The Art of Talent Acquisition - AKA: Head Hunting

The Art of Talent Acquisition - AKA: Head Hunting

Written By: Bryan Bero

 

In 2012, I hung up my uniform and entered the world of civilian employment. Having joined the military also immediately after High School, I had only a vague idea of how to find a new career or even enter the work force. I had a Bachelors degree in Business and 14 years military service under my belt. Surely finding a job wouldn't be difficult. So I followed the standard path, I submitted my resume to all the major job boards at the time Monster and Career Builder. Thinking the phone was going to ring.

A former army buddy of mine had seen my resume online, he had left the military and had successfully entered into corporate America. He then decided to leave corporate and open his own Staffing and Recruiting Business, Certa Group. At the time he had been open for 1 year had seen some  success and was looking to expand his business. This was to be my first experience with head hunting, though I had no idea at the time. 

After accepting the position to work for Certa Group, I was introduced to the world of corporate recruiting and specifically head hunting.  Over the last 3 years, I have learned this trade thru, knowledge past along thru my employer, trial and error and reading articles posted by other professionals in this area. During this time period, I have identified many different issues that really do make Head Hunting an art form. In order to be a successful head hunter, you must be able to recognize, indentify and overcome these obstacles in order to make the placement. 

The first issue that I recognized quite quickly is that everyone lies. A potential client may lie about open positions', the time frame that they are planning to hire, and what they are looking for in a Candidate. Candidates lie about the ability to relocate, their skills and experiences, their knowledge base, their salary requirements.  In order to overcome these obstacles it took months of listening and interviewing people. Listening not so much to what was said, but how it was said. Another issue quickly identified is that many job titles were the same, between different business units of the same company. To overcome this obstacle it is imperative to have an open dialogue with the HR rep as well as the hiring manager, as well as in depth knowledge of the company, their products and their industry. 

After understanding the company and position fully knowing exactly what the company is looking for, finding the right candidate for that position takes knowledge of the market, known competitors, and structured job boards.  With the ever changing multi-media market, finding the right candidate is a continually changing process. 

At Certa Group we take pride in being able to identify and overcome most issues that plague our clients ability to locate and hire the best talent available. We partner with our clients, gaining intimate knowledge of exactly what they are looking for in a specific role. We then hit the trenches, identifying the best possible candidates for the position, weeding out the candidates that will not pass the interview process or who may turn down an offer that is made. Our processes minimize lost time/ revenue - often experienced during the interview process through more traditional methods and our placement guarantees hold truth to that fact.