I think everyone in the Talent Acquisition field would like to believe they are at the top of the food chain, in other words, a shark when it comes to finding and hiring top talent. The question is — whether you're controlling the waters of your own industry or if you are in a different ocean all together — how do you actually become a shark?
Quick shark fact: When some species' embryos begin to develop teeth, they eat their unborn brothers and sisters until one shark remains. Gross. I think some people, like baby sharks, are born with the killer instinct. Some people have these inherent qualities, but these qualities need to be developed to help them grow their own set of shark teeth.
The megamouth shark wasn't discovered by scientists until 1976, and there have only been 41 known sightings of this particular species. Like whale sharks, the megamouths are filter-feeders and have huge jaws that extend past their eyes. You may find one of these rare recruiters because they have happened into your waters (organization). What would you do to survive a shark attack on your valued talent? Is it possible to head hunt the head hunter? How would you convince this megamouth to work for your organization instead?
What does your talent pipeline look like? Do you have an internal one for recruiters? Can we all agree that highly successful members of the Talent Acquisition team have common shared qualities? For instance, sharks have an astounding sense of smell, so powerful that they can detect a single drop of blood in an Olympic-sized pool. This is a quality with which they are born. Is one of the basic qualities of a great recruiter the ability to sniff out talent? Great white sharks are picky eaters. Their diet requires lots of fat, and after one bite a great white shark can determine whether or not the meal will satisfy its nutritional needs. If it doesn't, the shark will leave the rest and swim away. What do your candidate assessments look like? Is your candidate experience killing your talent pipeline?
After all, it's a shark-eat-shark world.
photo by WildChild1976