What’s the difference between a Recruiter and a Talent Acquisition partner?

• Salutations, start-ups. 
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• Whether you’re the new kid on the block or have been around a few times already, you’ll always need people. Good ones.
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• Knowing this, you may well already have a recruitment agency on board. And that’s awesome for solving your immediate hiring needs (tech recruitment challenges, for example. They’re real).
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• But there’s more to it.
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• You see, recruitment is one thing; talent acquisition another (believe it or not, talent acquisition isn’t just a fancy word for recruitment).
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• Which begs the question: wtf is talent acquisition? 
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• More specifically, what can it do for your business? Why is it super important in the start-up world? And will it give you work/life balance?
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• Do say hello hello to Katy Johnstone, though. She’s one of our all-round terrific Talent Partners who knows this area like the back of her hardworking hand. 
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• Which is why we sat down with her and asked all the questions. And she’s given you allll the answers.
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• For those of us without a TA background, you’ll forgive us for thinking recruitment and talent acquisition are the same, right? 
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• Oh, absolutely. 
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• The terms are often used interchangeably – and understandably so. I mean, it’s all about recruiting talent, so why wouldn’t they be the same?
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• In fact, they’re actually quite different. 
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• Sure, both processes involve finding and hiring new people, but the approaches and business outcomes of each differ wildly.
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• I love supporting companies to understand these crucial differences. It gives me fuel in my rocket ship because it’s something I feel incredibly passionate about!
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• And honestly, when businesses can attract, recruit and retain top talent, they soar. 
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• Love the sound of that! So let’s start with recruitment – how do you define it?
  
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• First and foremost, recruitment is typically seen as a reactive process. It’s about filling a specific role within a company quickly and efficiently in response to a particular need – say a tech hire to expand into a new market.
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• The focus is on finding candidates who meet the necessary criteria (qualifications, skills, experience etc.) and who can start working as soon as possible. 
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• Recruitment is generally driven by job postings and resumes (hello, Seek and similar) and typically handled by HR departments or hiring managers. 
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• And…at the risk of getting a few backs up, these teams aren’t always the best at recruiting and interviewing (sorry!) 
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• Obviously, they know HR inside out, but these tasks are different beasts altogether and often outside their wheelhouse. Much like HR policy is outside mine. 
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• Anyway, should we move on?
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• Good idea. Do you have an easy-to-scan list of what recruitment looks like?
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• Of course. I love me a good list!
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• Typically recruitment is about:
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– Reacting to an immediate need

• – Outsourcing to an external agency
• – Being quick (fill, fill, fill those empty roles – fast!)
• – Assessing candidates to see whether their skills and experience fit the role you’re recruiting for
• – Advertising through job websites and the like
• – Reviewing resumes (sometimes a lot of them).
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• What about Talent Acquisition? That’s what we really want to talk about, right?
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• Yes. Yes, we do.
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• Talent acquisition is a little more new age, I guess. A bit more ‘of the now’. 
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• I’d go as far as saying we TA folk are a bit like conspiracy theorists (in a good way!). We’re not walking around in tinfoil hats, but we question everything and take nothing for granted. 
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• It’s not that recruitment doesn’t have its place. It absolutely does. 
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• It’s just that talent acquisition is more about the bigger picture. 
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• Sure, it’s still about finding great hires – but with a more proactive and strategic approach. It focuses on building a strong workforce who want to hang around because they actually believe in your values. 
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• That means building a pipeline of qualified candidates who may not be actively looking for a job at that very moment. 
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• But we target them anyway because their skills, experience and values align with an organisation’s long-term goals and culture.
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• And this is seriously important for start-ups, right? I mean, they can only deliver on their business strategy with the right people and capability.
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• So talent acquisition is really about taking the bull by its horns. At Lab17, we work closely with businesses to identify where those gaps are going to emerge in the future – so we can take the right steps now.
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• So again, if you were to pull it into a list…
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• Lists are the best!
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• Ok, so talent acquisition is generally about:
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• – Being proactive
• – Embedding the process into an organisation
• – Going deeper – like actually asking why there are empty spaces (a tight job market is understandable; being a rubbish place to work needs discussion)
• – Looking at the bigger picture (i.e. assessing a candidates growth and development potential and clocking what you need to do to keep them engaged and interested in future opportunities)
• – Lifting a company’s hiring and interview skills
• – Giving candidates a standout experience (you want them to come back!)
• – Creating a slick AF interview process which assesses whether people are aligned with your values
• – Managing the entire interview process, so your teams have more time to, you know…do their jobs
• – Advising on org charts, competency frameworks and career pathways
• – Supporting you to deliver objective feedback (just ‘cos someone went to your school doesn’t make them the right fit at your organisation)
• – Driving decisions with data and market insights
• – Creating and developing your talent brand strategies and Employee Value Proposition.
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• It’s a lot, I know.
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• Finally…what’s your last piece of advice for start-ups navigating the dramas and delights of getting the right humans on board?
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• Seeing a start-up take flight is like nothing else! But yeah, it’s not always easy. 
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• Even if you’ve just had a hefty cash injection, funding doesn’t just keep flowing forever. Nor do the hours in your day. 
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• So, it’s really about looking at where you’re allocating resources. 
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• Are you focusing on the strategies that will help you attract and retain the best talent for your long-term goals? That’d be TA.
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• Or are you perpetually popping on a bandaid to fix today’s problem? More like recruiting. 
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• If you want to grow your business and really take off, you need the right people now and down the track. 
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• And when your rocket ship blasts off (it will!), you need the experts beside you.
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