Do you want to hire the best employees for your company? Not sure what the differences between recruitment and talent acquisition are?
Recruitment and talent acquisition are two terms that are often used interchangeably. However, they are not as similar as you may believe. They are actually two distinct processes that you may choose to use in your business, so you need to make sure that you understand them fully.
In this guide, we’ll tell you about the differences between recruitment vs talent acquisition.
What is Recruitment?
Recruitment is a straightforward process that aims to fill a specific position in a company.
At its most basic level, recruitment can be seen as a reactive process in which vacant positions are filled as quickly as possible. The goal of recruitment is to fill a vacant position with any candidate who can handle the basic duties of the job.
What is Talent Acquisition?
Instead of being reactive, talent acquisition takes a more proactive approach to hiring. Talent acquisition is more strategic and takes a long view of things to ensure that future needs are planned for along with current ones. A company will look for the most qualified person for a particular job.
Talent acquisition isn’t only for filling a vacancy. It serves as a complete and ongoing plan to find the best talent. It works to discover employees with great skillsets who could become leaders and specialists in a company.
Difference Between Recruitment and Talent Acquisition
Recruitment is actually a subset of talent acquisition rather than something completely different. A company may work with recruitment agencies as part of a talent acquisition strategy.
Other subsets of talent acquisition include employment branding, candidate relationship management, workforce segmentation, acquisition planning and strategy, and metrics and analytics.
3 Things to Know About Talent Acquisition
To understand the differences between recruitment and talent acquisition, there are a few key things to remember. Here’s what you should know.
1. Talent Acquisition is Focused on the Long-Term
As mentioned above, recruitment tends to be focused on the short-term filling of a position. Talent acquisition takes a more long-term approach.
Talent acquisition is strategic in nature. It’s used to find candidates that will grow with a company and be suited for future positions as well as current ones.
2. Talent Acquisition is an Ongoing Process
In addition to being a long-term process, talent acquisition is also ongoing.
More than simply filling vacancies as they come up, a talent acquisition strategy will aim to create an organizational focus on hiring great talent. It will include ongoing actions to find and cultivate talent. It may also include employer branding, outreach, and networking.
3. Talent Acquisition Specialists Look Beyond the Resume
Recruiters tend to place a lot of focus on a candidate’s resume or CV along with their educational background and previous experience. While talent acquisition specialists will take these things into account as well, they’ll also look beyond them.
Talent acquisition specialists will evaluate a candidate’s skillsets carefully. They may hire them even if they don’t have proven educational or industry experience. They may also be more willing to help develop and nurture a candidate’s skills over time.
Understanding Recruitment vs Talent Acquisition
To understand the differences between recruitment vs talent acquisition, take the above information into consideration. Moving from recruitment to talent acquisition can be a great choice if you’re focused on the long-term. Consider making the necessary changes to do so.
In search of more interesting advice and tips? Read through our blog now to find more helpful recruiting and hiring guides.
