# Talent Market Mapping: practice workbook
Talent Engineering Academy | An education initiative by Vitae
Edition 2026.09 | Updated 2026-09-24
Course: https://talentengineering.org/courses/talent-market-mapping

Define a market, build useful search lanes and communicate the limits of your talent intelligence.

## Your deliverable
A market map with inclusion rules, evidence and coverage limitations.

Use fictional information. Keep your completed work in your own secure notes. Exercises and capstone work are self-directed, not independently assessed.

## 1. Decision the map supports

Your notes:



## 2. Geography, role families and operating context

Your notes:



## 3. Primary and adjacent market lanes

Your notes:



## 4. Source, observation date and verification

Your notes:



## 5. Coverage gaps and uncertainty

Your notes:



## 6. Recommendation and refresh trigger

Your notes:



## Lesson exercises

### 1. Define the question before collecting names

Write a mapping question and rules for a fictional maintenance leadership search.

Your response:


Worked example: A fictional search asks where UK-based traceability leaders work. The map includes organisations operating regulated production systems, then checks role responsibilities. It does not equate every employee at those companies with an eligible candidate.

Self-review guidance: Specify the decision, unit and scope. Include one borderline organisation and explain how to resolve it. A useful map can say what is outside its coverage without claiming the remaining market is exhaustive.

### 2. Build primary and adjacent search lanes

Define three lanes, two title variants per lane and a transferability test.

Your response:


Worked example: A food-production maintenance role draws from food, packaging and process manufacturing. Each lane is assessed for equipment complexity, shift patterns and regulatory context. A software-company engineering title is excluded because the underlying work is different.

Self-review guidance: Explain why each lane could supply the required capability and what evidence would disconfirm it. Do not use employer prestige as the transferability test. Keep uncertain lanes visible until a sample resolves them.

### 3. Record evidence and coverage

Create six fictional records with one duplicate, one stale role and one uncertain classification.

Your response:


Worked example: A search returns 800 results, but a sample includes former employees, duplicates and unrelated titles. The report gives the observed sample and inclusion rules instead of claiming 800 available specialists.

Self-review guidance: Retain provenance when resolving the duplicate, mark the stale role as historical and leave the uncertain classification open. Report the resulting verified count with its scope and observation date.

### 4. Turn a map into a decision brief

Write a 200-word decision brief with one recommendation and one unresolved question.

Your response:


Worked example: The map finds credible adjacent-industry experience but limited evidence of willingness to relocate. The recommendation is to test a hybrid arrangement and adjacent-sector messaging, while keeping relocation assumptions unconfirmed.

Self-review guidance: Include the source period and coverage limits. Link the recommendation to a specific observation and propose how to validate the unknown. Avoid unsupported claims that the market is empty or that every mapped person is available.

## Portfolio review
Check that your work is internally consistent, distinguishes facts from assumptions, names decision owners and explains its limitations. Revise gaps before using the method in real work.

## Further reading
- [CIPD: Recruitment](https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/recruitment-factsheet/): Professional context for the recruitment lifecycle.
- [ICO: Recruitment and selection](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/employment/recruitment-and-selection/): UK guidance. Check its current status and updates before implementation.

Original educational scenarios. References provide further reading and do not imply endorsement. Check current official rules and appropriate professional advice for real legal, financial or regulated decisions.