Recruiting 101: Building a Talent Pool

Prioritizing talent and investing time in building your talent pool is critical for any staffing firm. A deep talent pool can be an agency/recruiters best friend. In an ideal world, when you have a job that needs filling you'd already have the perfect employee who is ready to fill the position immediately. In reality, it is unlikely that perfect candidate is ready to fill the role when you have the job for them. That is why a talent pool is a contingency plan you need to have in place. It is also a needed method of reducing the cost and time to hire and ensuring your businesses productivity is not affected too much by skill and resource shortages. So, how do you build a talent pool? We've outlined some steps for any company or recruiter to take to build their talent pool or keep their current one efficient.

• Previous applicants. Any candidate who applies for a position can be a future lead. Whether they have made it to an interview stage or were just not the best fit, it is a promising idea to always save their resume. You never know when the right job will pop up for any specific candidate.

• Online networking. Use LinkedIn, Facebook and other online networks to build a talent pool. By making meaningful connections now, you can later connect with talent when you have the right job for them. These networks are also useful in getting your company brand and culture in front of candidates by piquing interest and therefore forming talent pools.

• Keep in touch. Sometimes you have those "rock star" candidates but have not found the perfect match for them yet. Make sure to keep in touch with these candidates and follow-up with them regularly. Once you do get that job that matches their skill set they are more likely to work with you and commit to the job immediately. 

• Update job postings frequently. Stale job postings won't attract fresh talent. The longer a job sits the more it is pushed down in an applicant's search results. Make sure to update jobs regularly or post new ones. This will help in receiving new applicants and building your talent pool further. 

• Create a pool, not a lake. While it is important to keep a deep talent pool, it is also important that you do not keep irrelevant candidates. By creating a pool and not a lake you will ensure you have the best quality candidates and keep those who will eventually lead to a hire. You can also keep strong talent in your pool for many years to come until they have developed the skills and experience required to work in the roles you may have.

Prioritizing talent and investing time in building your talent pool is critical for any staffing firm. A deep talent pool can be an agency/recruiters best friend. In an ideal world, when you have a job that needs filling you'd already have the perfect employee who is ready to fill the position immediately. In reality, it is unlikely that perfect candidate is ready to fill the role when you have the job for them. That is why a talent pool is a contingency plan you need to have in place. It is also a needed method of reducing the cost and time to hire and ensuring your businesses productivity is not affected too much by skill and resource shortages. So, how do you build a talent pool? We've outlined some steps for any company or recruiter to take to build their talent pool or keep their current one efficient. 

Pan Asia Resources is a woman-owned firm in Ashburn, VA. Our two core products - Workforce Solutions & Marketing Management, help our customers grow their employee strength & brand visibility.





By: Mallory Gray


Image Credit: https://www.joinforge.com/expanding-talent-pool/