Talent Acquisition Specialist: 12 Key Skill Requirements for 2024

The core assets of a successful organization are its talented employees. Talent is the natural skill humans own and differs from person to person. Your employees should have the required skills and knowledge to achieve your goals. But, it is hard to identify talented employees. Employee hiring is a crucial decision hence, talent acquisition specialists play the expert role.

Talent acquisition (TA) specialists identify the right talent by applying the right strategies when need be. They are responsible for bringing in the best employees that can add to the organizational effectiveness. But, talent acquisition specialists also need the necessary skills. It is not an easy job and requires great expertise.

With technological advancement, better skills are required to match the growing needs. In this blog, we will discover the 12 key skills needed in talent acquisition specialists. By the end, you will know the right talent acquisition skills to look for in your talent acquisition specialist.

12 key skills required in a Talent Acquisition Specialist

There are many skills that can improve your talent acquisition specialist's performance. However, the skills mentioned here are an extract from many job descriptions. These are the main skills that can be subcategorized according to your specifications.

1. Talent Acquisition Skills of Communication

2. Human Resource Planning Skills

3. Talent Acquisition Negotiation Skills

4. Analytical Skills of Talent Acquisition Specialist

5. Observation Skills (Crucial to Talent Acquisition Skills)

6. Technological skills in Talent Acquisition and Management

7. Talent Acquisition Skills Speak Through Marketing

8. Social Media Skills of Your Talent Acquisition Specialist

9. Stress Management Skills of Talent Acquisition

10. Cost management Skills

11. Technical Skills

12. Learning Skills

Let us dive into these skills for elaboration.

1) Talent Acquisition Skills of Communication

A Talent acquisition specialist should have good communication skills. With the pandemic, many organizations faced a huge communication gap with their employees. It is crucial to set clear expectations and deliver your message to potential candidates. Did you know? 78% of talent acquisition specialists in Germany reported diversity as a challenging issue in hiring. With such a diverse labour market, your talent acquisition specialist is responsible for choosing the best. They should understand the candidate and organizational needs, and fill any gaps for successful hiring.

2) Human Resource Planning Skills

It is important to forecast the workforce needs and plan beforehand. Economic conditions are very unpredictable in all countries hence affecting the labour market. Talent acquisition skills include human resource planning. The specialists should forecast the future labour needs, the present supply, and the balance between both. This will help in aligning the hiring decisions with the organizational goals. This is very crucial for your organization so you are not left with any employee shortages or surpluses. If your talent acquisition specialist pre-plans, your company will enjoy higher profitability. Moreover, research says, strategic planning of human resources increases economic productivity too.

3) Talent Acquisition Negotiation Skills

Negotiation is all about your people's skills and can be very tricky as you need to please both parties. This is another skill you should look for in your talent acquisition specialist. He is the middle man between your organization and the potential employees who need to benefit both. Remember, your hiring decision is long-term because once hired it is hard to fire an unfit employee. So you know who is capable of managing the employee issues? Of course, it is the person in the office that has hands-on experience in choosing the right talent that is the talent acquisition expert.

4) Analytical Skills of Talent Acquisition Specialist

In this era of technology, there is a lot of employee data that you need to process and analyse from different angles. Raw data is converted into useful information for analysis and action-taking. if your talent acquisition specialist fails to filter the important information it is useless. The talent acquisition skills include analysis of the market trends and conditions. Moreover, it included defining data, forming reports, and managing employee behaviours. Wrong data analysis can bring a bad fortune for your organization so look for these talent acquisition skills in the specialist of this field. Did you know? 83% of 924 companies globally lack in analysing employee data. It means there are problematic areas that need prompt solutions but are unknown. As a result, companies suffer.

5) Observation Skills (Crucial to Talent Acquisition Skills)

The talent acquisition skills should include observation skills as they are very necessary. Your expert needs to have an eye for details so they don't miss any opportunity. Yet, not every detail is useful so the specialist should pay attention and be very picky with details. Moreover, it is not easy to understand human behaviours so observation skills can help in forming common patterns in everyone. Yes, perceptions can sometimes be wrong but observing nature can prepare you for the worst. A study reported observation skills can be used as learning/teaching strategies. These skills engage trainees and help them in exploring their surroundings. It tells observations skills of your talent acquisition specialist can be transferred to others too. All this adds up to your organizational growth.

6) Technological skills in Talent Acquisition and Management

Covid-19 brought along the trend of remote work. Walter people reported a 67% increase in remote interviewing, a 40% increase in online tests, and a 33% increase in remote jobs. Moreover, candidates want to digitalize and substitute their CVs with their videos. With so much going on, talent acquisition skills should include technological expertise. Your experts should be tech-savvy to learn advanced technologies and adapt to the changing needs. Furthermore, there are many tools and software that need technological abilities. Your talent acquisition specialist's expertise will help you in outshining your competitors.

7) Talent Acquisition Skills Speak Through Marketing

Do you think it is easy to attract potential candidates? Absolutely not! For this, your talent acquisition specialist needs to possess exceptional marketing skills. They are responsible for making catchy job ads with attractive content. Research says the job ads' content and appearance impact your organizational effectiveness. Moreover, visual elements in your job ads increase company attractiveness by 51%. It means talent acquisition skills are helpful in attracting the best-fit candidates to your organization. You don't want to miss a talent because of poor marketing so ensure this skill is present with your TA specialists.

8) Social Media Skills of Your Talent Acquisition Specialist

A decade ago, social media was just used for entertainment purposes. But now, both employees and employers use it for job-seeking and hiring purposes, respectively. According to Glassdoor, 79% of job seekers actively use social media for job search. Do you know what this means? You may find your next employee on some social media platforms. But, what if your talent acquisition specialist is unable to use social media? You will surely lose your potential candidates to your competitors. To avoid this issue, look for social media management skills in your talent acquisition specialist.

9) Stress Management Skills of Talent Acquisition

Stress ruins your daily activities if it is unmanaged. But what is its link with the talent acquisition specialist? He handles finding, attracting, and hiring the best-fit candidates without any room for mistakes. Your talent acquisition specialist competencies include finding long-term and productive employees. Their talents can benefit your organization with proper utilization. Making the right decision in a limited time can be very stressful along with managing the new talents. Hence, stress management skills are very vital for better performance.

10) Cost management skills

According to the US department of labor, the cost of bad hires can reach up to 30% of the employee's first-year earnings. This is a crucial decision for your talent acquisition manager hence he needs to estimate and analyse all the potential costs. He should work on ways to cut costs and improve the satisfaction levels of the hiring managers. satisfied managers prevent the loss from bad hires. They also need to analyse the time to fill any position. If your talent acquisition specialist values time and money and possesses cost management skills, you are likely to meet positive outcomes.

11) Technical skills

The field of Human Resource Management is vast. It consists of different departments that need technical experts.

Talent acquisition specialists need specific technical skills that make them unique and credible. They should know the use of the talent acquisition solutions such as Applicant Tracking System, Human Resource Information Management Systems, on-boarding portals, and other such software. It is important for attracting and recruiting the right candidates. With greater technical skills in the area, talent acquisition specialists perform better.

12) Learning skills

Your talent acquisition specialist should be open to new knowledge and carry a willingness to learn and adapt. Talent acquisition skills of the future may have different requirements than today. So, your specialist should be open to new information and carry the traits of seeing things from different perspectives. Learning skills leads to a person's development hence is the epitome of career advancement in every field. In the end, these skills will add up to your competitive advantage when the hiring, acquisition, market requirements evolve.

How to Become a Talent Acquisition Specialist?

Being a talent acquisition specialist is not hard. You should gain enough experience in the area and learn all the skills mentioned above to outperform. No one is perfect but newer skills will enhance your worldview. It will then help you to work smart, hire better talents, and fill the vacant positions with the right people. Being or hiring a talent acquisition specialist is a critical job but once done right you will get rid of the inevitable stress and pressure. Ensure most of these skills are present in your talent acquisition specialist for a positive environment.

So, Be the best Talent Acquisition Specialist!

It is the need of time to hire the best talents available in the market. However, not everyone knows who to hire and who not to. For this decision, talent acquisition specialists are hired. They have experience which makes their decisions credible. The 12 key skills give you an idea of the skills you need to look for in your talent acquisition specialists. Follow this blog guide so you do not hire unskilled talent acquisition experts.