Introduction
For talent acquisition managers and recruiters, it is of utmost importance to be updated in the professional sphere. From time to time organizations offer trainings, which allow this group of workers to develop into real experts. However, it also happens that recruiters and talent acquisition managers have to take initiative into their own hands and research professional development opportunities. Nowadays there is a wide variety of different options, and a talent manager can easily choose a program that will be directly related to his/her field of expertise. Among the possible options, one can choose certification, participation in a conference, online classes, webinars, or even an additional college/university degree. Therefore, this report will list a number of professional opportunities within the abovementioned list pertaining to talent acquisition and recruiting managers.
The Talent Acquisition Strategist (TAS) Certification
The Talent Acquisition Strategist (TAS) Certification allows one to learn to deal with all possible sources of talent (Talent Acquisition Strategist (TAS) Certification, 2016). In the scope of this program, professionals are trained to deal with contract workers who have proven to be 50% more skilled than the full time employees (Talent Acquisition Strategist (TAS) Certification, 2016). With the help of this training program, one will be able to assess all talent pipelines and perform effective strategic sourcing. What is more, participants are taught to connect the employer’s value proposition with the strategy of talent acquisition (Talent Acquisition Strategist (TAS) Certification, 2016). Even though talent acquisition manager is not a statistician, it is still important for him/her to be able to retrieve and analyze applicable data. For this reason, the program covers analytics and metrics, which will be used for the professional growth of talent managers (Talent Acquisition Strategist (TAS) Certification, 2016). Based on real data, metrics and analytics can help managers of talent establish a sound business strategy as well as analyze talent acquisition techniques more thoroughly.
The certification offered by this training program is accepted for “12.25 General recertification credit hours for PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute” (Talent Acquisition Strategist (TAS) Certification, 2016). The Society for Human Resource Management acknowledges this course as mandatory for its SHRM-CP℠ or SHRM-SCP℠ Certifications (Talent Acquisition Strategist (TAS) Certification, 2016).
The last but not the least, the course is taught online as well as in several locations in the US. Those who live in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York, or can spare two days for courses and travel to these cities, it is not necessary to go over the material in an online mode. Those who prefer an online method of learning can easily do so as well (Talent Acquisition Strategist (TAS) Certification, 2016).
Certified Recruiter Program
The Recruiter Academy offers an MBA type of program for recruiters and students in different fields, including healthcare, corporate and in-house, as well as staffing and agency (The Recruiter Academy, 2016). What is more, all participants are also entitled to participating in online webinars as part of the training. For instance, the webinars on top challenges facing healthcare recruitment or hiring a nurse will be happening soon within the scope of the Certified Recruiter Program. As a result, after the studies the expert has an option to apply for SHRM-CP℠ or SHRM-SCP℠ Certification (The Recruiter Academy, 2016). Similarly to the TAS Certification, this program allows to earn 15 recertification hours for PHR, SPHR and GPHR through the HR Certification Institute (The Recruiter Academy, 2016). What is more, healthcare recruiters earn 16.5 credit hours towards their recertification.
The Recruiter Academy uses a very unique methodology of learning. It is believed in the Academy that the learning has to be active, and that it starts by changing the behaviors of the student. As a result, employers will greatly benefit from their workers not only becoming proficient in the HR field and getting certified, but also gaining valuable and productive skills.
Certificate in Talent Acquisition and Succession Planning
An intense 4-day certification program from Informa Middle East allows experts and students to gain insight into talent acquisition and get respective certification (Informa, 2016). It will be held twice in 2016 and will be located in Dubai. The program is aimed at the comprehensive development of versatile HR professionals who after the completion of the course will be able to design unique and effective talent acquisition strategies (Informa, 2016). This training session is delivered in conjunction with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) (Informa, 2016). The learning is not only focused on attracting and managing talent employees, but also on retaining them and studying recruitment outcomes to improve talent acquisition strategies in the future. What is more, it will teach experts how to align employees with the values of their respective organizations.
HR Conferences in 2016
In April, experts will have an opportunity to attend an i4cp 2016 Conference, where many industry leaders will gather. The learning process is very participative and collaborative allowing recruiters and talent acquisition professionals to establish practices that will help them beat competition (Chang, 2015). Held in Arizona, this conference is considered one of the most important events of the year for human resource (HR) managers.
Later this spring, Strategic Talent Acquisition conference will offer a unique chance to listen to the in-house professionals who will share their experiences concerning the creation of efficacious frameworks and teams for headhunting and talent acquisition (Chang, 2015). What is more, this Boston-based event is probably the only place where HR professionals can really learn how to compress hiring cycles and find the top performing employees (Chang, 2015).
ATD International Conference and Exposition at the end of May in Denver will gather more than 10000 participants from the most diverse backgrounds (Chang, 2015). Networking and educational sessions led by world famous experts occur every year at ATD (Chang, 2015).
Another awe-inspiring event for talent acquisition specialists will happen in May in Texas. Indeed Interactive allows experts to share their innovative views on talent management (Chang, 2015). Driven by data-heavy sessions, the conference allows to analyze talent attraction in the modern business environment in depth.
Another grand event for both recruitment and talent managers will be the conference of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). It will be held in June in Washington, D. C. (Chang, 2015). As the largest HR event in the world, it allows professionals from different backgrounds to network and come up with innovative solutions to talent attraction and management.
LinkedIn Talent Connect in Las Vegas in October will allow talent hunters to enjoy a unique opportunity of networking and sharing ideas with other professionals from the sphere (Chang, 2015). It is a great chance to look for inspiration and innovative ideas for HR experts. Renowned leaders attend this event every year.
Lastly, one of the most popular recruiting conferences will take place in April (Chang, 2015). It is aimed at talent acquisition managers who support the recruiting function in their respective organizations. At the ERE Recruiting Conference, experts have a chance to establish valuable connections and gain fresh ideas (Chang, 2015).
Conclusion
All in all, this year will be rich in events for talent acquisition and recruitment managers. Most of the abovementioned certification programs, courses and conferences happen multiple times per year as well as on an annual basis. Headhunters and recruiters are responsible for keeping their skills updated in the modern and fast-paced business environment. Therefore, it is necessary for the experts to find programs and courses that suit their level of professionalism and strive to establish networks all over the world with the help of these events. The Society for Human Resource Management is probably the first and the utmost source for talent and recruiting experts, because it offers a vast array of professional development programs and networks with similar organizations all over the world. What is more, SHRM is responsible for approving the certification and recertification courses that are required in many job positions where one wishes to climb up the career ladder. Networking events, such as conferences, are a great addition to the intensive training and certification sessions. There HR managers can meet other representatives of the sphere and share knowledge in a collaborative manner. Conferences also offer a great way to discover innovative concepts and approaches that may not be actively used in the industry yet.
References
Chang, S. (2015, October 26). Top 10 HR conferences to attend in 2016. J. Walter Thompson Inside. Retrieved from http://www.jwtinside.com/top-hr-conferences-to-attend-in-2016/
Informa. (2016). Certificate in talent acquisition and succession planning. Retrieved from http://www.informa-mea.com/training/shrmtalent
Talent Acquisition Strategist (TAS) Certification. (2016). Human Capital Institute. Retrieved from http://www.hci.org/hr-training-courses/talent-acquisition-strategist
The Recruiter Academy. (2016). Recruiter Academy Certified Recruiter program. Lean Human Capital. Retrieved from http://www.recruiteracademy.com/register/
