Revising skills-based recruiting

Article courtesy of David Chapleau, Executive Director, Client Services, Sevenstep

Thanks to the move toward skills-based hiring, everyone has a chance at many open roles, and college graduates are one of many sources of talent to fit the bill. 

Skills-based hiring makes sense, particularly for technical talent, as two-thirds of North American IT leaders experience issues related to project delivery, customer satisfaction and quality due to insufficient technical skills. Putting skills first expands the available talent pool, but that does not mean college recruiting is going away. 

We frequently hear from hiring leaders who want to know how skills-based hiring applies to all talent, including candidates with and without college backgrounds. The following questions and answers can help shed light on that skills-based hiring conversation for anyone involved in recruitment for IT or any type of talent involving specific specialized skills. 

1. How important is skills-based hiring in the IT industry? 

An impressive resume and experience do not guarantee that a candidate will tackle the work at hand. Proven, verified skills are a better indicator, although there are no guarantees. One estimate finds that 50% of the workforce (70 million workers in the US) are “skilled through alternative routes,” meaning they acquired critical skills through paths other than four-year college. Those people include workers with hard-to-find IT skills. Skills-based hiring can be the difference between having the people to deliver results and having critical work left undone and the business suffering. It’s that important. 

2. Is skills-based hiring generally effective? 

Skilled-based hiring is generally effective if done well. It is such a broad term that it can also be blamed for poor performance if misapplied. You must test for the right relevant skills so that you can measure aptitude and match the assessed skill with the work to be done. An experienced talent acquisition expert knows how to determine the right approach to assessment, but also how to determine skills requirements that matter. Reasoning and the ability to learn quickly and adapt are part of the skills environment. You cannot forget that.  

For example, the college recruiter can help align a recent graduate’s competencies to overcome the traditional “years-of-experience” requirements that frequently block new entrants to the workforce from taking on roles. That recruiter can help ensure that the hiring manager defines the role by skills and outcomes (i.e., a developer skilled in Python versus a programmer with 3-5 years of experience). The same recruiter can also help candidates emphasize certifications, relevant projects or other proof of skills developed during their time at school. 

3. What’s the best way to approach skills-based hiring? 

Our clients understand that, to a certain extent, all hiring is skills-based, but putting skills first means establishing clear expectations, a means of verifying capability and an objective comparison of ancillary capabilities and soft skills such as teamwork and communication. An agreed-upon structure and objective evaluation will be the priorities.   

4. How should guidelines be established and enforced? 

HR, hiring managers and external expertise should be involved in establishing guidelines. Leaving the establishment of guidelines to one party, as often happens, can create a mismatch where the hiring managers keep rejecting candidates, the employer fails to fill positions or the wrong type of talent gets hired. An external expert brings market knowledge and perspective to balance out expectations and guidelines. An objective view is part of the trusting environment that a solutions partner brings to the equation. This change management function creates buy-in to ensure all parties enforce the guidelines. 

As an illustration, a hiring manager may want to post a role with a long list of requirements, including an array of skills ranging from “proficiency in Microsoft Office,” something most applicants have, to skills that are more in demand and less common, such as advanced AI prompt engineering. 

A recruiter should determine skills by priority, eliminate those that would not differentiate top candidates from the pack and identify specific skills to evaluate. The discussion goes beyond “order taking,” and recruiters should persuade the hiring manager toward a job definition and evaluation framework that delivers. 

5. What are the potential pitfalls? 

There are several pitfalls to skills-based hiring, but they can be managed. First, there is the risk that the skills being sought are changing, disappearing or becoming commoditized. Employers need to evaluate for relevant skills that differentiate candidates and directly enable job performance. Second, a candidate may excel in a hard skill but lack some of the capabilities needed to succeed, like persistence, learning and teamwork. Employers still need to see some indication of proficiency in these areas.  

The assessment tools and the evaluation process can be pitfalls or strengths, depending on how you handle them. An assessment needs to specifically cover an area of the candidate’s experience or skillset. If it’s generalized, the answers are less valuable in determining fitness for a role. 

Placement of the assessment matters. For example, we have seen employers position a highly challenging assessment early in the application process. That client was a well-known employer with a very strong brand. As a result, candidates were willing to perform the test. We have also seen cases where companies with lesser-known brands struggle with the same process because prospective talent chose not to invest in an assessment before learning more about the employer based on a hiring manager conversation. 

If the skill requirement is difficult, however, a later assessment is risky. If a candidate takes the test after an interview and does not pass, then the hiring manager is unhappy because you wasted their time. A pass/fail test is often better before an interview, when objective results help. If graded, it can be better after the interview with input from hiring managers to consider the result. In all cases, specificity and careful timing of the assessment are important to the outcome.  

6. How do we make sure skills-based hiring works after the candidate is brought on board?

Skills-based hiring is only part of the equation. The worker then needs to be able – and have a desire – to thrive in a skills-based culture, or the employer risks losing them. Companies are becoming more fluid in redefining traditional job roles to enable workers to move between organizations, teams and tasks. Those employers will enjoy an advantage in hiring and retaining IT talent or any talent in a skills-based economy. 

— David Chapleau is a talent acquisition industry expert, bringing more than a decade of experience in recruiter and leadership roles. In his current position as Executive Director of Client Services at talent solutions provider Sevenstep, he leads RPO relationships for clients ranging across multiple industries. David has been with Sevenstep for over 11 years, starting as an IT recruiter for fortune 500 clients before moving into leadership roles 8 years ago. Prior to Sevenstep, David was a recruiter focusing on high-demand software developers, engineers, system administrators and other roles requiring highly skilled talent.