Struggling with filling certain positions? Feel limited by the current pool of candidates you’re attracting? Are the candidates you’re hiring taking longer to reach full productivity? The answer to these challenges may lie in adopting a “skill-based” hiring approach.
This approach to talent acquisition prioritizes a candidate’s practical skills and abilities over their formal education or academic credentials. Rather than focusing on degrees, certifications or job titles, employers assess whether candidates have the competencies needed to perform successfully in a role.
Skill-based hiring is gaining momentum across industries. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Job Outlook 2025 study, 65% of employers are using skill-based hiring practices for entry-level roles—and 50% report using these practices always or most of the time. Supporting this trend, a 2024 report by Indeed found that over half of U.S. job postings (52%) did not include formal education requirements.
A Case for Skill-Based Hiring
- Widen the Talent Pool: Only 36% of the U.S. population holds a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey. By removing degree requirements, companies can access a much larger group of qualified candidates who may have gained expertise through work experience, training programs, or self-directed learning.
- Increased Workforce Diversity: Skills-based hiring helps eliminate educational barriers that often disproportionately affect underrepresented communities. In 2021, Boulder County, Colorado identified 84 job classifications that no longer required a college degree. As a result, they saw a 10.2% increase in employees of color hired compared to 2019.
- Reduced Hiring Costs: Reduced hiring costs due to more accurate assessment of employee job fit.
- Faster Time to Productivity: Candidates who already possess the necessary skills require less ramp-up time and minimal training, allowing them to contribute value to the organization more quickly.
Core Components of Skill-Based Hiring Approach
To adopt skill-based hiring successfully, organizations must reimagine how they define roles, evaluate talent, and structure their hiring process. Here are some essential components:
- Job Descriptions: Well-crafted, skills-first job descriptions are foundational. Start by identifying the key technical (hard) and interpersonal (soft) skills required for success in the role. Quantify the level of skill needed (e.g., “proficient,” “advanced”) and explain how the skill will be applied within the role or team context. To ensure inclusivity and clarity, use straightforward language and prioritize the skills section at the top of the description.
- Job Advertisement: Your job postings should reflect a skills-focused hiring philosophy. Replace traditional degree or experience requirements with specific skill expectations . This approach makes expectations transparent and appeals to candidates who may not have traditional credentials but do have the required abilities. For example, a posting for a software engineer might include:
- “Java/Python: Proficient in at least one of these languages, with a demonstrated ability to write clean, efficient code.”
- “Communication: Clear and effective written and verbal communication skills to articulate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.”
- Structured Interview: Use behavioral and scenario-based questions to assess how a candidate has demonstrated key competencies in real-world situations. This creates consistency in evaluations and allows you to focus on how someone applies their skills- not just what’s on their resume.
- Skills Assessments: Skills testing can provide a more objective and reliable way to evaluate candidate readiness. Choose assessments that are valid (measuring what they claim to measure) and reliable (yielding consistent results). It’s also important to ensure your testing process is free of bias and accessible to all candidates.
How to Get Started
Transitioning to skill-based hiring approach takes thoughtful planning and the right tools. RKL Virtual’s Workforce Strategies Team can help you get started. We offer comprehensive job analysis services to identify critical competencies, evaluate your current hiring practices and design, a customized skills-first approach tailored to your organization’s needs.
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