10/01/2024

Skills-Based Hiring: A Game Changer for Job Seekers

By Telma Sullivan

The traditional hiring process, heavily dependent on a candidate’s educational background, is undergoing a transformation. Skills-based hiring (SBH) is taking center stage, prioritizing a job seeker’s demonstrated, acquired abilities over formal academic degrees. This shift is driven by employers with a desire to tap into a wider talent pool, potentially reducing unconscious bias, and ensuring that the most qualified candidate is selected. For job seekers, SBH opens doors, offering opportunities regardless of their educational background – provided they possess the desired skillset. This new hiring strategy requires clients to effectively showcase their transferable skills and prepare for a hiring process focused on practical capabilities.

What is Changing

Currently, more than half of US workers do not have degrees (Sigelman et al., 2024). Only 26% of African Americans and 19% of Hispanics age 25 and older hold bachelor’s or post-graduate degrees, compared to 40% of non-Hispanic Caucasians and 58% of Asian Americans (Fuller et al., 2022). Additionally, a survey of 6,000 global talent leaders reveals a skills gap, with 17% citing a lack of relevant skills as the top hiring challenge, driving the shift toward SBH (HireVue, 2024).

Instead of primarily evaluating candidates based on their academic background or job history, many employers are prioritizing the skills most relevant to the job. By focusing on specific competencies, organizations can work to create stronger DEI initiatives and more equitable opportunities for individuals from diverse backgrounds.

In a world with an increased demand for digital proficiency, access to non-traditional learning pathways, and emerging occupations, SBH levels the playing field for candidates with diverse career and learning paths that do not include college. However, eliminating the degree requirement is not a free pass. A Burning Glass Institute study revealed that when employers removed the college degree barrier, they sought candidates with higher levels of skills and increased technical abilities. (Fuller et al., 2022). 

There is also a significant increase in employer requirements for soft skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. Previously, a college degree often served as a shortcut for employers, reassuring them that graduates would possess these essential competencies. However, SBH requires companies to explicitly identify and assess the specific skills needed for success in the role (Fuller et al., 2022). 

An estimated 70 million individuals in the US with a high school diploma have gained skills through non-credit courses at community colleges, for-profit skills training, apprenticeships, or military service (Hilgers, 2024). Called STARs, or Skilled Through Alternative Routes, these workers hold roles which are most effectively filled by SBH. Occupations including construction managers, sales supervisors, web developers, and IT help desk specialists often feature a relatively low number of college graduates (Sigelman et al., 2024). Sectors such as logistics and transportation are also leading the charge, driven by both talent shortages and a forward-thinking approach to workforce development (Agovino, 2024).

Conversely, SBH is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Roles requiring specialized knowledge, such as doctors or lawyers, will always demand a degree.

Helping Job Seekers Prepare for Skills-Based Hiring

SBH offers new opportunities for diverse candidates, but it requires a shift in how individuals present their skills and prepare for the hiring process. Career practitioners can play a crucial role in guiding clients through SBH with the following steps.

1. Identifying and Highlighting Skills:

• Analyzing Transferable Skills: identify core competencies applicable to new job opportunities by using skill assessments and highlighting abilities gained in different contexts, such as community service.
• Resume Writing: effectively translate transferable skills into resumes using relevant keywords, demonstrating their practical applications, and providing quantifiable results.
• Expanding Skills: build a strong portfolio of skills by seeking opportunities that align with the client’s career goals, such as consulting, participating in projects with professional associations, board memberships, or volunteer roles.
• Identifying Soft Skills: prioritize specific soft skills relevant to the client’s target jobs and craft compelling narratives that showcase these skills in action.

2. Preparing for Employer Skills Assessments:

• Understanding Assessments: introduce different types of assessments to clients. Mini-challenges can include tests in specific software or programming languages, take-home assignments, behavioral assessments, or job simulations (mock sales calls, writing assignments).
• Identifying Practice Resources: provide practice employment assessments and tests that are relevant to the client’s target industry or position, to help with preparation and confidence building.
• Developing Test-Taking Strategies: identify approaches for staying calm during assessments, including time management and breathing techniques.

3. Navigating the Changing Hiring Process:

• Understanding SBH Job Postings: decipher skills-focused job descriptions and identify key skills requirements to tailor application materials. Show clients how to add work samples and portfolios.
• Adapting to Skills-Based Interviewing: prepare for different interview formats, including technical and scenario-based questions, situational/behavioral interviewing, and storytelling with soft skills examples.
• Preparing for Reference Checks: clients should ask their references to provide detailed information about the relevant skills they used on the job, such as communication, teamwork, performance satisfaction, and specific project skills.

4. Increasing Skills Development:

A commitment to continuous learning showcases a candidate’s career development, adaptability, and innovation. Practitioners can guide clients in acquiring new skills and resources to thrive during SBH such as:

• Professional networking: connect with other job seekers on LinkedIn, attend industry events, participate in discussion groups, and read articles and blogs.
• Self-paced and industry-recognized trainings and certifications (for example Amazon Web Services certification and Certified Associate in Project Management).
• Online learning: professional development podcasts, articles, and books related to building leadership and soft skills.
• Mentoring programs that help clients advance their upskill and expedite their learning.

Thriving by Prioritizing Skills

Career practitioners can equip their clients with the tools and strategies needed to thrive in SBH, which can benefit both the employer and candidate. By prioritizing skills over traditional qualifications, organizations can access a wider talent pool, fostering innovation and inclusivity, while job seekers can gain career opportunities previously unavailable to them.

References

Agovino, T. (2024, March 21). Skills-based hiring is gaining ground: Employers try a new hiring approach, with mixed results. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/all-things-work/skills-based-hiring-new-workplace-trend

Fuller, J., Langer, C., Nitschke, J., O’Kane, L., Sigelman, M., & Taska, B. (2022). The emerging degree reset: How the shift to skills-based hiring holds the keys to growing the U.S. workforce at a time of talent shortage. The Burning Glass Institute. https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/Documents/research/emerging_degree_reset_020922.pdf

Hilgers, L. (2024, Aug. 15). The talent pool that is surprisingly overlooked - and primed for recruiters. LinkedIn Talent Blog. https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-acquisition/why-college-grads-are-overlooked-talent-pool?src=e-nl&trk=recruiting-weekly-blog-newsletter

HireVue. (2024). HireVue 2024 global trends report. https://www.hirevue.com/resources/report/hirevue-2024-global-trends-report

Sigelman, M., Fuller, J., & Martin, A. (2024, February). Skills-based hiring: The long road from pronouncements to practice. The Burning Glass Institute. https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/Documents/research/Skills-Based%20Hiring.pdf

Telma Sullivan is an NCDA Certified Career Services Provider (CCSP) working in private practice and based in Greater Boston. She empowers individuals to navigate career transitions, from early-stage exploration to director-level advancement. Her experience includes serving as a career specialist at UMass Boston and Regis College, and managing The Education Cooperative (TEC) Career Exploration & Internship Program, bringing together expertise from both educational and prior corporate environments. Telma can be reached at telma@telmasullivan.com or via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/telmagsullivan/