What is talent acquisition?
Definition • Big picture
Talent acquisition is a long-term, strategic approach to
attracting, selecting, and integrating people who can meet the
organization’s current and future talent needs. It focuses on
building pipelines and relationships, not just filling one open
req.
How is talent acquisition different from recruiting?
Definition • Comparison
Recruiting usually focuses on filling specific openings quickly.
Talent acquisition looks ahead at future needs, builds talent
pools, shapes employer brand, and aligns staffing plans with
business strategy.
What is an employer value proposition (EVP)?
Definition • Attraction
The EVP is the clear promise of what employees receive in return
for their time, skills, and effort—things like culture, growth,
pay, benefits, purpose, and flexibility. A strong EVP attracts
the right candidates and retains them.
What is employer branding?
Definition • Brand
Employer branding is how the organization is perceived as a
place to work. It’s the stories, reviews, social media presence,
and candidate experience that signal what it feels like to be an
employee there.
What is a talent pipeline?
Definition • Pipeline
A talent pipeline is a group of people who are already identified,
engaged, and somewhat prequalified for future roles. Pipelines
shorten time to fill and improve quality because you aren’t
starting from zero with each opening.
What does “time to fill” measure?
Metric • Speed
Time to fill measures the total number of days from when a
requisition is opened until an offer is accepted. It shows how
efficiently the TA process moves and how long roles stay vacant.
What is “quality of hire” and how is it assessed?
Metric • Effectiveness
Quality of hire reflects how successful new hires are after they
join. It can include performance ratings, productivity, retention,
cultural fit, and sometimes manager satisfaction scores.
What is a yield ratio in recruiting?
Metric • Conversion
A yield ratio shows what percentage of candidates move from one
stage to the next (for example: 20 interviews → 5 offers = 25%
interview-to-offer yield). It helps you see where candidates are
dropping out.
Why are structured interviews preferred over unstructured?
Tool • Selection
Structured interviews use the same job-related questions and
rating scales for every candidate. They are more reliable,
reduce bias, and tend to have higher predictive validity than
“chat-style” unstructured interviews.
What does predictive validity mean in selection tools?
Tool • Validity
Predictive validity is the degree to which a selection method
(like a test or interview score) actually predicts future job
performance. High predictive validity means higher scores today
relate to stronger performance later.
What is candidate experience and why does it matter?
Metric • Experience
Candidate experience is how applicants feel about the process—
communication, respect, clarity, speed, and fairness. Poor
experience can damage employer brand, reduce offer acceptance,
and even affect customer perception.
What is adverse impact?
Legal • Fairness
Adverse impact occurs when a seemingly neutral selection practice
disproportionately screens out members of a protected group. It
doesn’t require intent; it’s about outcomes and can indicate a
need to review and adjust the process.
What is disparate treatment?
Legal • Fairness
Disparate treatment is intentional discrimination—treating
candidates differently based on protected characteristics such as
race, sex, age, or disability, rather than job-related factors.
What does “job-related and consistent with business necessity” mean?
Legal • Validity
Selection tools and requirements should be clearly tied to actual
job tasks and performance. They should measure competencies that
matter for success, not unrelated personal traits or preferences.
Scenario: Time to fill is low but new hire turnover in 6 months is very high. What does that suggest?
Scenario • Trade-off
The process is fast but may be sacrificing quality of hire.
You may be rushing interviews, not clarifying job realities, or
not assessing fit. The TA strategy needs more focus on quality,
realistic job previews, and onboarding.
Scenario: Your applicant pool is diverse, but final hires are not. What might be happening?
Scenario • Fairness
Bias or adverse impact may be occurring in later stages (screening,
interviews, or offers). You’d examine the funnel by stage,
review criteria for job-relatedness, train interviewers, and
consider structured tools.
Scenario: You must fill safety-critical roles (e.g., CMV drivers) quickly without compromising safety. What’s the TA challenge?
Scenario • Risk & quality
You have to balance speed with rigorous screening (MVR,
background, safety record, training potential). TA should build
pipelines in advance, use targeted sourcing, and keep safety
criteria job-related and consistent.
Scenario: The OA asks how you would improve talent acquisition for a growing company. What should your answer include?
Scenario • OA framing
Reference the full system: clarify workforce plan, strengthen
sourcing channels, improve selection validity and fairness,
refine onboarding, and add metrics (time, cost, quality,
diversity, experience) to track progress.
Scenario: Referral hires perform well but diversity is declining. What adjustment might you make?
Scenario • Balance
Keep referrals but intentionally expand sourcing to new schools,
communities, or platforms that reach underrepresented groups.
Adjust goals so you protect quality while improving diversity of
the slate.
Deep practice idea: in Test mode, pick a scenario card and sketch a
short 3–4 sentence answer using specific metrics and concepts before
revealing the answer.