Talent Acquisition Specialist

The Talent Acquisition Specialist is responsible for identifying, attracting, evaluating, and hiring qualified candidates to meet an organization's workforce needs. This position manages recruitment activities throughout the hiring process, from sourcing and screening candidates to coordinating interviews, extending offers, and supporting onboarding.

The ideal candidate has strong communication and relationship-building skills, understands recruiting best practices, is highly organized, and can effectively manage multiple open positions and competing priorities.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage full-cycle recruitment processes from job requisition through offer and onboarding.
• Partner with hiring managers to understand staffing needs and position requirements.
• Develop and maintain effective recruiting strategies for assigned positions.
• Write, review, and post job descriptions on appropriate job boards and career sites.
• Source qualified candidates through job boards, professional networks, social media, referrals, databases, and direct outreach.
• Review resumes and applications to identify qualified candidates.
• Conduct initial phone, video, or in-person screening interviews.
• Evaluate candidate qualifications, skills, experience, and cultural fit.
• Coordinate interviews between candidates and hiring managers.
• Maintain timely communication with candidates throughout the recruitment process.
• Provide candidates with information about job responsibilities, company culture, benefits, and hiring procedures.
• Maintain accurate candidate information in the Applicant Tracking System (ATS).
• Conduct reference checks, background checks, and employment verification as required.
• Prepare and extend employment offers in accordance with company policies.
• Assist with salary discussions and offer negotiations when appropriate.
• Coordinate pre-employment requirements and onboarding activities.
• Maintain a positive candidate experience throughout the hiring process.
• Build and maintain talent pipelines for current and future hiring needs.
• Develop relationships with passive candidates and potential talent sources.
• Attend career fairs, networking events, recruiting events, and industry events.
• Partner with HR and hiring managers to support workforce planning.
• Monitor recruitment metrics and prepare hiring reports.
• Track time-to-fill, source effectiveness, candidate conversion, and other recruiting metrics.
• Ensure recruiting activities comply with company policies and applicable employment laws.
• Maintain confidentiality of candidate and employee information.
• Support employer-branding and recruitment-marketing initiatives.
• Assist with special HR and talent-acquisition projects as assigned.

Sourcing and Recruiting Responsibilities

• Identify candidates using LinkedIn, job boards, professional associations, referrals, and other sourcing channels.
• Conduct targeted searches for qualified candidates.
• Develop talent pools for difficult-to-fill positions.
• Create and maintain candidate pipelines.
• Contact passive candidates through email, phone, and professional networking platforms.
• Develop relationships with candidates even when immediate openings are unavailable.
• Evaluate sourcing channels and recommend improvements.
• Maintain an organized database of qualified candidates.

Candidate Screening

• Review resumes and applications against established qualifications.
• Conduct initial candidate screening calls.
• Ask structured questions regarding experience, skills, qualifications, and career goals.
• Assess candidate suitability for specific positions.
• Document screening results in the ATS.
• Recommend qualified candidates to hiring managers.
• Provide timely updates to candidates regarding their application status.

Interview Coordination

• Schedule interviews between candidates and hiring managers.
• Coordinate phone, video, panel, and in-person interviews.
• Provide candidates with interview details and preparation information.
• Prepare hiring managers for interviews when needed.
• Collect interview feedback.
• Track candidate progress through each stage of the hiring process.
• Ensure candidates receive timely communication following interviews.

Employer Branding

• Represent the organization professionally to potential candidates.
• Communicate the company's culture, mission, values, and employee experience.
• Assist with career-site content and recruitment marketing.
• Support social media recruiting initiatives.
• Participate in career fairs and professional networking events.
• Help strengthen the organization's reputation as an employer of choice.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Communications, Psychology, or a related field preferred.
• Previous recruiting, talent acquisition, HR, staffing, or related experience preferred.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Strong organizational and time-management abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple open positions and deadlines.
• Strong interviewing and candidate-assessment skills.
• Proficiency with computers and recruiting technology.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with full-cycle recruiting.
• Experience recruiting for technical, professional, healthcare, administrative, sales, or specialized positions.
• Experience with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
• Experience using LinkedIn Recruiter or similar sourcing platforms.
• Experience with employer branding and recruitment marketing.
• Knowledge of employment and recruiting best practices.
• Experience with high-volume recruiting.
• Experience recruiting for remote or distributed teams.
• Professional HR or recruiting certification preferred.

Technical Skills

Experience with:

• Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
• LinkedIn Recruiter
• Indeed and other job boards
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Outlook
• Google Workspace
• HR Information Systems (HRIS)
• Video interviewing platforms
• Candidate assessment platforms
• Recruiting analytics and reporting tools
• CRM and talent relationship management systems

Key Skills and Competencies

• Talent acquisition
• Full-cycle recruiting
• Candidate sourcing
• Interviewing
• Candidate screening
• Talent pipeline development
• Employer branding
• Relationship building
• Communication
• Negotiation
• Organization
• Time management
• Problem solving
• Attention to detail
• Networking
• Candidate experience
• Data analysis
• Confidentiality
• Teamwork
• Strategic thinking

Typical Daily Activities

A typical day may include:

1. Reviewing open positions and hiring priorities.
2. Meeting with hiring managers to discuss recruitment needs.
3. Searching for and sourcing qualified candidates.
4. Reviewing resumes and applications.
5. Conducting candidate screening interviews.
6. Scheduling interviews with hiring managers.
7. Following up with candidates throughout the process.
8. Updating candidate records in the ATS.
9. Gathering interview feedback.
10. Preparing or coordinating employment offers.
11. Building talent pipelines for future hiring needs.
12. Reviewing recruiting metrics and hiring progress.

Recruitment Metrics

Performance may be evaluated using metrics such as:

• Time to fill
• Time to hire
• Quality of hire
• Candidate conversion rate
• Offer acceptance rate
• Source of hire
• Interview-to-offer ratio
• Cost per hire
• Candidate satisfaction
• Hiring manager satisfaction
• Retention of new hires

Performance Expectations

The Talent Acquisition Specialist is expected to:

• Identify and attract qualified candidates efficiently.
• Provide a professional and positive candidate experience.
• Maintain accurate recruitment records.
• Communicate promptly with candidates and hiring managers.
• Meet established recruitment deadlines and hiring goals.
• Build strong talent pipelines.
• Maintain confidentiality throughout the recruitment process.
• Use data and recruiting metrics to improve hiring effectiveness.
• Follow company policies and applicable employment laws.
• Represent the organization's brand professionally.

Work Environment

The Talent Acquisition Specialist may work in an office, hybrid, or fully remote environment. The role involves frequent communication with candidates, hiring managers, HR professionals, and external recruiting partners.

Employment Type

This position may be offered as:

• Full-time
• Part-time
• Contract
• Temporary
• Remote
• Hybrid
• On-site

Reporting Structure

The Talent Acquisition Specialist typically reports to a Talent Acquisition Manager, Recruiting Manager, HR Manager, Director of Talent Acquisition, or Head of Human Resources.

Equal Opportunity Statement

The company is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to qualified applicants and employees and prohibits discrimination in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.