talent-acquisition

name	talent-acquisition
description	Expert talent acquisition covering recruiting strategy, candidate sourcing, interview design, employer branding, and hiring analytics. Use when building job descriptions, designing interview scorecards, analyzing hiring funnels, drafting sourcing outreach, structuring compensation bands, or improving offer acceptance rates.
license	MIT + Commons Clause
metadata	{"version":"1.0.0","author":"borghei","category":"hr-operations","updated":"2026-03-31T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["recruiting","hiring","sourcing","interviews","employer-brand"]}

Talent Acquisition

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

Workflow

1. 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.
2. Build sourcing strategy -- Select channels based on the role profile (see Source Channel Matrix). Set weekly outreach targets and pipeline stage goals.
3. Screen candidates -- Apply the structured phone screen framework. Score against must-have criteria. Pass or reject within 48 hours.
4. Run interviews -- Use competency-based scorecards. Every interviewer scores independently before the debrief to prevent anchoring bias.
5. Extend offer -- Follow the offer approval workflow. Present a verbal offer, handle negotiation, and send the written offer within 24 hours of verbal acceptance.
6. 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

1. Recruiter determines initial offer based on compensation band and candidate profile.
2. Hiring manager reviews and confirms level and scope alignment.
3. HRBP checks internal equity and budget availability.
4. Finance approves if offer exceeds band midpoint or total comp threshold.
5. 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