It takes a Talent Community to raise a dev team.

You communicated often online before finally meeting in person, and it was love at first sight. You quickly made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

The candidate you thought was perfect for the job rejected your offer after you invested a lot of time, money and resources into the recruiting process over several weeks or even months. It's normal to feel upset about this.

However, before you give into despair and start binging on Haagen Dazs ice cream while sending 3 AM text messages, remember that just because the candidate said no today doesn’t mean they will always say no. With a well-crafted talent community, you will have the chance to develop the relationship and eventually persuade them when the timing is better.

What is a Talent Community?
Why Build a Talent Community?
How to Build a Talent Community

What is a Talent Community?

A talent community is a group of people who have the skills and abilities that would make them ideal candidates for your company, but who are not currently available for employment.

Talent communities are networks that allow candidates to maintain a relationship with your company, even when they aren’t actively being considered for a role. This can include a candidate-focused email newsletter, social media networks, resume/candidate databases, and more.

The candidate was the top choice for the role, but they were unable to accept the position at that time.

A talent community will help you keep prospective candidates in your circle, rather than lose them forever, so that you are top of mind the next time a role opens up.

It may come as a surprise, but you already have a talent community. Those who have shown interest in your company as a potential employer, applied to an open role or even received an offer for a role they didn’t accept — they’re all members of your talent community.

You are responsible for how you use the resources of this community.

The primary goal of hiring top talent is to save time, money and resources.

Why you should build a talent community:
Reduce the time it takes to fill a position with an established pool of interested candidates.
Invest in prospective candidates to optimize cost per hire.
Keep your company at the forefront of both passive and active candidates' minds.
We recommend that you set aside more time to focus on top candidates in your talent pipeline.
Automate your candidate sourcing process to save time.

Your team's time and resources spent on attracting candidates, convincing them to apply, and scheduling interviews are not wasted if the candidate does not accept or is not a good fit for the role. Building a talent community will help you better utilize the resources and talent you’ve already invested.

1. Choose a platform for talent community

Before you begin, it is important to get organized. You will need to determine how and where you will build your talent community. This could range from using a simple spreadsheet to store email addresses and notes, to using dedicated candidate relationship management software such as Talentlyft

By automating communication features and offering personalization capabilities, CRM software can save you time that would otherwise be spent organizing and updating a spreadsheet.

An Applicant Tracking System may or may not have features for building a talent community; if it does, you will want to explore those features.

2. Identify your target community

Develop a set of standards that will help you to identify members of the talent community who should be given priority. While anyone who has the potential to become an employer might be part of your community, you will want to make sure that the group of people you spend the most time talking to are individuals who would be an excellent match for your company if the right opportunity arose.

These requirements are not specific to a role, but are more focused on the individual's potential and the skills and experience they will bring to your company, culture, and team.

Various audiences to take into account when planning:

Prospective employees that interviewed well but were not suited for the open position.
Prospective employees who have indicated they would be interested in working for your company, but do not possess the necessary qualifications for any of the open positions.
Anyone who made it through the interview process, but did not receive or accept an offer.
Referrals who are either interested or uninterested candidates.

3. Source candidates from all directions to ensure the best talent for the job.

There are several ways you can find prospective candidates for your talent community.

Start by prioritizing the people who you have invested the most time and money into — past applicants and interviewees. You know these people the best because you’ve already reviewed their credentials and gotten to know them in-person. You also have their contact information, and if you have an ATS, they are already in your system.

However, this is not the end. In addition to your current contacts, you will need to begin networking and providing potential candidates with the opportunity to join your talent community. Fortunately, you have many options in this area.

Email Subscription: Allow people to join your talent community by subscribing to your email list on your careers page. This will create an opportunity for people who don’t see a specific role that interests them but who are interested in your company as an employer.
Rejection Letters: It is always hard to write a rejection letter that the recipient can accept without being sad. Of course they have put in a lot of time, but after all, you want the best fitting person for the job. Let them know that they will be considered in the future if similar job openings open up. Encourage them further to apply again as you both took the time to get aquainted.
Career fairs and networking events can be great opportunities to meet candidates in person before they apply.
Your employees are the experts of your company, and their network of friends and colleagues are likely to share similar interests and backgrounds. Encourage employees to refer prospects and tap into their networks.
Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter offer a wide pool of potential candidates that can be searched according to interests and trending topics. You can find out more about recruiting and sourcing talent through social media here.
By investing in boomerang employees and employee alumni networks, companies are encouraging employees to chase their dreams, wherever they may be, and return when the time is right for them.
If you are looking to hire for entry-level positions, consider tapping into different education networks, such as recent college graduates, boot camps, and other certificate programs.
Diversify your sourcing channels to identify areas of homogeneity in your organization and target talent in diverse networks.

All things considered, a talent community shouldn't require more work than sourcing candidates directly. If you find that you're spending more time sorting through your talent community than sourcing candidates for specific roles, you should refine your criteria and segment people by roles, interests, and experience. This will ensure that your network is well-optimized and that candidates are receiving content that is relevant to them.

4. Content that will keep you top of mind

Job openings are not the only type of content you should circulate among your talent community.

It is important to maintain consistency with your employer branding and recruitment marketing strategies when creating and repurposing content to build your talent community.

A few more content ideas to consider:

Blogs: Develop a content strategy that includes repurposing existing content.
Industry News: By contributing to conversations around trending topics, you can reassure candidates that you are an industry leader.
Company News: Keeping candidates informed of company events helps both the candidate and the company.
Interview tips: No matter how experienced you are, interviews can be nerve-wracking. Help candidates feel more comfortable and better prepared by providing them with interview tips that are specific to your application process.
Career path: The most qualified candidates don't just apply for a job, they apply for a career. At our company, we want to inform candidates about different career opportunities we offer beyond the open roles.
Network events: We would like to inform candidates of upcoming networking events and career fairs your company is hosting to boost your sourcing efforts and encourage candidates to take the first step in joining your talent community.
Company culture: Culture is the most important factor in choosing a job.
Social benefits: It is also important to note that people are very concerned with their benefits, compensation, and perks. As such, it is beneficial to include this type of information in job descriptions. In addition, creating blog posts, videos, and testimonials that explain what your company has to offer would be advantageous.
Employee testimonials are a valuable asset to any company.

By following your company on social media platforms, opting in to email subscriptions, and engaging in conversations on forums or via chatbots, you can encourage people to receive content from all angles.

It's important to stay in touch with your talent community, but don't overwhelm them with too much information.

It is also important to remember that once you have built up a large enough talent community, you will be able to segment these individuals by role, industry and where they are in your talent pipeline, and produce content that is tailored to their individual interests.