Talent pools can take many forms, but the definition is always the same.
A talent pool is a group of people that you can turn to first when hiring.
Choose people who have that winning combo of skills and expertise to add value to your business. Then, get them checked and vetted so that they’re all set to hit the ground running.
Think about how you want your talent pool to be documented.
Do you just want to list candidate contact details in a simple document, or spend some time setting up a special spreadsheet. Would hyperlinked contact details and some extra info about the candidates be useful and worth the time spent on creating the file?
Saving your talent pool records in the cloud (rather than locally) would give you extra options, helping you to share data easily with anyone else involved in the hiring process.
Make sure you have a policy in place for gaining permission to store candidate details until they’re needed. This could be a simple email that tells them they’re on your radar with an option to unsubscribe. If so, provide a little explanation as to why they’re wanted for the types of roles you advertise.
There’s a whole selection of places that you can find talented staff to add to your talent pool, including:
Previous applicants: Maybe they were just beaten by an unusually good applicant, or they showed a lot of potential that may now have been realised. In any case, think about keeping these people on your books.
Social media: Search professional social media sites using industry keywords to find applicants with an established skill set and professional network.
CV databases: Subscribe to an online CV database to receive details of candidates that meet your requirements.
Industry media: Use magazines, blogs and specialist job boards to find individuals who are making a splash in your sector, then reach out to them as potential future options.
Educational institutions: Look to universities, colleges and professional training centres to find the talent of tomorrow.
Networking: Gather details from people you meet at conferences, meet-ups, client meetings and webinars who you think will help your business grow.
Set yourself a target for the number of people you want to keep in your pool.
When you find a potential candidate, try to swap them out for someone less qualified, rather than just adding to your existing list. This will help you make consistent improvements to your pool.
Audit your pool regularly to find out who’s looking for work, update contact details and let applicants know they’re still being thought about.
You can now find talent management software that takes on some of the burden for you. Use talent management software to bring all your CVs, qualification and reference-related documents together in one place to speed up searches and improve shareability.