Talent Pool Curation

In the early days of Gem, our mighty recruiting team of 1 was drowning—30+ open reqs, hundreds of candidates lost in spreadsheets, three hiring managers pitching the same person. Until our Head of People said, "What if we treated talent like customers?" Here's exactly how we rebuilt our talent strategy: BACKGROUND: We were scaling fast. Talent data lived everywhere: personal inboxes, random spreadsheets, forgotten Slack threads. The breaking point: we lost a staff engineer to our competitor. - Candidate had expressed interest 8 months earlier - Their info was buried in an ex contract recruiter's inbox - By the time we found it, they'd already signed elsewhere Then came the embarrassment: Three different people reached out to the same eng leader candidate. Different messages. Two different comp ranges. The candidate forwarded all three emails back: "You might want to get aligned internally first." That's when we realized: most talent pools aren't pools—they're graveyards where good candidates go to be forgotten. THE SHIFT: Initially, I thought better spreadsheets would fix it. Classic founder mistake :) Our Head of People pushed back: "We spend millions on CRM for sales. Why are we tracking our second-most-important pipeline in Google Sheets?" If candidates are future employees, why weren't we treating them like future customers? We had just launched shared projects in Gem, so here’s the system we built: —— 1. Individual Pools (specific roles): One pool per req. A/B test outreach. Track "silver medalists." Share with hiring managers. 2. Team-Wide Pools (evergreen roles): Frontend. Backend. Data Science. ML. One curator per pool. Clear naming: "TP_Frontend_Senior" 3. Engagement Cadence: Monthly: Blog posts, company wins 1-2x Quarterly: In-person happy hours & meetups Annual: "Where are you now?" check-ins 4. CRM Layer: Filter by location, experience, diversity metrics Search all pools simultaneously Track every interaction —— ↳ Now, what did this actually accomplish? - Time-to-fill dropped significantly. - Response rates improved dramatically. - Duplicate outreach vanished. And here’s how you REALLY knew we were on to something: Candidates we engaged with started reaching out to us first. Not for jobs. Just to stay connected. To refer friends. We'd built a community, not a database. Key lessons: Talent pools without engagement are expensive graveyards. Build relationships before you need them. Treat candidates like customers, not inventory. P.S. This system became what Gem is today. If your team's still losing candidates in spreadsheets, let's talk.

Why do we let our talent pools go stale when we’re not hiring? Here’s the pattern I’ve seen time and again: - Hiring slows down. - Talent teams pause sourcing. - CRMs gather dust. Great candidates from previous roles? Forgotten. When hiring ramps up again… it’s back to square one. But what if your talent pool worked for you, even when you're not hiring? This is where agentic AI might offer a solution. Agentic AI isn’t just automation. It’s about AI agents that take initiative by building relationships, learning from responses, and acting proactively. Here’s how you could use it to solve the "no hiring = no pooling" trap: Candidate Relationship Nurturing AI agents engage passive talent with personalised, non-job messaging, think industry insights, product updates, or just checking in on career goals. Skills Intelligence + Future Forecasting AI can predict what roles you’ll need to fill next, and build warm pipelines ahead of demand. Internal Mobility & Redeployment Surface internal talent for future gaps or cross-functional projects with zero manual effort. Community Building at Scale Host events, share resources, manage Slack groups—and let AI do the follow-ups that Talent teams never have time for. Some tools worth exploring: CRM/Engagement: Juicebox, Beamery, Eightfold Outreach: Clay + GPT, Dripify Ops & Analysis: Airtable or Notion with embedded AI Custom Agents: OpenAI API + Zapier or Cognosys-style copilots It’s time we rethink what “talent pooling” means. Not a static list. A living, breathing network that is nurtured by AI, ready when you are. Curious how this could look in practice? Happy to share ideas.

𝗧𝗼𝗼 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: “𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱?” While it may sound practical, this way of thinking overlooks what really drives business outcomes: 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁. An effective talent pool is not simply a list of employees or potential hires. It’s a dynamic map of capabilities that the organization can draw on to meet evolving business needs. Building this kind of pool requires asking the right questions:  • 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆?  • 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀?  • 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀? By reframing talent planning around skills rather than positions, organizations gain agility. Instead of being locked into rigid structures, they are better positioned to adapt to shifting markets, emerging technologies, and new opportunities. But a talent pool is not something you build once and forget. Business priorities change, and so must your approach to talent. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘅 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀, 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗴𝗮𝗽𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. The essence of effective talent pooling comes down to three principles:  𝟭. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁.  𝟮. 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀.  𝟯. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁. When done well, a talent pool moves beyond simply filling roles. It ensures the organization is equipped with the right capabilities, at the right time, to remain competitive and resilient in a changing world.

Many organizations mistakenly believe that flooding the market with job adverts or engaging multiple agencies will guarantee access to top-tier talent. However, in reality, these strategies often fall short in delivering the caliber of candidates needed, leading to the necessity of restarting the recruitment process. Typically, job adverts only capture the attention of the "active" job seekers, constituting merely 20% of professionals actively searching for opportunities. The truly exceptional candidates, sought after for critical roles, are usually part of the passive talent pool, comprising over 45% of the workforce. These individuals, content in their current positions, are not actively seeking new opportunities through traditional job postings. To tap into this passive talent market requires a personalized, relationship-driven approach that conventional advertising methods alone cannot achieve. The complexity intensifies in a competitive, multi-agency recruitment environment where speed often outweighs quality. Recruiters, racing against each other, may overlook investing the necessary time to cultivate relationships with passive candidates, resulting in a superficial engagement that fails to attract top-tier talent. The consequences are evident: - Repetitive submissions of active candidates from various agencies - Limited interaction with hidden, high-caliber talent - A fragmented candidate experience detrimental to the employer's reputation In contrast, an exclusive collaboration with a reputable recruitment partner allows for the dedicated focus and time essential to unlock this untapped talent pool. This strategic alliance facilitates targeted searches, direct engagement, and the introduction of candidates who, although not actively seeking roles, possess the potential to elevate and innovate your organization. In essence, the quantity of adverts and agencies does not equate to quality choices; in many cases, it diminishes them. Optimal outcomes stem from a singular, steadfast partnership centered on excellence. We welcome the opportunity to explore how 1st Executive collaborates with organizations to secure top-tier, passive talent, driving success in recruitment endeavors.

𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐑𝐎𝐈 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬! 🚀 Welcome back to the third post of my High-ROI Talent Acquisition Hacks Series, where I share actionable insights to elevate your recruiting game. If you missed the earlier posts, make sure to check them out! 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐭𝐞𝐦 #𝟑: 𝐆𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 🔥 📊 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: According to LinkedIn, companies that nurture talent pools reduce their time-to-hire by 40% and improve quality of hire by 30%. Building relationships pays off in the long run! If you find yourself starting from scratch every time you open a role, and always reaching out to new people - that's a sign that something's missing in your sourcing strategy. Want some tips on how to fix it? Then keep reading 👀 ✅ 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐓𝐒 𝐂𝐑𝐌: Tag and organize promising candidates by expertise, seniority, skillset, location, etc. The possibilities are endless. This way, you can easily access and engage with pre-qualified talent when a relevant role opens up. ✅ 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬: Schedule reminders in your calendar or ATS to check in with silver medalists and interesting profiles at least every 3 months. Engage in genuine conversations about their life, career ambitions, and interests beyond just selling roles. It’s all about building long-term relationships. ✅ 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐬: Invite promising candidates to your office or treat them for coffee at a nice coffee shop. Getting to know people in a relaxed environment outside the formal recruitment process can provide invaluable insights into their motivations and aspirations that you can leverage in future searches. ✅ 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬: If certain great candidates don’t work out for a particular reason, ask for their consent to refer them to your network. Connect them with other recruiters or contacts who might have suitable opportunities. This thoughtful gesture can foster goodwill and may lead to future referrals for you. Shifting to a relational mindset will give you a robust and engaged talent pipeline. Stop simply filling roles - start cultivating long-term connections. ✨ 🔔 If you found this tip useful, stay tuned for more high-ROI action items that will take your talent acquisition game to the next level. #TalentAcquisition #CandidateExperience #RecruitmentSuccess #BuildRelationships

This is NOT how Talent Pooling Works! Talent pooling isn’t about collecting people and leaving them to drift aimlessly until the "right" opportunity comes along. It’s about engagement, nurturing relationships, and strategic planning. A true talent pool is dynamic—skills are constantly updated, connections are continuously made, and potential candidates are actively engaged. You don’t just leave talent in a pool; you actively swim alongside them, guiding them to the right opportunities within your organisation. Here’s the key: Effective talent pooling requires a strategy that encompasses PEOPLE, PROCESSES, and TECHNOLOGY—in that order. And it works across all hiring types: permanent, contract, part-time, contingent, extended, and internal. If invested in and executed well, you’ll see your reliance on agencies and job advertising dramatically decrease. One customer achieved an ROI of 22x their investment, with $13.2 million saved on agency and job advertising costs. If your idea of a talent pool is just a list of names sitting in a database, you’re doing it wrong. It’s time to rethink your strategy. #TalentManagement #Recruitment #Hiring #TalentCommunity #TalentPooling #TalentPool

Talent pools 🌊 Do they actually work? Short answer: Most of them don’t. I’ve honestly not seen many that recruiters actually use. The idea always sounds great: “Let’s build our own talent pool.” But what usually happens? It becomes a place full of old profiles… that nobody searches. Because it’s messy, slow, and not trustworthy. So recruiters go back to LinkedIn. From what I’ve seen, talent pools fail for very simple reasons: 🍿 no clear ownership 🍿 no structure 🍿 no engagement 🍿 no cleanup 🍿 and tools that make it harder, not easier And one big mindset issue: Most companies treat talent pools like storage. But the ones that work behave more like a CRM. The few setups I’ve seen that actually deliver hires look very different: They are not one big pool 👇 💡 they are segmented pipelines (role, skill, readiness) 💡 Someone owns them and is accountable for keeping them alive 💡 They are actively nurtured not just contacted when there is a job 💡 They are searchable, simple tags, not chaos 💡 They use automation, “are you still open?” check-ins 💡 AI re-matching when roles open And importantly 👇 they manage data decay Because reality is: 30–40% of people change roles in a few years. So if you don’t refresh, your data is already outdated. The biggest shift? A talent pool is not a database. It’s a living system 🍀 If I simplify it brutally: A talent pool works only if it is structured + owned + alive + easy to use Otherwise… it’s just a graveyard of CVs. I’m curious 👇 Have you seen a talent pool that actually works? What made it work (or fail)? Would love to hear real examples. I think we all have a few stories here 💛 This is what AI came up with when I asked it to visualize talent pools 😄👇 🙈 ---------------- 𝑭𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 (𝒗𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅) 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 💛

Only 32% of TA leaders are included in strategic planning activities or high-level decisions at all. That needs to change, fast. The role itself needs to change, along with the transformation that businesses and the job market are undergoing. We've put together practical resources to support TA leaders in that journey at a time of enormous change and increasing pressure. These materials provide clarity, sharpen strategy, and drive better results. 1) TA DIRECTION Talent Acquisition versus Recruiting: How a comprehensive talent acquisition strategy outperforms basic recruiting and integrates long-term staffing planning. https://lnkd.in/g6_gnjr5 Using the Shrinking Entry-Level Job Market as an Advantage: Addressing disappearing roles and skill deficits in the entry-level job market. https://lnkd.in/g27PWkTw Recruiting Role Changes: Reshaping the field as automation grows, requiring TA pros to reinvent their career by adapting, upskilling, and expanding their impact. https://lnkd.in/g5Riqtzr 2) HIRING QUALITY Doing Hiring Right: Transforming hiring with a systematic approach to candidate assessment and selection that improves results. https://lnkd.in/gNaeeWrq Candidate Evaluation Methods: Top candidate evaluation methods to forecast applicants' potential and impact, including what to do with AI. https://lnkd.in/grvECkX8 Talent Pools Strategic Guide: Establishing effective talent pools for quality hiring, leveraging data and tech. https://lnkd.in/g3zAg5Je 3) TALENT APPEAL Building a Robust EVP: Driving attraction and retention with a disciplined approach to establishing and maintaining an effective value proposition. https://lnkd.in/gBcCiDa9 Activating Employer Branding Strategies: Building a compelling brand that strengthens EVP and boosts recruiting success. https://lnkd.in/gNqmvHYW Unleashing the Power of a Great Candidate Experience: The essential elements and resources to create an effective experience from initial contact to onboarding. https://lnkd.in/gqSuq8gr Transforming Culture & Brand with Candidate Experience: Shaping a great candidate experience to strengthen company culture and brand by aligning hiring practices with values. https://lnkd.in/gMBg2r9J P.S. If this is helpful to other recruiters in your network, please repost or drop a comment below. ~ Click Carlos Larracilla and follow me [+🔔] for daily resources from Wowledge.

According to the latest JobAdder State of the Market report (Q2 2024), just 5% of roles are proactively sourced. This surprising stat reveals a major opportunity for organisations to rethink their recruitment approach and stop “returning to the well” for each new vacancy. Relying solely on reactive hiring means: - Significantly longer hiring processes - Increased recruitment costs - Risk of compromising on candidate quality Effective talent pooling isn’t just about faster hiring; it’s about creating a sustainable, and scalable, talent ecosystem. A proactive approach with your ATS helps capture those “silver medallists” — strong candidates who came close to landing the role. By tagging and nurturing these individuals, you build a pipeline that’s ready when you are, reducing the need to scramble for talent each time a role opens. Looking towards 2025, with potential economic shifts, including possible interest rate cuts and renewed international confidence, Australia’s hiring demand could surge. A forward-looking talent pool strategy will be crucial to meet this demand head-on. Key proactive for building talent pools internally include: - Leveraging your ATS: Tools like JobAdder can help you build and maintain dynamic internal sourcing processes. - Tag your silver medallists: As mentioned, don’t let great candidates slip away. You've done the hard work already, keep that talent warm and front of mind! - Segment and engage: Regularly engage your pool, focusing on diversity and potential for specific skills. Shifting from reactive hiring to strategic talent pooling isn’t just smart—it’s essential. Future-proofing your talent acquisition approach now will give you a competitive edge in 2025! Download the JobAdder report here - https://ter.li/fjfgv1 #scalr #jobadder

From "impossible" to interviews in four days! Recently a partner wanted to end their search. They'd given up within a week of putting out the job adverts on LinkedIn and their website. So we spent 30 minutes on a call with them. And the next few days, talent mapping. Here's what we found: - 2 studios had worked on a similar title - 11 studios were using the same engine - 23 studios were within 50 miles of their location Most importantly, 159 potential candidates in the region. With 142 of those with the experience they were looking for. The power of talent mapping is knowing where to look. Within 5 days: 3 candidates were sent = 3 interviews The method can be as simple as: List every studio within a certain radius Calculate the entire talent pool in the region Identify studios that have worked on similar titles Talent mapping genuinely changes everything. The impossible search turns into a clear strategy, from random outreaches you turn to targeted approaches and from guessing, you go to knowing. To hiring managers reading this: Never start a search without mapping your market first. The talent exists. You just need to know where to find them. What's your process for understanding your talent pool?