Talent Acquisition Skill for Claude

Talent Acquisition

The agent operates as a senior talent acquisition partner, applying structured hiring methodology to build high-performing teams efficiently and equitably.

Clarify First

Before generating the artifact, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:

• [ ] Role + level + must-have vs nice-to-have — drives the job description, comp band, and scorecard competencies
• [ ] Deliverable (job description, sourcing plan, interview scorecard, or funnel analysis) — selects the template
• [ ] Compensation band / budget — drives the JD comp section and offer; also confirms the role is approved
• [ ] Role type (tech vs non-tech, IC vs exec) — sets the funnel benchmarks and source channel matrix

Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the artifact.

Workflow

• Define the role -- Collaborate with the hiring manager to draft a job description using the template below. Confirm level, compensation band, and must-have vs nice-to-have requirements. Validate that the role is approved and budgeted before proceeding.
• Build sourcing strategy -- Select channels based on the role profile (see Source Channel Matrix). Set weekly outreach targets and pipeline stage goals.
• Screen candidates -- Apply the structured phone screen framework. Score against must-have criteria. Pass or reject within 48 hours.
• Run interviews -- Use competency-based scorecards. Every interviewer scores independently before the debrief to prevent anchoring bias.
• Extend offer -- Follow the offer approval workflow. Present a verbal offer, handle negotiation, and send the written offer within 24 hours of verbal acceptance.
• Close and onboard -- Confirm start date, initiate background check, and hand off to hiring manager with a 30-60-90 day plan.

> Checkpoint: After step 1, validate the job description against DEI inclusive language guidelines before posting.

Hiring Funnel Metrics

| Stage | Metric | Benchmark |

|-------|--------|-----------|

| Application to Screen | Conversion rate | 40-50% |

| Screen to Interview | Conversion rate | 30-40% |

| Interview to Offer | Conversion rate | 15-25% |

| Offer to Accept | Acceptance rate | 80-90% |

| End-to-end | Time to fill | 30-45 days |

| End-to-end | Cost per hire | $3,000-5,000 |

| Post-hire | Quality of hire (90-day performance + retention) | 80%+ |

Source Channel Matrix

| Channel | Best For | Cost | Quality | Typical Yield |

|---------|----------|------|---------|---------------|

| LinkedIn Recruiter | All roles | $$ | High | 8-12% response |

| Employee referrals | Culture-fit roles | $ | Highest | 40-60% interview rate |

| Job boards (Indeed, etc.) | Volume hiring | $$ | Medium | 2-5% qualified |

| Agencies | Specialized / executive | $$$ | High | 50-70% submit-to-interview |

| Events / meetups | Early career, niche | $$ | Medium | Relationship-driven |

| Direct sourcing | Executives, passive | $ | High | 5-10% response |

Job Description Template

# [Job Title] - [Level]

## About [Company]
[2-3 sentences: mission, stage, team size]

## The Role
[What the person will own and why it matters to the business]

## Responsibilities
- [Action verb] + [deliverable] + [impact]
- [Action verb] + [deliverable] + [impact]
- [Action verb] + [deliverable] + [impact]

## Requirements
**Must have:**
- [X] years in [domain]
- Demonstrated skill in [specific competency]

**Nice to have:**
- Experience with [tool/framework]
- Background in [adjacent domain]

## Compensation
- Base: $[min]-$[max]
- Equity: [details]
- Benefits: [highlights]

## Hiring Process
1. Application review (48 hr)
2. Recruiter screen (30 min)
3. Hiring manager interview (45 min)
4. Skills assessment (1-2 hr)
5. Final panel (2-3 hr)
6. Offer

Compensation Band Framework

| Level | Title | Base Range | Equity | Total Comp Target |

|-------|-------|-----------|--------|-------------------|

| IC1 | Entry-level (0-2 yr) | $70-90K | $5-15K | $80-100K |

| IC2 | Mid-level (2-5 yr) | $90-120K | $15-30K | $105-140K |

| IC3 | Senior (5-8 yr) | $120-160K | $30-60K | $150-200K |

| IC4 | Staff (8-12 yr) | $160-200K | $60-120K | $220-300K |

| IC5 | Principal (12+ yr) | $200-250K | $120-200K | $320-420K |

Position within band based on: scope of role, candidate experience, internal equity, and market data percentile (target 50th-75th).

Interview Scorecard

# Scorecard: [Candidate] for [Role]

**Interviewer:** [Name]
**Date:** [Date]
**Stage:** [Phone Screen / Technical / Final]

## Competency Ratings (1-5 scale)

| Competency | Weight | Rating | Evidence |
|------------|--------|--------|----------|
| Technical depth | 40% | | [Specific example from interview] |
| Problem solving | 20% | | [Specific example from interview] |
| Communication | 20% | | [Specific example from interview] |
| Culture alignment | 20% | | [Specific example from interview] |

**Weighted Score:** [calculated]

## Recommendation
[ ] Strong Hire  [ ] Hire  [ ] No Hire  [ ] Strong No Hire

## Key Strengths
-

## Key Concerns
-

Behavioral Interview Questions (STAR Format)

| Competency | Question |

|------------|----------|

| Leadership | Tell me about a time you led a team through a difficult situation. What was the outcome? |

| Problem Solving | Describe a complex problem you solved. Walk me through your approach step by step. |

| Collaboration | Give an example of a successful cross-functional project you contributed to. |

| Conflict Resolution | Tell me about a disagreement with a colleague and how you resolved it. |

| Resilience | Describe a time you failed. What did you learn and what did you do differently? |

Example: Hiring Funnel Analysis

A company struggling with a 45-day time-to-fill and 65% offer acceptance rate:

DATA (Q4, 12 open reqs)
  Applications: 600
  Screened:     288 (48% pass rate)
  Interviewed:   86 (30% pass rate)
  Offers:        14 (16% pass rate)
  Accepted:       9 (64% acceptance -- below 80% benchmark)

BOTTLENECK ANALYSIS
  1. Offer acceptance (64%) -- 36% decline rate
     Root cause: Offers extended 5+ days after final interview.
     Candidates accept competing offers in the gap.

  2. Interview-to-offer (16%) -- slightly below benchmark
     Root cause: Panel interviews adding 7 days to process.

ACTIONS
  1. Compress offer timeline: verbal offer within 48 hr of final interview
  2. Replace 4-person panel with 2 focused 1:1s (saves 5 days)
  3. Add "warm close" step: recruiter checks candidate sentiment before offer

RESULT (Q1, 10 open reqs)
  Time to fill: 32 days (-29%)
  Offer acceptance: 85% (+21 points)
  Cost per hire: $3,800 (-15%)

Offer Approval Workflow

• Recruiter determines initial offer based on compensation band and candidate profile.
• Hiring manager reviews and confirms level and scope alignment.
• HRBP checks internal equity and budget availability.
• Finance approves if offer exceeds band midpoint or total comp threshold.
• Verbal offer extended. Written offer sent within 24 hours of verbal acceptance.

Employer Value Proposition

Structure the EVP around five pillars:

| Pillar | Key Message | Proof Points |

|--------|-------------|--------------|

| Mission | Why the company exists | Customer impact stories |

| Culture | How the team works | Glassdoor rating, employee testimonials |

| Growth | Career development | Promotion rate, learning budget |

| Rewards | Total compensation | Comp percentile positioning, benefits |

| Flexibility | Work-life integration | Remote policy, PTO structure |

Hiring Analytics

| Metric | Formula | Benchmark |

|--------|---------|-----------|

| Time to Fill | Req open date to offer accept date | 30-45 days |

| Time to Hire | First candidate contact to accept | 14-21 days |

| Cost per Hire | Total recruiting spend / Hires | $3-5K |

| Quality of Hire | (90-day performance + 1-yr retention) / 2 | 80%+ |

| Offer Accept Rate | Accepts / Offers extended | 85%+ |

| Source Effectiveness | Hires per source / Cost per source | Varies |

Reference Materials

• references/interviewing.md - Interview best practices
• references/sourcing.md - Sourcing strategies
• references/employer_brand.md - Employer branding guide
• references/dei_hiring.md - Inclusive hiring practices

Scripts

# Analyze job descriptions for bias, readability, and quality
python scripts/job_posting_analyzer.py --file job_description.md
python scripts/job_posting_analyzer.py --file job_description.md --json

# Track candidate pipeline funnel metrics
python scripts/candidate_pipeline_tracker.py --file pipeline.csv
python scripts/candidate_pipeline_tracker.py --file pipeline.csv --json

# Generate structured interview scorecards
python scripts/interview_scorecard.py --role "Senior Engineer" --level IC3
python scripts/interview_scorecard.py --role "Product Manager" --level IC2 --json

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Root Cause | Resolution |

|---------|-----------|------------|

| Low application volume | Poor job distribution, weak employer brand, or overly narrow requirements | Audit posting reach across channels; A/B test job titles; reduce must-have requirements to true essentials (aim for 5-7 max) |

| High screen-to-interview drop-off | Misalignment between recruiter screen criteria and hiring manager expectations | Run a calibration session with the hiring manager before sourcing; agree on 3-4 non-negotiable criteria with concrete examples |

| Low offer acceptance rate (< 80%) | Slow offer turnaround, uncompetitive compensation, or poor candidate experience | Compress decision-to-offer to 48 hours; benchmark comp at 50th-75th percentile; add a "warm close" step where the recruiter gauges candidate sentiment before extending |

| High first-year attrition (> 20%) | Expectation mismatch during hiring, weak onboarding, or manager misalignment | Implement realistic job previews; extend structured onboarding to 90 days; pair new hires with a buddy |

| Interviewer inconsistency | No shared rubric, anchoring bias in debriefs, or untrained interviewers | Mandate independent scoring before debrief; train all interviewers on structured behavioral techniques; rotate interview panels quarterly |

| Diversity pipeline is thin | Over-reliance on referrals and single-channel sourcing | Add 2-3 diversity-focused sourcing channels; partner with ERGs for referrals; blind resume screening for initial pass |

| Candidate ghosting after interview | Lengthy process, lack of communication, or competing offers | Send status updates within 24 hours of each stage; target 5-day max between stages; collect feedback even from declined candidates |

Success Criteria

| Dimension | Metric | Target | Measurement |

|-----------|--------|--------|-------------|

| Speed | Time to fill | < 35 days (tech), < 25 days (non-tech) | ATS req-open to offer-accept timestamps |

| Speed | Time to hire | < 18 days from first contact to accept | ATS candidate journey timestamps |

| Cost | Cost per hire | < $4,500 (direct roles), < $8,000 (agency) | Total recruiting spend / hires per quarter |

| Quality | Quality of hire | > 80% (90-day performance + 1-yr retention average) | HRIS performance data + retention tracking |

| Quality | Offer acceptance rate | > 85% | Offers accepted / offers extended |

| Quality | First-year retention | > 85% | New hires retained at 12 months / total hires |

| Experience | Candidate NPS (cNPS) | > 50 | Post-process candidate survey |

| Diversity | Diverse slate rate | 100% of final rounds include underrepresented candidates | ATS demographic flags (voluntary self-ID) |

| Efficiency | Recruiter capacity | 15-25 active reqs per recruiter | ATS workload reporting |

| Pipeline | Source channel yield | Top 3 channels produce > 60% of hires | Source-of-hire attribution in ATS |

Scope & Limitations

In Scope:

• End-to-end recruiting workflow from requisition approval through offer acceptance
• Job description creation, sourcing strategy, screening, interviewing, and offer management
• Hiring funnel analytics, source channel effectiveness, and pipeline health reporting
• Employer branding strategy and candidate experience design
• Compensation band guidance for offer decisions
• DEI-focused hiring practices and inclusive language review

Out of Scope:

• Background check execution and adjudication (handled by third-party vendor + Legal)
• Immigration and visa sponsorship (requires Employment Law / Legal counsel)
• Onboarding program design beyond the hiring handoff (owned by HR Operations / L&D)
• Headcount budgeting and approval (owned by Finance + hiring manager)
• Employment contract drafting (owned by Legal)
• Internal mobility and transfer processes (owned by HRBP)

Known Limitations:

• Compensation benchmarks in this skill are illustrative; always validate against current market data from Radford, Mercer, or Levels.fyi before extending offers
• Funnel conversion benchmarks vary significantly by industry, geography, role type, and seniority level
• DEI metrics require voluntary self-identification data; coverage may be incomplete
• Quality of hire is a lagging indicator -- meaningful measurement requires 6-12 months post-hire

Integration Points

| System / Skill | Integration | Data Flow |

|----------------|-------------|-----------|

| ATS (Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby) | Pipeline stages, candidate data, offer tracking | ATS -> funnel metrics, source attribution, time-to-fill |

| HRIS (Workday, BambooHR) | New hire records, headcount, compensation bands | HRIS -> internal equity checks; ATS -> HRIS on hire |

| People Analytics skill | Quality of hire scoring, attrition correlation, source ROI | TA pipeline data -> analytics models; analytics insights -> sourcing strategy |

| HR Business Partner skill | Workforce planning, headcount approval, hiring prioritization | HRBP workforce plan -> TA hiring plan; TA pipeline updates -> HRBP capacity planning |

| Operations Manager skill | Hiring capacity planning, onboarding process handoff | Ops headcount forecast -> TA demand; TA offer accept -> Ops onboarding trigger |

| Finance skill | Compensation budgeting, cost-per-hire tracking, headcount approval | Finance approved budget -> TA comp bands; TA spend data -> Finance reporting |

| Scheduling (Calendly, GoodTime) | Interview scheduling automation | Candidate availability -> scheduler -> interviewer calendars |

| Background Check (Checkr, Sterling) | Pre-hire verification | Offer accepted -> background check initiated -> clearance status |

| Candidate Survey (SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics) | Candidate experience measurement | Process completion -> survey trigger -> cNPS scores |