Is there any difference between recruiter, sourcer or talent acquisition manager ? What is the difference between the daily duties and tasks of people with such positions? Well and most importantly, how much are these roles interchangeable, or vice versa, each of them requires a certain unique set of qualities and skills?
Head Hunter
If we talk about professionalism, then this is the highest level. This is when you face the difficult task of finding someone specific, persuading you to move to another company or simply luring. And here it is necessary to include all the art of communication, negotiation, to be subtle and careful. It is always difficult, reckless, and therefore interesting.
Recruiter
A specialist whose activities are aimed at recruiting staff for the company in which he or she works, or for client companies if it’s a recruiting agency. The recruiter, accordingly, is engaged in the selection of personnel in the field of IT, which requires certain knowledge in the field of information technology.
Since this is a technical field, some technical knowledge is also required in the search and selection of such specialists. The recruiter does not need to delve into the very depths of the technical issue, but must know and understand the terminology. Today, unfortunately, there are often “specialists” who are not able to distinguish Java from JavaScript, which is why they do not create the most positive reputation for this post. The main approach is professionalism and understanding that we work primarily with people, not with a LinkedIn profile.
In this case, the recruiter is responsible for the entire personnel selection cycle, starting from determining the requirements for the position, searching for potential candidates, evaluating and attracting them, providing them to the client, and ending with, in fact, closing the vacancy. Moreover, since all these actions are quite time-consuming, the recruiter has assistants / assistants who are involved in formulating the text of the vacancies, their placement, initial search for candidates, arranging interviews and all other work for which the recruiter does not have enough time or desire . In this option, people most often take people without experience in recruitment (and very often without experience at all) to the post of assistant recruiter. Thanks to the daily involvement of the recruiter in the work and the gradual increase in the importance of assigned tasks (first you meet candidates at the door and offer coffee, and then you conduct a preliminary telephone interview), our assistant is slowly gaining experience and knowledge and turns into a younger recruiter.
Recruiter-rescue
This specialist selects candidates and accompanies the candidate only until the “entry”, the first “Welcome!”
The specifics of the profession is creativity, sales (sometimes bidding), and at the same time, analytics, perseverance, organization. Unpredictability (everything can go quite wrong) and absolute predictability (first find, and then accept). And a lot of communication, love, patience and tolerance. It happens that you have to communicate very tightly with someone with no desire to communicate.
Source or researcher
There is already a certain division of responsibilities between the roles involved in the recruiting process. Depending on the degree of this very separation, several varieties of the mentioned scheme can be distinguished.
The main task of the reseller is a quick and professional search for specialists with a certain qualification and experience in a certain region. In such teams, it is the receiver that is the carrier of information about the current state of the market, the distribution of specialists in it, key players, motivation systems in various companies, recent trends and changes. As in the previous version, depending on the chosen model of work, the tasks of the reviewer may or may not include the initial contact / assessment of the candidate.
At the same time, the role of the recruiter is fully focused on interaction with the candidate and internal clients: “taking off” a vacancy, communicating with applicants and “selling” a position, evaluating a candidate in terms of position requirements and client specifics, correctly providing a person to a client, etc. If we move on to IT terminology, we can say that in this scheme the recruiter is more responsible for the “Sale”, and Researcher - for the “Delivery” part of the project.
In this option, it is Sourcer who is responsible for the search, assessment and primary motivation of the right specialists, and the task of the recruiter is to conduct an already “hot” candidate at all stages of the company's internal selection. One of the options for applying this scheme is the interaction of an external recruiting agency.
Talent Acquisition
Sometimes you can find the translation "acquisition of talents", but it is not correct. The strategic attraction of talent involves not only filling vacancies today, but also, for example, using candidates who have not been hired during the current recruiting campaign as a means to fill similar positions in the future. Future positions may not exist today, but they can be determined using predictive analytics and industry experience. Future talent needs of a business can be planned, and potential candidates identified in advance.
Talent specialists understand that every talent has value. They build relationships with the best, which leads to the creation of a more efficient network, more referrals and better business; this relationship surprisingly allows you to give and take experience, knowledge and information.
Here are the elements that distinguish talent from recruiting:
- Planning and strategy
Creating a solid talent strategy requires careful planning. Unlike hiring, attracting talent requires a deeper look at the nature of your business and an understanding of its future needs. This is a forward thinking approach; look through a wider lens that takes into account the state of local and global labor markets. Since talent acquisition does not take place in a vacuum, the process involves more planning and strategy development.
- Workforce segmentation
Attracting talent depends on an understanding of the various work segments in the company, as well as different positions in these segments. Not only do you need a deep understanding of the internal workings of your company, you also need to know what skills, experience and competencies are needed in each position for success.
- Brand Employer
More than ever before, brands go beyond attracting consumers ... to attract employees. Ensuring your company’s brand is clear and attractive is a key element in attracting talent. This includes strengthening the positive image and culture of the company, as well as building a good reputation based on quality products and services. A solid brand attracts the best candidates, helping them to look from the inside out at what it feels like to work in your company.
- Definition and Talent Management
Talents come from different places. You need to research and identify different places where you can find candidates. Once you have established contact with potential candidates, you must maintain and build this relationship. All this is done with the understanding that most of these candidates will not be hired immediately, but rather over time.
- Metrics and analytics
Finally, not a single talent strategy can do without using key metrics to properly track the process and analysis. By collecting and analyzing relevant information, you can constantly improve the hiring process and make better hiring decisions, ultimately improving its quality.
Attracting talent is an ongoing cycle and process that begins with creating an employer brand, communicating about an employee’s value proposition, and then strengthening relationships with targeted talent segments.