. According to Richards, Indeed Prime’s services should be available to clients in the coming months.

Recruitment agencies are not only facing new entrants, but their candidate suppliers are becoming competitors, too.

Enhancing Recruitment Agencies

Obviously, recruitment agencies are evolving, too. “We see a lot of interest in our just in time delivery platform from start-ups and established recruitment agencies,” says Roderick Smyth, CEO and founder of Tempbuddy.  His company sells an on-demand staffing platform to recruitment agencies, “especially in markets of high-frequency staffing like education with supply teachers and health care with nurses and doctors.”

In his view, existing recruitment agencies have an advantage over new entrants as they enjoy worker and client relationships. Also, most crucially, existing agencies are compliant with existing legislation and have compliance integrated into the workflow.

What was never seen as a competitive advantage can suddenly prove a barrier to entry. But it won’t last for long, and Smyth urges agencies to be fast in embracing new technologies, updating their platforms and adjusting their approaches and cultures: “My advice is: Move fast, leverage your existing assets and take the market.”

Paul Farrer, Chairman and founder of Aspire, sees the new breed definitely as a threat that will clean out the weaker players in the recruitment industry whilst good companies will stay and thrive: “The recruitment industry has a problem as we have a high-cost base due to employing people. Whilst the new platforms are a threat, we should not overplay how quickly it will happen. Most people are employed by SMEs and they are the slowest to adapt to new ways.”

Farrer also believes that recruiters working with companies that hire purely on skills will be the most vulnerable, whereby hiring with personality in mind can’t be automated yet. Cultural matching will be the next frontier and it will only be a matter of time before this will be cracked as well.

“A lot is happening at the moment that changes the “todays and tomorrow’s“ of the recruitment industry. Every day I read about a new technology, apps, platforms being launched in the HR space. I do find it exciting.”, states Tamara Schenk, VP Marketing EMEA and APAC for Kelly Services.  “However, we should not forget the human element that plays a vital role in our industry. Those companies that use the change and inclusion mindset eventually will succeed. I don’t think we talk only about changes within the competitive set, but rather about a transformation that happens to the whole ‘eco-system’.”

More disruption on the horizon

Schenk is not alone with her views. According to investors and industry commentators, the impact of new technologies in recruitment has only just begun. According to De Vries, “the recruitment space will see a lot of disruption over the next 10 years. With interactions moving to mobile and artificial intelligence enhancing the matching it will be easier for workers and employers to engage and do it without any middleman.”

Bill Boorman, founder of the recruitment unconference community (tru) agrees: “The real challenge to the recruitment sector will come from tech. This is real disruption…if the biggest taxi company in the world owns no cars, the biggest retailer no stock, the biggest hotel company no rooms, who is to say the biggest recruitment business won’t have any candidates. Be warned. “

A shorter version of this article was published in the September edition of Recruiter. Since writing the article Randstad is in the process of acquiring Monster, which is a logical step to the developments described above. Will we see more acquisitions like this? We most certainly will see more existing recruitment agencies invest into tech and building a “job board” element to their offering.

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Felix is the MD of zyxassociates, a company helping companies embrace their social responsibilities, enhance productivity and engage with their diverse workforce. He is a known Recruitment Market Analyst and Advisor to several HRTech companies. Previously he was the CMO with companies such as Jobsite, Jobrapido, Evenbase, carwow. You can see his Linkedin profile here.

To break it down there were certain things I did which I think helped so I wanted to put them on a list. There is no “magic touch” – I am not about to tell you some easy pioneering solution to being a great recruiter. There are many things that I did wrong. Here are five points that I feel helped me:

1. Operating Rhythm & Focus

I had a pretty simple way of working. It was structured and efficient. I invested a lot of time having a priority list of actions that would lead to making placements. I did not waste time on working on dud jobs. Having a clear understanding from the clients about the brief and importantly qualifying thoroughly each role was critical.

My to do list was in order of what made $. Essentially it was a priority list of actions that would fill quality, well qualified jobs.

I setup a strict calling cycle using the system. Whether I was speaking with a candidate or client I always logged when I would make my next call. I put all the important notes on the system for example where the candidate and client had gone on holiday, the name of their kids, what they enjoyed doing out of work so I could refer back to them for the next call – such details really help you build relationships (coming up below). As much as I wish I had a photographic memory – I certainly don’t and although I am generally not great with IT this is something I did religiously!

I had a pretty narrow focus on what I recruited. My expertise was Accounting & Finance above $60k AUD, contracting on the North Shore of Sydney. Over time that allowed me to be an expert in that candidate community. I built strong relationships with most of the customers and candidates that operated in that space. I passionately believe that you will have more success having a deep focus and specialisation rather than going broad and covering lots of different roles / disciplines / salaries etc (within contingent recruitment). It will also give you an important edge over those that don’t. Many recruiters think more is better. I am inclined to disagree – the opposite is true.

2. Relationships & Trust

Two words that are often left out in our industry. To “care” and to “listen”. I got such a buzz from making a placement. Not just because of the commission (though of course that is an excellent bi product and how we pay our rent and holidays). It was more than that… by finding someone an opportunity that they wanted, that was right for them and would have an impact on their and their families lives for the better that really made me enjoy what I do. I have been made redundant. I have felt the sickness in my stomach as my boss looks at me across the desk telling me I am about to lose my job having just piled on a big mortgage to buy an apartment.

My job is to understand the candidate sitting opposite me to advise them and to give constructive feedback. What makes them tick? What drives them? Why are they here and what do they really want in their next career move? LISTENING to both our candidates and clients and what they have done and most importantly what they want is absolutely critical in all of this. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason (an incredible trainer told me this in my first year of recruitment – that line has stuck with me for 13 years). You build trust based on open and honest communication. You do what you say you will and you manage expectations. Whatever you do you do not forget we are recruitment “Consultants” – we consult so that the best outcome is delivered to both.

I believe in Karma. Never push someone into a role to make the sale. Advise them to take the role if it is right for them and your customer. That’s how you build lasting trust. You will experience the reward when your candidates become future clients and they call you when they need to grow their team. They will not be calling you to give you business because you bought them a bottle of wine on their first day or your business card was at the top of the pile. It is because they trusted you throughout the process, you understood them, and had a long term, honest approach. You invested in their interests, not just a quick return.

3. Being surrounded by great people

The years that I achieved the highest results and also enjoyed the most were those that I was surrounded by the best people. I wanted to have those around me, better than me, so I could learn from them. I wanted a leader who would engage with me and worked hard to understood me as a person. Understand why I was there and what my drivers and motivations are. Critically they would then develop and influence my skill sets to support my ambitions be realised. When you interview with a company it is a two-way street – both the candidate and client should be interviewing each other. Recruitment agencies do not really have a brand, they have great people or they don’t and making sure you work with the former is critically important.

How do you know who the great people are? Well, who do you come up against? Not the agency, but the recruiter. When you go for a client visit ask them “who else do you work with?” – you aren’t looking for the agency, you are looking for the recruiter. Because people don’t work with an agency brand, they work with “insert great recruiters name here”.

4. Hard work and tenacity

Nothing happens in recruitment without you putting the effort in. However, one thing I want to make clear is this is NOT the amount of hours you put in. Working until 7.30pm every day and starting at 8am over the long term will be counterproductive. Being burnt out and exhausted and not having a life outside work is not conducive to success. When I was a top biller I rarely worked after 6pm. However, while I was in the office I was working – period. I would try and keep away from the water-cooler for chats about how the weekend was.

If you are not busy something is wrong and you need to do something to change that. The thing about the recruitment industry is there is always something more you can do. This is why understanding “why you are there” and having the right drive and motivation is so important. Also realising what tasks are urgent and those that are not is important to get on top of (linking back to prioritising tasks) If it can wait until the morning then sometimes its best to do that. Go and spend quality time with your wife/girlfriend/friends/kids/hobbies/exercise and recharge for the following day – you will be more productive overall.

Many recruitment companies now realise the importance of this and provide a more flexible way of working.

5. Getting balance – know when to switch off

In today’s modern world of remote working, tablet devices, email on the move and cloud based CRM’s etc, you can literally work anytime and pretty much from any place. Rather than create the “flexible workforce” that everyone dreamed of it can actually have the opposite effect. You can never switch off.

Recharging at the weekends (links with point 4) will make you a better recruiter. Try and build some rules about when if at all you look at your emails outside of work. You could have two separate phones. Manage your candidate, clients and boss that if the matter is urgent they call you. Stress is one of the biggest challenges the recruitment industry faces and you must put your health first. You will be a better recruiter and you will enjoy what you do far more.

I am certainly not saying doing all the above will make you rich but I felt that it helped me in my job. If you want further advice around any of this, even if you are not looking for your next recruitment job feel free to reach out to me on will@your-career.com.

If you send it to me at the weekend – I will come back to you on Monday!

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Will Gordon is the founder and Managing Director at Your Career . He focuses on finding the best careers for professionals in all recruitment sectors. Will has featured in a number of publications over the years, including: The Australian, The Financial Review, The China Daily and Beijing Agenda, all in connection with a variety of recruitment-related issues. You can see his Linkedin profile here.

Harsh?

Well maybe. Clickbait? Well certainly. A degrees of truth? Definitely.

I hesitate only to say this is not a diatribe against recruiters, I’ve been lucky enough to encounter some exceptional ones, specialists in UX recruitment that can talk to UX candidates authoritatively about the field and the role. Recruiters who may not have placed me in a role but have still gone out of their way to build a relationship with me. No, this is about the ones who have no idea about UX in general and UX Designers specifically, yet, for whatever reason, have found themselves trying to recruit a UX Designer. Not necessarily bad recruiters, not necessarily good either, but out of their depth when it comes to understanding the candidates and the new industry they’ve found themselves in.

If you’re one of them, don’t worry, you’re not alone in that, your client almost certainly doesn’t have a clue either. If they did – and I say this with much love and respect and as diplomatically as possible – they wouldn’t be using you for their recruitment needs. They’d be using one of the specialists that I was just talking about. Sadly what that means is that there is a good chance you’re acting on what somebody’s idea of UX is not what your candidate knows it to be.

That’s a problem, because right now, in the UK, this is a candidate driven market and they/we will go to the places that do understand us, where we can make the most difference and who will value us.

But why particularly UX Designers, rather than say a UX Consultant or Practitioner. Not a UI/UX Designer, not a UX Researcher, UX Tester, Information Architect or Interaction Designer, not User Experience Scientists, Experience Architects, User Insight Specialists . . . just a UX Designer?

Because few would disagree that demand for UX has had an explosive growth in the last few years of which the most prolific job title being asked for is UX Designer. Few in the know would also disagree that UX Designer is also the most misunderstood and abused title out there. Design is too big a field, too undefined it can mean exactly what anybody means it to be and as such UX Design gets lost in the noise. It’s a problem, so much so that UXers have started to abandon the title, we call ourselves … well read the paragraph above for a list of the most frequent terms, in short we call ourselves anything to get away from the UX Designer title, so if that’s the term you’re looking for it might not be the person you’re looking for.

Confused? Well of course you are, the entire industry has been struggling with defining titles for years, if you’ve just arrived you have no chance. So that’s what we’re going to talk about here, just UX Designers, because that’s where it is easiest and fastest to go wrong. If you really want to know about different roles and titles I suggest you read an earlier article of mine about becoming a UX. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/so-you-want-ux-robert-powell.

So where were we? Right, the growth of UX and the much abused term UX Designer. Don’t worry, we’ll get back to the recruitment bit very soon.

Although the increased demand and acceptance of UX is very gratifying to those of us who have been championing the field for a long time it does have its downside. Not the least of which is that a lot of recruiters are trying to recruit UXers without a clue as to who and what they’re recruiting for or why.

Lesson One

So here, in the most basic terms, is what you and your client need to know about the design part of being a UX Designer.

• UX Design is not about creating the UI
• UX Design is not about coding the UI

UX (in short) ≠ UI. Yet every day I can see a dozen new job adverts where the whole focus is just UI, both design and coding, sadly for you, if you’re a recruiter, seasoned UXers will avoid them like the plague.

UI is in fact a very small portion of UX, it isn’t something that can be imposed on a design like a Photoshop filter, it is for the most part agnostic to the coding, as long as the code works and doesn’t foul up the experience then a UX is good to go.

Summary of Lesson One

So lesson one, if you’ve got a UX Designer brief that starts off with ‘must know how to use Adobe CS’, chances are you’re looking for a UI Designer not a UX, if it starts off listing ‘must have’ coding requirements such as HTML5, CSS3, SASS, JQuery etc, the chances are you’re actually looking at a frontend dev role, not a UX. If your role requires user insight, journey planning, validating user research and testing, then there is a good chance you’ve actually got a UX Designer role.

Congrats, lesson one over, that wasn’t too hard was it? UX Design is about users, what and how they experience your product or service it is not about UI and therefore it follows that UX Designers are all about the user and not the UI. So where next?

Lesson Two

Well, lesson two, I suppose is the various levels of experience, the titles and rewards that you can expect when dealing with a UX Designer. This will be the longest lesson, apologies in advance.

Quick caveat: The rates described here are London rates, there will of course be regional variations and as always when discussing titles there is a spectrum with much overlap so these are generalist levels of expertise, treat candidates as individuals and not factory turned out generic UXers and you won’t go far wrong.

And a word of warning; Like the UX title itself there are some claimants who take advantage of the uncertainty to claim a title and a pay grade that they don’t deserve, but when you get one that can demonstrate a real history within the industry, who can show a depth of knowledge that can’t be faked, then you’ve got an asset that will be invaluable to your client’s organisation. Recruiter Beware.

Who does what?

Junior UX Designer

At least 1 year perhaps up to 5 years’ experience. They’ll know wireframing, user journeys and possibly have some UI skills but tend to have the final decisions made for them by somebody else. They may have a little User Research or Testing experience, obviously Junior Researchers will, but only a lucky few Junior Designers will have been exposed to the research practices, they may well have a good understanding of the practicalities though. They’ll have no idea of how to handle difficult stakeholder, nor should they have to.

Typically these poor beggars are the wireframe monkeys of the world, churning out designs but with little control over what they’re being asked to produce. If you’re a Junior reading this, hang in there it does get better!

Rates: Perm Circa £20-30k, Freelance, £200-£250 a day.

Mid-weight UX Designer

Probably 5 to 10 years’ experience. These will be your good all-rounders, wireframing, user journeys, personas, IDX, some research, some testing, probably good at prototyping, especially using Axure (I’ll get to the software knowledge in a bit), will almost certainly have worked on responsive and mobile designs and probably app design too. They’ll be making decisions for themselves, getting involved in User Research and Testing, but will probably still be sanity checking them against a lead or Senior’s brief. They’ll be taking leads directly from stakeholders and SMEs, and working directly with developers and creatives to ensure that nothing gets lost in translation.

Mid-weights are the foot soldiers of the UX design world, they’ll be sent in to fight and hold the line against bad decisions but without a lead or senior to back them up will usually, though reluctantly, follow direction from stakeholders further up the food chain and curse silently into their pillows as they fail to sleep at night.

Rates: Perm Circa £30-£45k, Freelance, £300-£350.

Heavy-weight UX Designer

Around 10 years’ experience. Able to work at speed and get to the heart of the solution very quickly, they’ll be able to produce a whole range of UX documentation in various levels of complexity depending on the project’s needs. They’ll be able to produce both lo-fi and hi-fi prototypes for testing, though probably not production level code (some will but by no means all), they’ll be able to influence and design UX Research and conduct User Testing and make sense of the results. They will argue with stakeholders and provide good rationales for their arguments. They will understand a range of technologies, and creative solutions and although respectful of those with greater knowledge will always push back against Devs and UI Designers if they think the UX is being compromised.

Heavy-weights are both the most in demand and the most disliked UX practitioners in the market, because they will get the job done but aren’t going to make friends while doing it, they always place the user before the stakeholder and do not care much about being diplomatic about it.

Rates: Perm Circa £50-£65k, Freelance, £400-£450 a day.

Lead UX Designer

10 to 12 years’ experience. At first glance very similar to Heavyweights but capable of leading teams and being a mentor. They’ll occasionally step away from day-to-day UX design decisions to be a major stakeholder in the UX process. They’ll challenge not only other stakeholders but other UX and expect to be given and to provide clean, clear logical arguments based on user-insight not opinion or merely aesthetic concerns. There will be few if any aspects of UX they have not got some experience of.

Lead UX know their own worth, know the worth of their work and know how to get the best results from the teams they lead. If you do not have a UX strategy in place they will in almost every instance prove to be a pain in the neck to Senior Devs and Creatives because they will challenge the usability of their output every single time. They will make Creative Directors find other routes to the toilets in an effort to avoid being challenged, they will make CEOs work from home to avoid being constantly reminded to implement a UX strategy and they will be cheered on by every other level of UX while they do it.

Rates: Perm Circa £70-£80k, Freelance, £450-£550 a day.

Senior UX Designer

15+ years’ experience. That’s right, you’re probably talking about people who have been doing this since the turn of the century, possibly even before the web. The term UX may not even have existed when they started but MMI, HCI and UCD most certainly did. These are the strategists, the big thinkers, often directors of UX or directors of digital strategy. They are the ‘been there, done that’, ‘this new thing? I did that years ago!’ ‘I don’t follow trends, I make them’ sort of people.

They will have experience in all aspect of UX and a working knowledge of most areas of business, capable of creating and implementing an entire UX department from scratch and ensuring that UX is driven right through the company structure. They will still be more than capable of hands-on design but seldom get the chance because they’re too flippin’ busy managing their various departmental needs, (sorry, got personal for a moment there) as well as ensuring that business and project stakeholder are directed and integral to the process without being disruptive, liaising with Senior Devs and Creatives so that all solutions are not just achievable but desirable as well and ensuring tha Product Owners and Clients are as satisfied as the end user, they will be ensuring that all aspects of UX are integrated across the organisation, seamlessly producing validated, quality products and services.

They are busy, busy, people!

Senior UX, real Senior UX, are in rare supply. The title gets added to Job Descriptions like bait to a hook but you won’t find many established Seniors taking that bait. In fact most won’t be looking for a new role, or reading Job Descriptions (though they might write a few), unless they’re Freelancers in which case the title means very little, so if you really want one you’ll need to do some very hard searching.

Rates: Perm £100k+, Freelance, £600+ a day.

 Let’s summarise Lesson Two

If you get a job description that calls for a Mid-weight UX who is a strategist, you’ll instantly see it’s not very realistic.

If you contact a Heavy-weight UX and ask them if they have wireframing skills, you’re probably going into the spam filter because you obviously have no understanding of the role.

If you contact a Mid-weight UX with a rate below £30k it’s not going to happen – £35k might be pushing it at the moment –regardless of what your client’s budget is.

Getting a freelancer to take a perm role? It’s not impossible, it depends a great deal on the scope of the role, but if you approach a Lead UX with even a Heavy-weight’s salary get used to disappointment.

All UX Designers will be able to wireframe, all will be able to create user journeys, and everyone above a junior will be able to work on responsive website and mobile apps. It’s like us asking you if you know how to find potential candidates through LinkedIn, if you don’t you’re not doing your job properly. Stop asking, it’s annoying!

From mid-weight up they should be able to prototype their designs, if not actually handcode them, they’ll understand the abilities of the various tech, such as HTML, CSS and JS but the majority won’t actually be coding in them. Only Juniors will not have stakeholder facing skills, by the time you get to Heavy-weight stakeholders management will be second nature and by the time you get to Senior . . . well stakeholders will struggle to manage the UX.

If you’re being asked to provide a Senior at Heavy-weight levels of package, check the job title against the role expectations. It might just be a title not fitting the role or it could be your client needs their expectations handled. You won’t get a Senior to take on a Heavy-weight role.

Lesson Three

Still with me? Excellent, lesson three is about how you communicate with a UX Designer,  and how to write a job description to hook them. Let’s start with things to avoid.

Avoid clichés:

• Cutting/Bleeding Edge Start-up – Yes, that’s what they all claim to be. There is no such thing as a Dull Complacent Start-up is there? Tell us the nature of the company, tell us the nature of the project, don’t tell us that it s Bleeding Edge because that’s the same as saying generic.
• Young and Vibrant Company– As opposed to, what Old and Pedestrian? Same thing applies, tell us the nature of the projects and tell us how much the company will value our work. Telling us that they’re young and vibrant is lazy and, again, the same as saying they’re generic.
• A Market Leading Company – If you can’t name them fine, but at least tell us the market. They could be the global market leader in sheep gut sock weaving, it doesn’t mean it’s the market for us.
• A Love of all things Digital – Well that’s obviously not for me then, I like carving UX out of clay tablets!

Avoid clichés, you’re impressing no one!

Just stick to the role, some of these little throwaways will get you ignored if not blocked:

• If not suitable please pass on to . . . – It’s your job to know if it’s suitable, why are you contacting us with unsuitable roles?
• If not available, please tell us when you will so we can help – Or tell us when your role comes free so we can try and get a replacement in front of the hiring manager before they’ve had chance to advertise.
• Exclusivity – You may think you’re exclusive, you might even be exclusive, but saying you are and then 6 other agencies hit us with same role . . . you just look like a blagger. Keep it to yourself, we care about the role not your relationship with the client.

Avoid the obvious, don’t ask if the candidate:

• Is User Focussed – Yes, the clue is in the name
• Can create Wireframes – yes, as UX Designers we all do that
• Knows Responsive Design – We do know responsive design, in fact if your client doesn’t they’re pretty much guaranteed a crash course in the subject from us on day one
• Can create User Journeys – It would be hard to do the job without them
• Interaction Design – From Middleweight up, yes
• Can construct the Information Architecture – See wireframing
• Has an interest in or previous experience of or knowledge of UX – Really bro?
• Understanding UX processes and best practices – that’s like asking a Dev if they understand code!

Lesson Three, the Summary (worst bingo call ever)

The main thing that is going to sell your role is the role itself, and meeting salary expectations, obviously. We don’t want to work for Blue Chip companies if they don’t utilise UX correctly, we value simplicity so don’t overcomplicate things with marketing or sales terminology because it annoys us, do you really want to annoy your potential candidates? No of course not, you’re lovely, kind to small animals, love your parents and donate to charity . . . so don’t do it!

Lesson Four

What you should demand from your candidates and how to recognise it when you get it.

A UX focussed CV: Listing not just who the candidate has worked for but what they achieved while they were there.

A Portfolio: Even Senior UX Designers will have a portfolio – in their case probably much neglected and out of date – that will show a progression of experience that got them to where they are now. If it’s full of finished UI designs, avoid the candidate. A UX portfolio is about the thinking, the process, the rationale it is not about the shiny, shiny finished product it’s about how they got to the finished shiny, shiny product.

A range of UX software awareness:

• Axure (Note the spelling, this is not Azure) – By default the daddy, allowing for the creation of fully annotated Functional Specs as well as flow diagrams and wireframes, can also output to prototypes for testing.
• Sketch –  A new kid on the block, nowhere near as powerful as Axure but very good for hifi mockups if you’re more visually practiced than techie.
• Omnigraffle – The wireframe king of the Mac
• Balsamiq – If you like sketchy design, quickly arrived at and easily maintained, Balsamiq is your baby.
• Visio – a bit long in the tooth but still very much in demand for user journeys and other flow type diagrams.
• Adobe XD – becoming beloved of UI Designers ridiculed by UX Designers.

Lesson Four Summary

If you get a portfolio filled with finished UI designs, you’ve got a UI designer not a UX. If you don’t get one at all, they’re either very good or very bad, be careful.

If you get a CV that lists great names but doesn’t articulate what the candidate did for those names this will be a big flag if your client knows UX. I could claim to be the head of UX on LinkedIn (yes, yes, nobody is going to admit to being in charge of LinkedIn’s UX) but unless I reveal what I did there then the title is as meaningless as Grand Poohbar of The Order of UX (mental note to self, add Grand Poohbar of The Order of UX to achievements on profile).

And Finally, Some General Advice

You don’t have to be a UX Design expert – it wouldn’t hurt if you’d read Don’t Make Me Think – but at least be able to talk to us in general terms about our work.

Don’t hang around – It’s not unusual for an established UX to have dozens of approaches a week. If they’re Freelance it is often the case that they’ll have roles waiting for them before they leave the job they’re in already. If you don’t keep in communication, if you don’t chase clients, you will lose your candidate. I’ll give you an example. In the last 5 – 6 years the longest I’ve been between roles is 2 weeks and that’s because I could afford to wait for my chosen role. The shortest? Less than 5 minutes, a phone interview walking from my last day in the gig to the tube station. I average between 20 to 30 approaches a week when I’m not looking, I can put an extra zero on that when I let it be known I am looking and I’m not particular well known compared to some of my peers.

Sell the role not the company – In all UX roles, especially the ones from mid-weight up, the candidate often has the luxury of picking and choosing. If they’re a perm it’s not usually a case of them wanting to leave to go anywhere else, it’s a question of them choosing what to do next and if you’re not selling, they’re not buying. If you’re not selling the breadth and depth of the work, over and above the client’s name, you’re going to struggle to even get them to read the Job Description.

Representation – I can’t emphasise this one enough, as someone who has been put forward three times from three different agencies, two of which did not have my agreement to do so, for the same damn role getting agreed representation is crucial.

Build your relationship – We, your candidates, tend to have scores of recruiters after us, who are the ones we choose to go with? We go for the ones who drop an email occasionally just reminding us of their existence, we go for the ones who answer our emails and phone calls, especially if waiting for feedback from an interview, we go for the ones who comment on our Linkedin updates, who can talk to us in our terms, or just engage us by asking questions – a UX likes to solve problems, answering questions is second nature to us – the one’s who buy us coffee when we’re not available, just to catch-up.  More than that, we tend to recommend recruiters who work with us to our peers too, guess what we say about the ones who can’t be bothered to work with us?

Conclusion

Don’t go to a UX Designer for a UI role

Don’t go to a UX Designer for a Dev role

If you go to a UX with a UI and Dev role, then you’re expecting one person to take on three roles – expect to pay the equivalent of three roles for the pleasure of employing one person who can only give you the output of one.

Do know what package each level of UX Designer can expect to demand but be aware of what they’ll be expected to deliver for it.

Do write your advert, email, update for a UX audience, not a generic IT one.

Don’t try to get a freelance UX to go perm unless the role is exceptional and has great rewards.

Do be prepared to push back on your client on exactly what they want from a UX role or expect serious pushback from your candidates for not doing so.

Oh and welcome to the industry, remember we’re problem solvers, we’re the people who try to make life easier for other people, we’ll do the same for you given half a chance, just work with us as partners not as resources and you’ll go far and we’ll follow you on the journey.

There’s lots of chatter about recruiters on LinkedIn. Most of it from outside the industry is damning, and there’s lots of recruiters in full defensive mode. I can’t be arsed to get involved, but a personal perspective may be useful to anybody looking to join recruitment.

I suspect many may be looking to join. They’ll have read about the bouyancy of the sector and seen some beautiful people sharing pictures of shiny new motors. It almost looks glamorous, but don’t be suckered in by the promise of bangles and beads, or a trail of boiled sweets.

I’ve been an engineer, I’ve worked in publishing (for The Economist for 9 years – There! That impressed some of you eh? Don’t be. It was a blast at times, but printing The Economist is pretty similar to printing the Beano). And I was a rat-catcher at Rentokil for a while (I did indoor plants and ladies washrooms as well. Even spent some time travelling the planet like an idiot), so I have a broad view. Nothing is quite as grand as it seems, and life will kick you up the arse if you take it for granted.

And just like other sectors, recruitment has it’s ups and downs. I would only say they’re more extreme in recruitment:

5 Biggest ‘Downs’ in recruitment:

1. It’s driven by the economic cycle. That means lots of recruiters who are doing well right now, and feeling fire-proof, will get an almighty shock when the economy slows again. If you’re very good you’ll survive, although it may age you prematurely.
2. There’s low barriers of entry. It’s easy to become a recruiter (I didn’t say a good recruiter!). You just need a phone, a laptop and a brain of some sort. So it attracts people looking for a quick buck, and among them will be some idiots. Tread carefully.
3. The industry is full of experts. They are looking to make a name and set a trend. If they can attract a crowd, they might just get lucky. But they set hares running and some people follow them. Take ‘Collaborative Recruiting’ for example – second thoughts, DON’T!
4. It’s the most complex job I’ve had with people – and I’ve had a few! You have more than one customer (the candidate and the client are both customers) and they have complicated needs and wants, and you have to drag those out of people and bring people together who will mesh. It’s like juggling custard. Don’t underestimate how difficult this is. If you’re not good with people, and you don’t know how to ask direct and meaningful questions, go and become an astronaut.
5. Shit happens. All the time. And much of it is shit you couldn’t have planned for (today a candidate didn’t start a new job because she has to race off to Spain ‘cos her Dad’s fallen very ill). You just have to have the absolute cussedness to battle on. Some people will tell you ‘listening’ is the most important attribute. Bollocks. Sometimes you just need to battle for every inch of ground.

But it’s not all Downs. There are some Ups:

1. You can earn good money. If you work hard and can pick winners, you’ll do fine.
2. When you make something work, it’s a great feeling. Especially when people say ‘thanks’ enthusiastically
3. You live on your wits. That can be very rewarding. It keeps you on your toes and fresh minded.
4. You’ll meet some really interesting and entertaining people. And some dullards – but you can just ignore them.
5. You will learn some life skills. You’ll also need to be very good with technology. This is a great grounding for anything you do after recruitment.

If you’re going to dive into recruitment. Please come in. The water doesn’t stand still, and be careful you don’t settle on sand. Give everybody you meet at least two good glances. Count your fingers every time you shake hands, and don’t give your trust away until it’s earned.

Then stand by the people who have earned that trust. They are in the same water as you, and will sometimes need YOUR support.

See you at the bar. Mine’s a pint.

Here comes the objections….But what about the telephone?Many recruiters say that the telephone is still the best route to find new clients and engage new candidates, but the telephone is just another tool in your recruitment toolbox. You wouldn’t rely on a drill bit to screw a phillips head screw. Sure! The telephone serves a purpose but how do you expect to get through to people when less and less people are answering their telephones? The telephone in many ways has now become the point of contact after the relationship has been established through online means and people have an understanding of the value that you can offer them. And who has time for social media?Social media can be a timely exercise but so is calling 50 prospects in a day and getting through to 2 people, if you ask me that method of business is the most inefficient exercise of someones time. Social media is where everyone’s attention is, every day we spend a third of our waking day on social media. Given that we have that significant statistic, don’t you see that you can scale your brand by investing your time in grabbing a slice of the daily attention that everyone gives to their social channels – through providing value. But my clients and candidates aren’t using social media. What a terribly naive way of thinking! Almost half of the worlds population are internet users and under a third of the worlds population are social media users and you are telling me that your clients and candidates are not in that demographic. The reality is that the majority of your candidates and clients are on social media channels, you just need to find out where there attention is and what makes them tick – by doing this you will become relevant to their needs.

Don’t be like Blockbuster. I understand that some recruitment firms have become successful and made a hell of a lot of money out of the recruitment industry, but the reality is our clients and candidates have changed so it’s about time we do too. Stop being so romantic over what worked well in the past because the market has evolved. Recruiters are literally killing the industry and it is reminiscent of Blockbuster. At its height in 2004, Blockbuster was worth $5 billion, had 9000 stores worldwide and was instrument in many consumers Saturday night entertainment. Through lack of foresight and respect for the evolving consumer expectations – they killed themselves. Don’t be like Blockbuster.

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Antonio Giugno Antonio is the founder of Portrayt, a recruitment marketing and branding agency for the recruitment industry in London. Find out more at www.portrayt.co.uk or check out his Linkedin profile here.

These future positions can be identified today by looking at the succession management plan, or by analyzing the history of attrition for certain positions. This makes it easy to predict that specific openings will occur at a pre-determined period in time.

In a few cases of Strategic Talent Acquisition, clients will recruit today for positions that do not yet exist but are expected to become available in the future.

Taking the long term strategic approach to talent acquisition has a huge impact on how an approach is made to a candidate.

Recruitment – Preexisting skills are selected for

Talent Acquisition – Potential skills are selected for

In talent acquisition we focus on the potential that the person possess and not just the educational background or the experience / working years they have.
To put it simply, it is about attracting, recruiting, inducting and making use of the right talent.

If one has a talent for content writing but does not possess any certification or degree in this field, a person who is recruiting might not be interested in my profile. But a talent acquisition person who is looking for talent might want to try my skills. Recruitment invites the eligible candidates for the existing vacancies available in the organization.
Talent acquisition is an ongoing cycle of process related to attracting, sourcing, recruiting and hiring employees within an organization.

This includes elements of employment branding, outreach, networking and relationship building with potential candidate communities to continually build and enhance the talent pool for an organization.

Talent Acquisition professionals understand that each talent has something of value to offer. They also build relationships with the best of the talent that lead to more successful networking, more referrals, more business and an amazing give and take of expertise, knowledge and information.

Recruiting takes tremendous effort. Talent acquisition takes efficient and productive processes that are easy to use and candidate centric.

The identification, relationship building and selection of people who possess special, creative/technical skills and who can influence, contribute to and/or drive revenue to our business by exerting extraordinary effort, exercising strong relationship management in present or in future could be considered as talent acquisition.

Recruitment is a linear process, where employers source candidates for the existing vacancies currently available. This approach is reactive in its nature, thus leads to increased time-to-hire and cost-to-hire. At times organizations compromise even on quality in order to manage cost and time.

Talent acquisition is an ongoing cycle of process that starts by building Employer Brand, communication of Employee Value Proposition and ongoing relationship with targeted talent segments. This approach leads to the development of talent pools and talent pipelines eventually creating sustainable talent supply chain. This leads to more strategic nature of the approach and significant improvements across all Recruitment KPIs.

The term Talent Acquisition  is often used synonymously with Recruiting. However, these are two very different things. Recruiting is a subset of Talent Aquisition, and includes the activities of sourcing, screening, interviewing, assessing, selecting and hiring. In some organizations this extends to the early stages of onboarding, which then becomes a shared responsibility between HR and the hiring manager, with support from the learning organization.

Talent acquisition includes recruiting, but it is inclusive of other strategic elements as follows.

Talent Acquisition Planning & Strategy – This ensures business alignment, examines workforce plans, requires an understanding of the labor markets, and looks at global considerations.

Workforce Segmentation – It requires an understanding of the different workforce segments and positions within these segments, as well as the skills, competencies, and experiences necessary for success.

Employment Branding – This includes activities that help to uncover, articulate and define a company’s image, organizational culture, key differentiators, reputation, and products and services. Employment branding can help advance the market position of organizations, attract quality candidates and depict what it is truly like to work for that organization.

Candidate Relationship Management – This includes building a positive candidate experience, managing candidate communities, and maintaining relationships for those candidates who are not selected at present against a particular skill set, but have few more skills.

Metrics & Analytics – It is the continuous tracking and use of key metrics to drive continuous improvement and to make better recruitment decisions, to ultimately improve the quality of hire.

Within each of these core elements of TA there are many other sub-activities and best practices. And, of course, the selection of tools, technology and outsourcing partners is a key element of a company’s talent acquisition strategy.

In other words, a leadership program is to leadership development what recruiting is to talent acquisition. Alone, neither will drive their highest value to the business.

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Hemant Kumaarr has an MBA from Sikkim Manipal University and  is working as an Assistant Manager for HR at ESQ Business Service, Inc. in India. He is passionate about technology and human resources. You can see his personal blog here or his Linkedin profile here.