Retail Recruiting: Talent Pool vs Talent Community

Nowadays there is a dramatic difference between maintaining a talent pool database
and
a talent community for private recruiters.

Databases of uploaded resumes get old very quickly: not only that: they tell you next to nothing about candidates: their goals or where they are in their lives today.

Talent communities instead are a recruiters group of like minded professionals that you interact with on an continual basis.

You know who is happy in their jobs and you know who wants to make a move because they just got married. Things like that.

You know which firms have roles opening up soon that will require a specific type of candidate.

On any given day: you probably know the status of at least 1,000 people in your network.

And the job of the recruiter is to keep that dialogue going every single day:
touching base and updating with as many in the network as possible.

No mean feat! Recruiting today means an open door policy of helping your talent pool with everything from resumes to where to find the best movers !

Its not just about getting them hired anymore. Its about becoming part of their careers.......part of their lives.

Recruiters now function like career coaches:
-guiding them to firms that offer their best chance of fulfillment for their personal goals.
-preparing them for interviews and hand holding through the steps

The best recruiters probably dont need more than a day or two to find you at least one suitable candidate for most roles.

Recruiters know who is on the market every single day.
Thats really what you pay a recruiter for: knowledge.

Anyone can find people now: the internet doesnt make that very hard.

Knowing who is on the market for nearly every role every day: is the special skill belonging to social recruiters.

But you can be sure: that relationship has been nurtured for weeks or months and your recruiter is absolutely sure this candidate is a match for your firm!

And if you think it isnt much work spending 8 to 12 hours a day cultivating relationships:
it often feels like being the Old Woman in the Shoe: who had so many children: She didnt know what to do!

Talent communities is the future of recruiting today.
Companies that dont do it themselves or dont hire others to do it:
relying on old HR systems
will simply be left out of the loop;
especially as the Americans aggressively enter the game!