12 things I am grateful for from working in Emerging Talent; 4-6.

If you work in, have worked in, or are looking to get into Emerging Talent, it is an exhilarating, dynamic and innovative space, full of wonderful people. I have enjoyed a decade of fantastic opportunities and I want to share some of the components I am grateful for in order to help others navigate this exciting career avenue.

4. The ecosystem

Making an Emerging Talent function run like a well oiled engine takes a lot of work and you can't do it alone. Whether it's partnerships with schools or universities, employer branding agencies, specialist job boards or networks, assessment providers, technology platforms or development specialists, you're in this thing together! Curating the right ecosystem for your organisation is also a fine art, so it causes you to think analytically to align the best partners to meet your strategic priorities, as well as commercially. Great skills for any role.

Some of the value added content or conferences served up by many partners in this space are also second to none. I have been to many stand out events or round tables, webinars, as well as read or watched very rich content specific to this sector, often for free! This is fantastic because in order to perform well in an Emerging Talent leadership role, especially at the highest level, you need insight at your disposal. In this sector, it is readily available and if you are curious, you can dig into what will give you a competitive edge, often without having to pay mega bucks for it.

This highlights the fantastic nature of the countless providers in this space who are value centric and are as much a part of making Emerging Talent functions in organisations successful as the in-house teams. It means you are part of a vibrant ecosystem, full of smart people who are only a phone call or a message away from helping you to achieve further success.

5. Collaborative competition

It is no secret that certain pockets of talent are in high demand. It's also no surprise that when trying to vie for their attention, large organisations like to make a big splash in the market! If you've ever been to an awards event, you'll also quickly realise that behind the sequins, there's a deep competitive streak amongst Emerging Talent professionals to be the best and let's be honest, who doesn't love an award photo with a celebrity? ;-)

That being said, given the ecosystem I describe above, as well as the shared sense of purpose in giving young people the best chances of success, I believe there is a healthy sense of competition. This enables professionals to be open with one another within the right parameters. I have attended many invaluable events, webinars or round tables where I have been able to share challenges with peers who have supported me to find a solution to take back to my role. Personally, I learn more insight from these types of discussions, particularly as I've become more senior and I am very grateful to those who have supported me in my career.

6. Networking becomes second nature

Another brilliant reason to work in Emerging Talent is that you can overcome one of the biggest fears of many professionals; networking. The very nature of running attraction events, speaking with candidates, collaborating with team members or suppliers, running assessment centres, interfacing with stakeholders, running training and so on means you have no choice but to speak with people and forge relationships. You'll soon find yourself much more confident in striking up a conversation with someone you've never met before and that spills over into other areas of your life too.

The ecosystem I describe also means that if you're doing this properly, you're also not operating in a vacuum of your own organisation. Avoid this at all costs if you want perspective to make better decisions. Networking is one of the differentiators amongst Emerging Talent professionals and gives you something transferrable into other organisations, sectors or career paths.?