Skills-Based Hiring in Modern Talent Acquisition

Great new analysis from Matt Sigelman and Joseph Fuller exploring whether or not commitments to skills-based hiring have translated into actual hires without BAs. In brief: "For all its fanfare, the increased opportunity promised by Skills Based Hiring was borne out in not even 1 in 700 hires last year." We're seeing the same thing in our work with employers: changes to job descriptions do not necessarily translate to changes in hires. The critical work of hiring manager training, skills assessments, and building new sourcing partnerships and work based experiences must go hand-in-hand with a skills-first approach in order to see meaningful change. https://lnkd.in/gr-4drp4

Just finished reading ISC2's 2025 Cybersecurity Hiring Trends report and WOW the game has completely changed! As a recruiter, here's what blew my mind: ✅ 90% of hiring managers now consider candidates with just IT experience (no cyber background needed!) ✅ 89% accept entry-level certs as enough to get started ✅ 45% of companies have ditched the bachelor's degree requirement entirely But here's the kicker, they're hiring from PSYCHOLOGY, COMMUNICATIONS, and BUSINESS backgrounds! 🤯 Why? Because the #1 skills they want aren't just technical: - Problem-solving mindset - Team collaboration - Analytical thinking The best part? Training entry-level talent costs only $1,000-$4,999 and takes 4-9 months. Compare that to the bidding war for senior talent! To job seekers: That "5+ years experience required" barrier? It's crumbling. Your transferable skills matter more than you think. To hiring managers: Still posting those unicorn job descriptions? You're missing out on incredible talent. What's your take? Are we finally solving the 4 MILLION person talent gap, or is this just the beginning? Full article: https://lnkd.in/eEriyPap #Cybersecurity #TalentAcquisition #Recruiting #CyberJobs #HiringTrends #InfoSec #CareerChange

The biggest mistake managers consistently make is hiring candidates who demonstrate teachable knowledge over ones who have innate skills. Some roles require previous, applicable skills. But often managers prioritize prior experience at a company that did things the same way “we” do them here. Or in the same market space. At any and every level. Experience-based hiring has ramifications far beyond an individual role. It shrinks the talent pool to the detriment of women, particularly in fields like technology (https://lnkd.in/eq69VEHt). When I’m hiring for roles on my team, I deprioritize teachable knowledge and experience like: ● Target market and approach. ● Presentation design (other than any obvious misspellings). ● Public speaking (at least in regard to presenting in the workplace). I also don’t pay attention to previous job titles, only responsibilities. What I do prioritize: ● Managing successfully through ambiguity. ● Comfortable with trial and error. ● A hunger to learn and grow. ● Empathy. ● Working collaboratively with others. ● Keeping composure in stressful situations. ● Conveying ideas clearly. The ability to do any of the above isn’t attached to a job title or a particular set of prior experiences or roles. All it requires is the candidate be able to tell their story and a hiring manager willing to do the extra work of designing an hiring process that gives every candidate the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities.  #hiring #jobinterview #interview #interviews #skillbasedhiring #skillset #hiringprocess #

A new CFO for a new world of work A staggering 49% of employees in the average company are no longer traditional full-time staff, according to the Future of Work Exchange.  This number demands the attention of every business. Are companies fully aware of the increasing number of individuals choosing independent work over traditional careers? Are they prepared to integrate freelancers effectively? Do they know if they are working with the right people, on the right projects, at the right budget? A dedicated Chief Freelance Officer is no longer optional, a leader focused on ensuring freelancers contribute and thrive, working with HR and talent teams to provide accountability to the C-suite. Hope is not a workforce strategy  A strong workforce strategy enables effective management and utilization of human resources to achieve goals and drive growth. This involves two key components: talent acquisition and talent management. Whether hiring freelancers or full-time staff, it is important to attract top talent and ensure their success within the company. Workforce planning is vital. The Chief Freelance Officer helps develop and execute this strategy, attracting and integrating the best freelancers, while measuring the overall impact of the freelance workforce tied to key performance indicators. Focus on skills and outputs Gone are the days when companies relied solely on job titles and predefined roles. A new era is dawning, in which organizations value skills, experience, and diversity above all else. They are reimagining their structures, shifting towards agile models built on capabilities and the individuals who possess them. By assembling dynamic skills-based teams, scalability, adaptability, and quick pivots are achievable realities. When circumstances shift, organizations can scale up, down, or change direction in an instant. Leading the charge is the Chief Freelance Officer. Their role includes breaking down traditional jobs into skills, tasks, and outputs; sourcing talent, and integrating experts into workflows. The talent management stack matters  While there are many HR talent management systems, most organizations still manage their freelancing workforce in Excel sheets, which makes no sense. Not having a proper management system not only leads to inefficiencies but prevents the ability to avoid work misclassification issues, integration with policy and budget systems, makes the work of the legal team extremely cumbersome and does not allow the organization to share talent choices across different teams and departments. A talent management tech stack should include a Freelance Management System (FMS) to provide control over a freelance workforce's hiring, management, payment, and compliance processes.  The businesses that combine the right technology with a workforce strategy, a skills-based approach, spearheaded by the Chief Freelance Officer, will be those that are in the driving seat in this next era of work. 

🌟🌟🌟ATTENTION HIRING MANAGERS🌟🌟🌟 The traditional approach of choosing the right person for the job leans heavily on specific #experiences and direct background in a particular role. It's time to shift the focus towards a more holistic understanding of a candidate's capabilities, particularly emphasizing #TransferableSkills, power skills (#SoftSkills), and intrinsic qualities like #drive and #passion. ✅In today's fast-paced #work environment, the ability to adapt is crucial. #Candidates with strong transferable skills can quickly acclimate to new roles and #challenges, bringing an invaluable level of #flexibility. Skills such as #ProblemSolving, #CriticalThinking, and #adaptability aren't tied to a specific job but are essential in almost every role. ✅Power skills, like #communication, #teamwork, and #EmotionalIntelligence, are vital to the success of any #organization. These skills enable #employees to #collaborate effectively, navigate #workplace dynamics, and contribute to a positive work #culture. Unlike hard skills, which can be #learned and perfected over time, power skills are more innate and reflective of a person's #character and #attitude. ✅Focusing on what a candidate can achieve rather than what they have done before opens doors to a broader #talent pool. Candidates with the right attitude and a drive to learn can often outperform those with more direct experience but less enthusiasm. ✅When #promoting internally, organizations sometimes choose individuals without direct experience in the new role. These decisions are based on the understanding of the individual's broader skill set and potential. This same principle should apply to external #hiring. If an internal candidate can succeed with a learning curve, so can an external one. ✅Candidates from different backgrounds or #industries can bring new #perspectives and #ideas. This #diversity of thought fosters #innovation and creativity, helping #businesses to evolve and stay #competitive. A diverse workforce, in terms of skills and experiences, is a key driver for innovation. ✅As technology advances and industries transform, the nature of work changes. Focusing on transferable skills prepares organizations for future changes and challenges, as employees with these skills can more easily shift and grow with the company. So, while direct experience is valuable, it should not be the sole determinant in hiring decisions. Transferable skills, power skills, and personal attributes are equally, if not more, important. By broadening your perspective, you can fill the positions and contribute to building a robust, adaptable, and innovative workforce. It's time for a paradigm shift in hiring that values potential and adaptability as much as past experience.

Why skills-based hiring is your secret weapon! We’ve become obsessed with golden pedigrees, haven't we? - 40-50% of all job descriptions list a college degree, but - Only 0.203% of all jobs globally actually require a college degree. We are screening out incredible talent because of unnecessary requirements. We are dismissing the broader benefits of alternative education channels. And we are perpetuating existing inequalities. Especially if those degrees are not readily accessible to everyone. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau: - 69.2% of African Americans (ages 25-64) don't have a college degree. - 52.9% of non-Hispanic white Americans don’t have a college degree. The future of talent acquisition is about what candidates can actually do, not just where they went to school. If we focus on skills-based hiring, the benefits are huge! + 5x better predictor of job performance than degrees (McKinsey) + 19X increase in talent pool size (LinkedIn data) – meaning true diversity + 34% increase in retention (Harvard Business Review) Skills-based hiring focuses on what a person can do, not what they did in the past. Today’s science-based tools make that fast and easy. (And they are more accurate than hunches.) I created an infographic to break down the pros and cons of skills-based vs. degree-based hiring, giving you the intel to make informed decisions. Let's join Byron Auguste and #tearthepaperceiling What do you think? ****** P.S. Repost if you find this useful ♻️

Skill-based Talent Practices. This 56-page playbook has insights for implementing skill-based talent practices. The Business Roundtable Multiple Pathways Initiative developed it. Although I've shared this resource before, I still receive requests for it. It's based on insights from HR leaders implementing skill-based practices. The playbook addresses: 1️⃣ Strategic Planning ↳ Align skills-based practices with business strategy 2️⃣ Skills Validation ↳ Identify ways to assess and confirm employee skills more accurately 3️⃣ Opportunity Matching ↳ Connect employees with growth opportunities that align with their skills 4️⃣ Metrics that Matter ↳ Identify which measurements truly indicate success in skill-based approaches 5️⃣ Tech Enablement ↳ Explore how tech can help scale skill-based practices If you're moving more toward skills-based talent practices, consider first: ↳ What’s the “why” behind this shift? ↳ How is it different than what we're doing today? ↳ What business problems does this help us solve? ↳ In what ways will it create stakeholder value?   ↳ What are we basing these assumptions on? ↳ How will we measure the impact of these changes? Answering these questions upfront is critical. Special thanks to the Business Roundtable for making this playbook available. What's one key insight you took from this resource? ♻️ Repost to help others with skills-based practices 🔔 Follow Brian Heger for more P.S. - If you find value in resources like this, make sure you receive my Talent Edge Weekly newsletter. https://lnkd.in/dWThftwK #hr #humanresources #skills

Will CVs Soon Be a Thing of the Past? The hiring landscape is undergoing a profound shift, and it's all about skills-based assessments. A recent survey by CodinGame and CoderPad reveals that over half of recruiters are ready to bid farewell to traditional CVs in favor of more practical approaches. Here's the scoop on the evolving world of talent acquisition: 📝 Ditching CVs for Diversity: Recruiters are becoming increasingly aware of the limitations of CVs in spotting true talent. They believe that removing CVs from the hiring equation can broaden the talent pool and promote diversity. In an industry where bias is a concern, this shift could be a game-changer. 📝 Skills-Based Assessments: The appeal of skills-based assessments lies in their ability to eliminate bias. Recruiters can evaluate candidates purely on their performance, free from any CV-influenced judgments. It's a fairer, more objective approach to identifying the best fit for roles. 📝 The Rise of Non-Traditional Paths: As technology jobs shift toward platform-based roles, formal qualifications are no longer the sole ticket to a tech career. Employers are increasingly valuing skills, opening doors for those without traditional academic backgrounds. The demand for tech talent is soaring, and unconventional journeys are welcomed. While this shift towards skills-based hiring is gaining momentum, some still hold onto CVs. It's a mixed bag, with 30% open to eliminating CVs, 27% considering it, and 34% sticking with the status quo. Old habits die hard. Interview processes are also evolving, with a shift towards job-relevant questions and collaborative, problem-solving experiences. The goal? To match candidates with roles more effectively and avoid costly hiring mistakes. What are your thoughts on this shift in the hiring landscape? Are you ready to bid adieu to CVs and accept skills-based assessments? Share your insights in the comments below!

#SkillsFirst is not just a rallying cry – it is a powerful talent management strategy. It is also one of the greatest levers employers can pull to advance economic #opportunity and mobility.    But, as I told Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza for Quartz, dropping degree requirements is just the first step. Shifting to skills-first means rethinking #recruiting, #hiring and #promotion practices, too.    My team at Grads of Life has worked with employers of all sizes and industries on this shift. The companies that are leading the way on this work understand that it is a journey. They also do these eight things:   1. Start small, focusing on existing skills-first champions.   2. Identify culture changes to be made, training hiring managers on pedigree bias and other discriminatory behavior. 3. Make their position clear in job postings: No degree required. 4. Avoid tokenism, focusing on the skills and contributions of skills-first hires, rather than their degree status. 5. Recruit proactively, going beyond the traditional #talentpipeline to look at high schools, community colleges, and workforce training programs like Year Up. 6. Clearly articulate the skills needed for their jobs. 7. Rewrite job descriptions and interview rubrics to emphasize those skills. 8. Measure progress – because what matters, gets measured. Building a more inclusive workforce matters. Increasing access to economic opportunity and mobility matters. #Skills matter. https://lnkd.in/eRi5kBkV   #SkillsFirstHiring #FutureOfWork #Business #TalentManagement #Opportunity