Skills Based Hiring
With recruitment challenges in many industries, it is critical that we consider alternative methods of filling roles with the right people.
That means that the traditional recruiting methods using degrees, references and experience to represent talent can be risky as it lessens the talent pool and resumes and CV’s can often be open for interpretation (and bias) a degree doesn’t necessarily lead to how well a candidate performs. Practical hands-on skills are a much more accurate way to test ability.
Employers are discovering that skill-based hiring broadens the pool of applicants for some roles and increases their chances of finding the right candidate who fits well with your company. It is also thought that hiring in this manner may improve employee retention in the workplace.
Limiting your search to candidates with a specific educational background (Degree or Bachelor qualification) or work experience may reduce your chances of finding someone who is a good fit for your position.
The shift in thinking is now challenging employers and hiring managers to effectively interview candidates to focus on skills and how that candidate would fit in the team and industry. Someone with a lot of potential and passion for your industry will go a long way!
So accept the challenge and recruit for skilled-based hiring wherever possible. Some key things to adopt:
- Start small
- Conduct a skills gap analysis
- Identify a role to recruit for and establish core skills
- Try skills based job descriptions
- Use screening tests to pinpoint candidates with the right skills
- Run structured skills based interviews