The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nearly four million Americans left their jobs mid-year in 2021. This staggering statistic paints a direct picture regarding the shift in the American workforce.

The drastic change in the labor market has made recruiting and retaining talent a crucial focus for many businesses. So what exactly does the recruitment process entail and does it differ from talent acquisition as a whole?

In this article, we’ll explore the differences between talent acquisition vs. recruiting and what the hiring process looks like for qualified candidates in today’s workforce.

Talent Acquisition vs. Recruiting

When it comes to filling job vacancies, focus and attention will differ depending on a variety of factors. Factors such as the urgency of the role needing to be filled or the type of role needing to be filled.

In broad terms, the main difference between the two comes down to timing. In general, recruitment leans more toward fulfilling immediate short-term planning needs, whereas talent acquisition focuses on long-term planning and relationship building.

Let’s take a separate look at each.

Recruiting

A good way to distinguish between the two is to take a look at the Great Resignation as an example. With millions of workers leaving their previous posts, there were sudden gaps in job openings that needed to be filled. Stat.

This is where the recruitment process has an advantage, if you will, over talent acquisition. With certain industries, sudden vacancies have an immediate fulfillment need, and the time and resources it takes to find the perfect hiring fit aren’t always feasible.

Good recruiters will know industry trends and the ins and outs of the current job market. The role of a recruiter is fairly broad but includes work such as:

• Finding and screening potential applicants
• Advertising open jobs
• Working in tandem with hiring managers
• Negotiating offers
• Working as a point of contact at job fairs
• Fulfilling the brand ambassador role

Recruiters ultimately help strengthen companies by placing talent within a vacant role.

Talent Acquisition

While recruiters work to fill vacant spots quickly, talent acquisition works on a more buildable time scale. It focuses more on honing in on niche skills and range of experience. Creating and maintaining a selective talent pipeline is what talent acquisition is all about. 

Some of the basic tenants of talent acquisition include:

• Outreach and relationship building
• Identify candidates who offer creative or technical skills
• Understanding workforce segmentation
• Articulating company brand and image
• Searching for and enhancing talent pools

At some level, talent acquisition could be considered more candidate-centric. This strategy in turn mutually benefits an organization by making sure the right person gets hired for the job.

Benefits to Both

So, when would one strategy be more beneficial than the other? It depends. Let’s look at an example.

Say your company is brand new and needs to fill multiple vacant roles, talent acquisition may be a better idea. Why is this? The steady growth made during the first years of business is crucial to its long-term success. The failure rate of many businesses during those first couple of years is about 20 percent.

Attracting, hiring, and retaining qualified candidates makes a difference to that long-term success. Good employees are simply good for business. When top talent gets acquired and placed into a role that fits with their skillset and capabilities, it’s a win-win for everyone.

Specialized Roles

In addition, talent acquisition may work better for niche industries. Highly technical roles aren’t necessarily an easy fill to make. Recruiters may have a broad pool of talent to choose from but may have a difficult time placing someone out of that pool within a specialized role.

Competition for niche roles is generally higher, and talent acquisition strategies are able to place candidates based on the scope of their skill set compared to the role in question.

Some additional roles industries that benefit from having talent acquisition or recruitment strategies in place are:

• Medicine
• Law
• Leadership roles
• Finance
• Technology
• Executive positions
• Engineering

Solutions

Once differentiation has been made on what route your business needs to go down, how does one go about hiring the right talent?

Whether through a recruiter or talent acquisition software, there are multiple options available for businesses today. Some solutions may include working with employer organization services which are built specifically to assist businesses with expanding their operations and finding the right connections.

Some additional strategies relate more toward the recruitment side such as:

• Requesting employee or stakeholder feedback
• Write and proofread strong job role descriptions
• Create brand engagement via socials
• Remain current with market trends
• Work on building solid company culture

It should be noted that prospective employees may not even be aware of open roles within a company unless proper steps are taken before, during, and after the recruitment process to nurture a company that attracts top talent.

Hiring the Right Fit

Hopefully, the information presented above in regards to the differences in talent acquisition vs. recruiting has been helpful. Both talent acquisition and recruitment are helpful tactics for bringing in top candidates for open job roles.

Whether a company has a short-term need to fill a role immediately, or a business is planning for long-term goals centered on acquiring top talent, it simply depends on the business. Good talent adds immediate value to a team, and recruiters and talent acquisition executives alike work to mitigate any risk that comes with a bad hire.

For additional information on business growth and talent, be sure to take a look at any of the articles we offer in our Business section!