From Talent Sourcer to Talent Partner: 5 things I’ve learnt along the way

There’s more to it than filling roles

I’m Sydney, a Talent Partner here at WeGift. I joined 6 months ago as hire number 2 in the Talent Team. If I’m being honest, I was nervous to get started. Fintech and payments felt slightly out of my comfort zone and something I could barely begin to explain. But I was excited. I could see that the product being built was innovative, it was smart and it was solving a problem; a problem I understood.

And I was right to be excited. In just 6 months, I’ve been promoted from Talent Sourcer to Talent Partner, and experienced huge professional growth. WeGift was only my second role in the Talent space and I originally joined as a Talent Sourcer, a similar role to my previous experience. As a Talent Sourcer, I was primarily responsible for pooling candidates, outreaching and first screening calls, before passing them over to a Talent Partner to be progressed through the process. At WeGift, however, I was encouraged to be involved in all stages of the recruitment process, starting by shadowing everything from technical screens through to presenting insights in reporting syncs. I was supported in decision making and actively given opportunities to receive and challenge feedback. Learning through osmosis was valuable for seeing the autonomy the teams have in their roles, with the freedom to be creative in their approach to solving problems and, although not always right, seeing how they owned, digested, reflected on mistakes created a comfortable environment for me to do the same. This enabled me to upskill quickly, and the transition to Talent Partner was a natural step forward.

As I look back on my journey so far, I’ve reflected on the skills that I’ve learnt which have contributed to me becoming an effective Talent Partner.

Candidate Experience is Key

We’re in an incredibly competitive market, even with what appears to be a difficult economic time on the horizon, and we find ourselves competing with equally exciting businesses who are looking to secure the same top talent. By providing a candidate experience that’s both seamless and supportive, without compromising on time, we are able to attract and retain high quality candidates, while successfully competing with these other high growth businesses. Being committed to building high performing teams by hiring great people contributes to the success of candidate referrals. Great people know great people, and a positive candidate experience gives the best possible chance of being an employer of choice for world class talent. Being a Talent Partner gives the opportunity to consistently improve candidate experience, a metric which should be closely monitored. For example, initial calls should be a two way discovery. Of course, we want to find out as much as possible about a candidate’s background, experience and motivations, but equally there must be adequate time for the candidate to ask questions and for us to share the mission and exciting future plans of the business. If it’s looking to be a good fit, a full overview of the process and each stage is given, including who they’ll be meeting and what to expect.

Build Trust with Hiring Managers

Hiring Managers are one of the most important stakeholders of a Talent Partner and the relationship that is built with them will contribute to the success of hiring. Keep them updated, organise a recurring sync meeting every other day to run through pipeline health, candidates in process, market insights and reporting metrics. Be honest with them when facing blockers with a role, present the opportunity for their support in order to work on ways to overcome them collaboratively. It’s building this trust that enables you to adapt to changing circumstances, set and commit to expectations, be honest about challenges and feel empowered to make decisions.

Actively seek learning opportunities

We are all always learning, evolving in our careers and developing skills. Coaching from a Manager, prepared resources and learning sessions are great ways to gain skills, but taking accountability for personal learning can accelerate your development. Committing to new things can be a great way to learn. The thought of doing something for the first time can be nerve wracking, but with support from peers, when given the opportunity, go for it. Take a risk, but evaluate the learnings, whether successful or not. Ask lots of questions, proactively search for different resources and expect to make mistakes — just learn from them quickly.

Embrace challenges, they promote creativity

Challenges happen on a daily basis, they keep our roles exciting and ensure we continue to learn. For example, most of us in Talent will have managed a tough role. This could be anything from niche domain expertise to specific industry experience, and after running multiple extended ‘boolean’ searches with little rewards, it can become frustrating. However, this creates an opportunity for us to think more creatively about our sourcing methods. Market mapping is a great way to extend the candidate pool, identify and engage with top talent who may not otherwise surface in searches. Attending events and listening to different seminars helps to expand networks, while also providing alternative ways to uncover and attract talent. There are a number of different groups and communities full of top professionals, so joining these and immersing into the content and conversations they provide can yield great results, both from a hiring and learning perspective.

Consistently look for improvements in the hiring process

Often recruitment processes are predefined, but that does not mean that they cannot be improved. Aim to build a process that enables you to move fast and reduce time to hire, while also allowing candidate capabilities to be effectively measured. And continually iterate this. Data provides valuable insights into the success and potential blockers of the hiring process. Utilise passthrough data to evaluate which stages are bottlenecks, seek a greater insight into the reasoning and consider altering the process to resolve this. As well as internally assessing the hiring processes, external feedback is hugely valuable too. Building a strong working relationship with your candidates enables you to gain true and honest feedback about the hiring process, which can drive meaningful change.

In summary, my transition from Talent Sourcer to Talent Partner is something I’m incredibly proud of, but I recognise that I am still very early into my talent career. I’m excited for the future, looking forward to what I can learn and the impact I can make. I hope to reflect in the upcoming years and add the above learnings, striving to be the most effective Talent Partner I can be. I’ve highlighted what I believe makes a great Talent Partner and I’d love to hear your thoughts or ideas in the comments!

If you’re looking to work alongside a team of super talented individuals and join us on our mission to build the future of digital payouts, check out our careers page!