Recruitment was once the occupation that many fell into. Students typically didn’t tend to go to University, study their degree and then actively seek out a role within a HR recruitment consultancy. Many recruiters with 10+ years’ experience share a similar story – “I was interviewing for a role that the firm was recruiting, I didn’t get that job, but the recruitment firm offered me a job with them!” Typically, those recruiters then worked in practices aligned to their prior vocation, qualifications &/or industry.
Talent acquisition today, however, is a much more sought after and deliberate career choice. With defined pathways from entry level through to Global Director, and unique career experiences on offer, talent acquisition is now a highly desirable long term career pathway.
The evolution of talent acquisition as a specialised profession has had big implications on the skills and attributes required for success today. Yesterday’s recruitment professionals were adept sales people, strong communicators both verbally and written and high on intuition. Administration skills and ensuring procedural rigour were also high on the list of skills. One’s chance of succeeding in their role also often included the strength and alignment of their personal networks to the organisation’s hiring needs.
Today’s talent acquisition professional, however, has developed competence and capability that extends across a much broader and deeper range of skills. These skills are required as businesses leverage technological advances, adapt to changes in social norms and the globalisation of the workforce.
Key skills required today include:
- Long term relationship building
- Technology adoption & advocacy
- Coaching
- Marketing
- Project management
- Insight, business acumen & data analysis
- Networking
HR as we know it, is also a highly evolving discipline. The future of HR will, among other areas, see a greater leverage of technology and data to inform strategies. Talent acquisition, as the primary stage of the employee lifecycle, provides a wonderful foundation from which to develop skills that will increasingly drive the future of HR. With technological enhancements increasing the size of intersection between recruitment and workforce planning, talent development, mobility and many other HR functions, talent acquisition professionals will have a greater influence and impact upon organisational success.
For those with a strong interest in commerce and the world of work, appropriate qualifications, experience and the drive and ambition to commit to longer term career success, talent acquisition is an amazing career frontier, providing unique experiences and a platform to develop a contemporary skillset and capability.