What It Takes to Become a Talent Advisor, According to Radian Group, Inc.

The job market is constantly changing, and that means recruiters are constantly honing their skills. Adapting to the ups and downs of hiring is a critical part of a business — that’s why the value of recruiters can’t be understated.

Recruiters are always looking for ways to be more strategic in their hiring approaches. And when they're empowered to go beyond filling roles to strategically guiding TA teams and stakeholders, that’s when they evolve into a talent advisor role.

But what does it take to transition from recruiter to talent advisor?

Jen Bombardier, VP of People Operations at Radian Group, Inc., shared why and how recruiters can evolve into this valuable role, benefitting hiring managers and the business as a whole. She also revealed the tech tools needed for this transformation — including AI discovery, fit score, dynamic talent pipelines, and robust talent analytics.

Watch Bombardier’s presentation in the video below, or read on for key takeaways.

Why Do Companies Need Talent Advisors?

Several driving factors are influencing recruiters to develop into talent advisors.

First, there’s the lingering pandemic and its impact. “Hiring has changed,” Bombardier said. “There have been ups and downs depending upon the industry. Talent needs have shifted. People’s skills have been repurposed, and they’ve learned to do new things with the skills they’ve previously had.”

Second, we’re now faced with a historic worker shortage and the resulting competitive labor market, especially for certain job roles. 10x more positions will go unfilled, including mathematics, computers and other technology due to limited skill sets. “In this environment, companies need to attract and retain talent, keep up with the ever-accelerating pace of change and meet customers’ needs — so we need to be positioned to help them,” Bombardier said.

Meanwhile, job candidates’ expectations have also shifted toward preferences for personalization and high-touch experiences. “With a continued demand on hiring managers to produce business results, we need to use a talent acquisition mindset that focuses on how to impact and drive business results, not just focus on recruiting talent,” Bombardier emphasized.

But here’s a concerning statistic: A Gartner survey found that currently, only 25% of hiring managers are actually influenced by recruiters’ recommendations, and just 35% are satisfied with recruiting’s impact on business results: “Hiring managers want quality talent that will support both current and future needs, and they want it quickly.”

According to Bombardier, talent advisors have four defining qualities that allow them to deliver results for a business:

Stay relevant and impactful to the business
Drive business results through decreased time to fill, increased quality of candidates, and impactful talent that can pivot to future needs
Capture the attention of the right talent
Show hiring managers how they can improve business outcomes through hiring decisions

Evolving into a Talent Advisor

So, how can a recruiter start the transformation into a talent advisor? It takes a strong desire to gather knowledge, form relationships, and build trust. Here are three key steps that Bombardier shared for recruiters:

Become an expert in your industry. Accumulate knowledge about your field and talent market with research. Subscribe to industry newsletters, join social media groups, read relevant government reports, and network.
Develop a solid business acumen. Understand your organization’s strategic goals and initiatives, how they influence talent needed, and how you can align talent with those goals. Conduct a thorough TA consultation with the hiring manager to uncover critical success factors, and find out how they envision the role will drive results. Showing a hiring manager what you can do by delivering quality results will strengthen your relationship and you’ll be sought out more often as an expert.
Use the power of persuasion. Help hiring managers broaden their perspectives. “Be comfortable with challenging the norm,” Bombardier said. “Show them how a candidate can fit their need in an untraditional way, or with transferrable skills.” Offer insight and information, using data and facts to support recommendations.

What Tech Does a Talent Advisor Need?

On the journey to becoming a talent advisor, using the right mix of technology will aid the process. Bombardier says these four tech tools are a talent advisor’s “tricks of the trade.” Here’s how they can help:

AI discovery helps recruiters quickly raise candidates to hiring managers. Refining AI based on feedback from hiring managers allows talent teams to continuously surface the best candidates for the roles, shared Bombardier.

Candidate Fit Scores help recruiters efficiently identify the best-matched profiles to a job description, placing the best candidates in front of managers.

Dynamic Talent Pipelines enable planning for current and future needs. With strong keywords and match criteria, you can continually keep candidates in your sight to respond to fluctuating staffing needs.

Data and Analytics give recruiters authority. “Use it to tell a story and influence the process and the hiring manager,” Bombardier said. Mine data and analytics to understand where talent is coming from, what the talent flow looks like, and how candidates are behaving. Then, personalize your outreach.

Resource: How Micro Focus Drives Successful Business Outcomes with Talent Analytics

How Hiring Managers Benefit from Talent Advisors

When recruiters can evolve into talent advisors, they can help hiring managers:

More strategically leverage the internal talent pool
Retain talent longer
Increase diversity of talent with a broader approach that includes new channels and networks for talent connection
Get time back so they can focus on developing and retaining top talent

“Being a talent advisor won’t come overnight,” Bombardier concluded. “It takes time to learn the business and build trust. Where you can, use tools to help propel your journey forward.”