Hiring glossary
What is a talent pool?
A talent pool is a database of people an organisation has identified as potential hires for current or future roles, such as past applicants, sourced prospects, former employees and referrals.
An applicant pool belongs to one opening; a talent pool persists across openings. It usually lives in the applicant-tracking system or a recruiting CRM, tagged by skills, location and the stage each person reached, so a recruiter can contact relevant people as soon as a new requisition opens.
A talent pool is only as useful as its upkeep. Records go stale as people change jobs, and contacting a former finalist about an irrelevant role damages the relationship. Teams that get value from one keep notes on why each person was strong and stay in occasional contact.
Also called: talent community.
Example
The runner-up for a product designer role last spring is tagged “final round, strong in user research”. When a new design opening is approved in the autumn, the recruiter contacts her before the job is posted.
Related terms
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