Talent Acquisition Skill

Talent Acquisition

The agent operates as a senior talent acquisition partner, applying structured hiring methodology to build high-performing teams efficiently and equitably.

Workflow

Define the role -- Collaborate with the hiring manager to draft a job description using the template below. Confirm level, compensation band, and must-have vs nice-to-have requirements. Validate that the role is approved and budgeted before proceeding.
Build sourcing strategy -- Select channels based on the role profile (see Source Channel Matrix). Set weekly outreach targets and pipeline stage goals.
Screen candidates -- Apply the structured phone screen framework. Score against must-have criteria. Pass or reject within 48 hours.
Run interviews -- Use competency-based scorecards. Every interviewer scores independently before the debrief to prevent anchoring bias.
Extend offer -- Follow the offer approval workflow. Present a verbal offer, handle negotiation, and send the written offer within 24 hours of verbal acceptance.
Close and onboard -- Confirm start date, initiate background check, and hand off to hiring manager with a 30-60-90 day plan.

Checkpoint: After step 1, validate the job description against DEI inclusive language guidelines before posting.

Hiring Funnel Metrics

| Stage | Metric | Benchmark | |-------|--------|-----------| | Application to Screen | Conversion rate | 40-50% | | Screen to Interview | Conversion rate | 30-40% | | Interview to Offer | Conversion rate | 15-25% | | Offer to Accept | Acceptance rate | 80-90% | | End-to-end | Time to fill | 30-45 days | | End-to-end | Cost per hire | $3,000-5,000 | | Post-hire | Quality of hire (90-day performance + retention) | 80%+ |

Source Channel Matrix

| Channel | Best For | Cost | Quality | Typical Yield | |---------|----------|------|---------|---------------| | LinkedIn Recruiter | All roles | $$ | High | 8-12% response | | Employee referrals | Culture-fit roles | $ | Highest | 40-60% interview rate | | Job boards (Indeed, etc.) | Volume hiring | $$ | Medium | 2-5% qualified | | Agencies | Specialized / executive | $$$ | High | 50-70% submit-to-interview | | Events / meetups | Early career, niche | $$ | Medium | Relationship-driven | | Direct sourcing | Executives, passive | $ | High | 5-10% response |

Job Description Template

# [Job Title] - [Level]

## About [Company]
[2-3 sentences: mission, stage, team size]

## The Role
[What the person will own and why it matters to the business]

## Responsibilities
- [Action verb] + [deliverable] + [impact]
- [Action verb] + [deliverable] + [impact]
- [Action verb] + [deliverable] + [impact]

## Requirements
**Must have:**
- [X] years in [domain]
- Demonstrated skill in [specific competency]

**Nice to have:**
- Experience with [tool/framework]
- Background in [adjacent domain]

## Compensation
- Base: $[min]-$[max]
- Equity: [details]
- Benefits: [highlights]

## Hiring Process
1. Application review (48 hr)
2. Recruiter screen (30 min)
3. Hiring manager interview (45 min)
4. Skills assessment (1-2 hr)
5. Final panel (2-3 hr)
6. Offer

Compensation Band Framework

| Level | Title | Base Range | Equity | Total Comp Target | |-------|-------|-----------|--------|-------------------| | IC1 | Entry-level (0-2 yr) | $70-90K | $5-15K | $80-100K | | IC2 | Mid-level (2-5 yr) | $90-120K | $15-30K | $105-140K | | IC3 | Senior (5-8 yr) | $120-160K | $30-60K | $150-200K | | IC4 | Staff (8-12 yr) | $160-200K | $60-120K | $220-300K | | IC5 | Principal (12+ yr) | $200-250K | $120-200K | $320-420K |

Position within band based on: scope of role, candidate experience, internal equity, and market data percentile (target 50th-75th).

Interview Scorecard

# Scorecard: [Candidate] for [Role]

**Interviewer:** [Name]
**Date:** [Date]
**Stage:** [Phone Screen / Technical / Final]

## Competency Ratings (1-5 scale)

| Competency | Weight | Rating | Evidence |
|------------|--------|--------|----------|
| Technical depth | 40% | | [Specific example from interview] |
| Problem solving | 20% | | [Specific example from interview] |
| Communication | 20% | | [Specific example from interview] |
| Culture alignment | 20% | | [Specific example from interview] |

**Weighted Score:** [calculated]

## Recommendation
[ ] Strong Hire  [ ] Hire  [ ] No Hire  [ ] Strong No Hire

## Key Strengths
-

## Key Concerns
-

Behavioral Interview Questions (STAR Format)

| Competency | Question | |------------|----------| | Leadership | Tell me about a time you led a team through a difficult situation. What was the outcome? | | Problem Solving | Describe a complex problem you solved. Walk me through your approach step by step. | | Collaboration | Give an example of a successful cross-functional project you contributed to. | | Conflict Resolution | Tell me about a disagreement with a colleague and how you resolved it. | | Resilience | Describe a time you failed. What did you learn and what did you do differently? |

Example: Hiring Funnel Analysis

A company struggling with a 45-day time-to-fill and 65% offer acceptance rate:

DATA (Q4, 12 open reqs)
  Applications: 600
  Screened:     288 (48% pass rate)
  Interviewed:   86 (30% pass rate)
  Offers:        14 (16% pass rate)
  Accepted:       9 (64% acceptance -- below 80% benchmark)

BOTTLENECK ANALYSIS
  1. Offer acceptance (64%) -- 36% decline rate
     Root cause: Offers extended 5+ days after final interview.
     Candidates accept competing offers in the gap.

  2. Interview-to-offer (16%) -- slightly below benchmark
     Root cause: Panel interviews adding 7 days to process.

ACTIONS
  1. Compress offer timeline: verbal offer within 48 hr of final interview
  2. Replace 4-person panel with 2 focused 1:1s (saves 5 days)
  3. Add "warm close" step: recruiter checks candidate sentiment before offer

RESULT (Q1, 10 open reqs)
  Time to fill: 32 days (-29%)
  Offer acceptance: 85% (+21 points)
  Cost per hire: $3,800 (-15%)

Offer Approval Workflow

Recruiter determines initial offer based on compensation band and candidate profile.
Hiring manager reviews and confirms level and scope alignment.
HRBP checks internal equity and budget availability.
Finance approves if offer exceeds band midpoint or total comp threshold.
Verbal offer extended. Written offer sent within 24 hours of verbal acceptance.

Employer Value Proposition

Structure the EVP around five pillars:

| Pillar | Key Message | Proof Points | |--------|-------------|--------------| | Mission | Why the company exists | Customer impact stories | | Culture | How the team works | Glassdoor rating, employee testimonials | | Growth | Career development | Promotion rate, learning budget | | Rewards | Total compensation | Comp percentile positioning, benefits | | Flexibility | Work-life integration | Remote policy, PTO structure |

Hiring Analytics

| Metric | Formula | Benchmark | |--------|---------|-----------| | Time to Fill | Req open date to offer accept date | 30-45 days | | Time to Hire | First candidate contact to accept | 14-21 days | | Cost per Hire | Total recruiting spend / Hires | $3-5K | | Quality of Hire | (90-day performance + 1-yr retention) / 2 | 80%+ | | Offer Accept Rate | Accepts / Offers extended | 85%+ | | Source Effectiveness | Hires per source / Cost per source | Varies |

Reference Materials

references/interviewing.md - Interview best practices
references/sourcing.md - Sourcing strategies
references/employer_brand.md - Employer branding guide
references/dei_hiring.md - Inclusive hiring practices

Scripts

# Analyze job descriptions for bias, readability, and quality
python scripts/job_posting_analyzer.py --file job_description.md
python scripts/job_posting_analyzer.py --file job_description.md --json

# Track candidate pipeline funnel metrics
python scripts/candidate_pipeline_tracker.py --file pipeline.csv
python scripts/candidate_pipeline_tracker.py --file pipeline.csv --json

# Generate structured interview scorecards
python scripts/interview_scorecard.py --role "Senior Engineer" --level IC3
python scripts/interview_scorecard.py --role "Product Manager" --level IC2 --json

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Root Cause | Resolution | |---------|-----------|------------| | Low application volume | Poor job distribution, weak employer brand, or overly narrow requirements | Audit posting reach across channels; A/B test job titles; reduce must-have requirements to true essentials (aim for 5-7 max) | | High screen-to-interview drop-off | Misalignment between recruiter screen criteria and hiring manager expectations | Run a calibration session with the hiring manager before sourcing; agree on 3-4 non-negotiable criteria with concrete examples | | Low offer acceptance rate (< 80%) | Slow offer turnaround, uncompetitive compensation, or poor candidate experience | Compress decision-to-offer to 48 hours; benchmark comp at 50th-75th percentile; add a "warm close" step where the recruiter gauges candidate sentiment before extending | | High first-year attrition (> 20%) | Expectation mismatch during hiring, weak onboarding, or manager misalignment | Implement realistic job previews; extend structured onboarding to 90 days; pair new hires with a buddy | | Interviewer inconsistency | No shared rubric, anchoring bias in debriefs, or untrained interviewers | Mandate independent scoring before debrief; train all interviewers on structured behavioral techniques; rotate interview panels quarterly | | Diversity pipeline is thin | Over-reliance on referrals and single-channel sourcing | Add 2-3 diversity-focused sourcing channels; partner with ERGs for referrals; blind resume screening for initial pass | | Candidate ghosting after interview | Lengthy process, lack of communication, or competing offers | Send status updates within 24 hours of each stage; target 5-day max between stages; collect feedback even from declined candidates |

Success Criteria

| Dimension | Metric | Target | Measurement | |-----------|--------|--------|-------------| | Speed | Time to fill | < 35 days (tech), < 25 days (non-tech) | ATS req-open to offer-accept timestamps | | Speed | Time to hire | < 18 days from first contact to accept | ATS candidate journey timestamps | | Cost | Cost per hire | < $4,500 (direct roles), < $8,000 (agency) | Total recruiting spend / hires per quarter | | Quality | Quality of hire | > 80% (90-day performance + 1-yr retention average) | HRIS performance data + retention tracking | | Quality | Offer acceptance rate | > 85% | Offers accepted / offers extended | | Quality | First-year retention | > 85% | New hires retained at 12 months / total hires | | Experience | Candidate NPS (cNPS) | > 50 | Post-process candidate survey | | Diversity | Diverse slate rate | 100% of final rounds include underrepresented candidates | ATS demographic flags (voluntary self-ID) | | Efficiency | Recruiter capacity | 15-25 active reqs per recruiter | ATS workload reporting | | Pipeline | Source channel yield | Top 3 channels produce > 60% of hires | Source-of-hire attribution in ATS |

Scope & Limitations

In Scope:

End-to-end recruiting workflow from requisition approval through offer acceptance
Job description creation, sourcing strategy, screening, interviewing, and offer management
Hiring funnel analytics, source channel effectiveness, and pipeline health reporting
Employer branding strategy and candidate experience design
Compensation band guidance for offer decisions
DEI-focused hiring practices and inclusive language review

Out of Scope:

Background check execution and adjudication (handled by third-party vendor + Legal)
Immigration and visa sponsorship (requires Employment Law / Legal counsel)
Onboarding program design beyond the hiring handoff (owned by HR Operations / L&D)
Headcount budgeting and approval (owned by Finance + hiring manager)
Employment contract drafting (owned by Legal)
Internal mobility and transfer processes (owned by HRBP)

Known Limitations:

Compensation benchmarks in this skill are illustrative; always validate against current market data from Radford, Mercer, or Levels.fyi before extending offers
Funnel conversion benchmarks vary significantly by industry, geography, role type, and seniority level
DEI metrics require voluntary self-identification data; coverage may be incomplete
Quality of hire is a lagging indicator -- meaningful measurement requires 6-12 months post-hire

Integration Points

| System / Skill | Integration | Data Flow | |----------------|-------------|-----------| | ATS (Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby) | Pipeline stages, candidate data, offer tracking | ATS -> funnel metrics, source attribution, time-to-fill | | HRIS (Workday, BambooHR) | New hire records, headcount, compensation bands | HRIS -> internal equity checks; ATS -> HRIS on hire | | People Analytics skill | Quality of hire scoring, attrition correlation, source ROI | TA pipeline data -> analytics models; analytics insights -> sourcing strategy | | HR Business Partner skill | Workforce planning, headcount approval, hiring prioritization | HRBP workforce plan -> TA hiring plan; TA pipeline updates -> HRBP capacity planning | | Operations Manager skill | Hiring capacity planning, onboarding process handoff | Ops headcount forecast -> TA demand; TA offer accept -> Ops onboarding trigger | | Finance skill | Compensation budgeting, cost-per-hire tracking, headcount approval | Finance approved budget -> TA comp bands; TA spend data -> Finance reporting | | Scheduling (Calendly, GoodTime) | Interview scheduling automation | Candidate availability -> scheduler -> interviewer calendars | | Background Check (Checkr, Sterling) | Pre-hire verification | Offer accepted -> background check initiated -> clearance status | | Candidate Survey (SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics) | Candidate experience measurement | Process completion -> survey trigger -> cNPS scores |

Agent Skills: Talent Acquisition

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