Talent Acquisition Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Talent Acquisition Specialist, Recruitment Manager and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-TPM-050

Before you join: Participants should have basic experience supporting recruitment, hiring administration, HR operations or line-management hiring decisions.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Recruitment failures often begin before sourcing: unclear demand, weak job evidence, inconsistent interviews and slow approvals produce unsuitable shortlists, candidate withdrawal and avoidable vacancy cost. Talent acquisition professionals must convert workforce needs into defensible hiring decisions while balancing speed, candidate experience, fair access, data protection and hiring-manager accountability. This requires more than posting vacancies or administering an applicant tracking system; it requires a repeatable operating model with evidence at each decision point.

This five-day Talent Acquisition Training Course builds the methods used to plan, source, assess, select and secure talent for business-critical roles. Participants learn to translate workforce demand into hiring priorities; create job and competency profiles; design sourcing strategies; conduct structured selection; manage offers; and measure recruitment performance. The course also addresses candidate experience, inclusive hiring controls, selection documentation, recruitment technology data and supplier governance.

Instructor-led sessions combine short technical briefings with sector-based cases, group work, hiring simulations and application planning. Participants work with realistic recruitment scenarios, such as hiring scarce digital specialists, frontline banking staff, programme managers and operational leaders. They leave with a practical talent acquisition operating plan, including requisition intake standards, scorecards, sourcing plans, interview guides, funnel metrics and implementation priorities.

The course suits HR and recruitment professionals who already support hiring and need greater confidence designing consistent, evidence-based talent acquisition processes. It is also relevant to hiring managers, HR business partners and workforce planning professionals responsible for improving recruitment outcomes.

What you will be able to do

  • Build a workforce-informed talent acquisition plan using demand, supply and capacity data
  • Define job requirements through job analysis, competency profiles and selection criteria
  • Design sourcing strategies using talent mapping, Boolean search and channel performance evidence
  • Construct structured selection processes with scorecards, work samples and decision controls
  • Conduct structured interviews using behavioural indicators, probes and rating scales
  • Manage candidate experience, offer approvals and preboarding handovers through defined workflows
  • Analyse recruitment funnel, quality-of-hire and source-of-hire metrics for corrective action
  • Produce a prioritised talent acquisition improvement plan with owners, milestones and measures

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Stronger credibility when advising hiring managers on selection decisions
  • Reusable methods for filling scarce and business-critical roles
  • Greater confidence conducting structured, evidence-based interviews
  • Practical metrics for explaining recruitment performance to senior stakeholders
  • A documented improvement plan for immediate workplace application

For your organisation

  • More consistent hiring decisions through standardised scorecards and interview guides
  • Reduced candidate drop-off through clearer communication and faster process ownership
  • Better hiring-manager accountability through defined intake, feedback and approval standards
  • Improved recruitment reporting through consistent funnel and source-of-hire measures
  • Lower selection risk through documented criteria, ratings and decision rationale

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define the roles, controls and service standards required for an effective talent acquisition function.

  • Talent acquisition operating model aligned to business strategy and workforce demand
  • RACI matrix defining accountabilities for hiring managers, recruiters and HR partners
  • Service-level agreements covering requisition intake, feedback timing and approvals
  • Recruitment policy controls for requisitions, candidate records, offers and conflicts
  • Intake meeting agenda translating business needs into measurable hiring requirements
  • Recruiter capacity model using requisition volume, complexity and time-to-fill

Participants can convert workforce demand and supply evidence into prioritised recruitment requirements.

  • Headcount plan reconciled with budget, attrition assumptions and workforce movements
  • Demand forecasting using trend analysis, manager input and scenario assumptions
  • Supply analysis separating internal mobility, succession pools and external hiring
  • Build-buy-borrow-bot framework for capability gaps and staffing choices
  • Critical-role segmentation using business impact, scarcity and vacancy risk
  • Workforce planning scenarios linked to recruitment priorities and hiring calendars

Participants can define role requirements and communicate a credible proposition to target candidates.

  • Job analysis through task inventories, critical incidents and stakeholder interviews
  • Competency profiles distinguishing essential criteria from trainable requirements
  • Person specifications written with observable skills, knowledge and experience
  • Employee value proposition evidence gathered from current employee experience
  • Job advertisements using inclusive language, salary ranges and realistic previews
  • Employer brand messages tested against candidate personas and labour-market evidence

Participants can build targeted sourcing plans for active and passive candidate markets.

  • Sourcing channel strategy matched to role scarcity, location and target talent pools
  • Boolean search strings built with operators, synonyms, titles and exclusions
  • Talent mapping identifying competitor organisations, adjacent sectors and passive candidates
  • Referral programme design covering incentives, eligibility, communication and tracking
  • Recruitment marketing campaigns structured through audience, message, channel and conversion
  • Agency briefings specifying capability evidence, diversity expectations, fees and governance

Participants can design job-relevant selection processes with valid assessment methods and decision controls.

  • Selection criteria converted into weighted scorecards and minimum thresholds
  • Predictive validity, reliability and adverse impact in assessment decisions
  • Structured selection process mapped from application review through final decision
  • Work-sample tests designed around job tasks, scoring anchors and administration
  • Assessment-centre components matched to leadership, technical and customer-facing roles
  • Candidate consent, data retention and access controls documented before assessment

Participants can conduct and evaluate structured interviews using consistent evidence and rating standards.

  • Structured interview guides built from competencies, behavioural indicators and probes
  • STAR evidence evaluated using behaviourally anchored rating scales
  • Panel calibration reducing inconsistency, affinity bias and unsupported hiring decisions
  • Reference checking protocol focused on verified employment and job-related evidence
  • Decision meetings compare scorecard evidence before compensation or availability factors
  • Reasonable adjustments arranged for candidates with disclosed assessment requirements

Participants can manage candidate communications, offers and preboarding activities through clear workflows.

  • Candidate journey map identifies friction points from application through onboarding
  • Recruiter communications set response standards, ownership and escalation routes
  • Offer approval workflow aligns compensation bands, equity checks and authorisations
  • Offer conversations test motivation, competing priorities and realistic acceptance risks
  • Preboarding plan coordinates contracts, equipment, access and first-day ownership
  • Candidate feedback process protects confidentiality while providing useful closure

Participants can apply fair selection controls and maintain documentation that supports accountable hiring decisions.

  • Adverse impact analysis compares selection rates across demographic groups
  • Four-fifths rule interpreted as a screening indicator, not proof
  • Bias interruption techniques applied at requisition, screening, interview and offer stages
  • Data minimisation principles applied to applicant records and sensitive information
  • Accommodation requests managed through documented, job-related assessment adjustments
  • Selection audit trail retains criteria, scores, approvals and decision rationale

Participants can use recruitment data to diagnose bottlenecks, compare channels and improve hiring outcomes.

  • Recruitment funnel metrics calculate conversion, drop-off and stage-cycle time
  • Time-to-fill and time-to-hire definitions selected for consistent reporting
  • Quality-of-hire measures combine performance, retention and hiring-manager evidence
  • Source-of-hire analysis separates applicant volume from qualified-hire yield
  • Applicant tracking system data fields governed for accuracy and reporting
  • Dashboard narratives distinguish signal, operational cause and corrective action

Participants can prepare a practical improvement plan for their talent acquisition process and priorities.

  • Quarterly talent acquisition plan links demand forecasts, capacity and sourcing actions
  • Prioritisation matrix ranks improvements by business impact, effort and risk
  • Implementation milestones assign owners, dependencies, measures and review dates
  • Stakeholder communication plan addresses executives, managers, candidates and suppliers
  • Change adoption tactics reinforce new intake, interview and decision disciplines
  • Personal application plan commits immediate actions and evidence of progress

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Talent acquisition operating model template
  2. Workforce-informed recruitment planning worksheet
  3. Competency-based requisition intake checklist
  4. Strategic sourcing and talent-mapping plan
  5. Structured interview guide and weighted scorecard
  6. Recruitment dashboard and improvement action plan

Who should attend

  • Talent Acquisition Specialist — needs consistent methods for sourcing, assessment and candidate management
  • Recruitment Manager — needs to improve recruiter performance, process governance and hiring outcomes
  • HR Business Partner — needs to connect workforce plans with practical recruitment action
  • HR Manager — needs defensible selection controls, reporting and supplier oversight
  • Hiring Manager — needs stronger interviewing, selection and decision-making discipline
  • Workforce Planning Analyst — needs to translate demand scenarios into recruitment priorities

Skills and tools covered

Workforce planningStrategic sourcingStructured interviewingSelection designRecruitment analyticsCandidate experience

Tools and standards

ISO 30405:2016 Human resource management — Guidelines on recruitment, RACI matrix, STAR interview response framework, Four-fifths rule

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by cases, group exercises, recruitment simulations and facilitated peer review. Participants examine realistic hiring situations involving scarce skills, high-volume recruitment, manager disagreement, candidate withdrawal and selection risk. They practise applying tools such as requisition intake agendas, competency scorecards, Boolean searches, structured interview guides and recruitment dashboards. Individual application planning connects course methods to participants' current roles, priorities and recruitment process constraints.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic experience supporting recruitment, hiring administration, HR operations or line-management hiring decisions. They should understand common recruitment terms such as requisition, shortlist, interview, offer and onboarding. Experience using an applicant tracking system is helpful but not essential. The course assumes participants can interpret simple workforce and recruitment data, including vacancy numbers and hiring volumes. No prior qualification in human resources, psychometrics, employment law, data analysis or workforce planning is required. Legal examples are discussed as operating controls rather than jurisdiction-specific legal advice.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have basic exposure to recruitment, HR operations or hiring decisions. No prior HR qualification, psychometric training or advanced analytics experience is required.

Bring a laptop or tablet if possible, along with an anonymised job description, current recruitment process or hiring challenge. These materials help you apply the templates to a real workplace requirement.

The course is designed for recruiters, talent acquisition specialists, HR business partners, recruitment managers and hiring managers. It is particularly useful for professionals who need more consistent sourcing, assessment and recruitment reporting methods.

This course focuses on attracting, assessing, selecting and securing people before they join the organisation. It does not focus on appraisal cycles, employee relations, learning programmes or post-hire performance management.

Participants leave with templates for intake meetings, sourcing plans, scorecards, interview guides and recruitment metrics. The final module turns these materials into a prioritised action plan for a current recruitment process.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours, excluding breaks. The five days cover ten modules in teaching order, progressing from recruitment strategy and planning through sourcing, selection, analytics and implementation planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

More courses in Talent & Performance Management

Talent & Performance Management AI-Enabled Workforce Planning Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Talent & Performance Management Strategic Talent Planning Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Talent & Performance Management Succession Planning and Leadership Development Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Talent & Performance Management Succession Planning and Talent Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Talent & Performance Management Talent Acquisition and Onboarding Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Talent & Performance Management Talent Management and Acquisition Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Talent & Performance Management Talent Resourcing and Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Talent & Performance Management Talent and Performance Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov