The Flawed Approach to Skills-Based Hiring (and How to Do It Right)

You've probably heard the new industry buzzword emerging in the last few years: Skills-Based Hiring. While this is the correct thought process to approach hiring, the way it has been implemented leaves a lot to be desired. Dropping degree requirements is a step in the right direction, but between using generic multiple-choice assessments and standardized technical testing, this methodology does a disservice to the true nature of skills-based hiring. Traditional hiring practices often overlook skilled candidates by overemphasizing credentials rather than competencies.

Think about it: even as some states have taken steps to drop college degree mandates for certain roles, that is just one cog in a machine full of parts that need replacing. With the talent pool widening, the techniques we currently use to assess people's skills have become even more trivial than they already were.

Don't even get us started on those so-called "skills assessments" that are little more than a hoop for candidates to jump through. Multiple-choice questions? Self-assessment surveys? Algorithms and data structures you haven't encountered since CS101? These technical screens have turned into nothing but a hoop for candidates to jump through, and coding challenges often fail to accurately assess a candidate's ability to perform the actual job. Those antiquated methods might check some boxes but do nothing to reveal a person's true capabilities.

At SkillsProject.ai, we're on a mission to fix this broken system. We believe the key to effective skills-based hiring lies in one simple principle: stop relying on proxies and focus on the actual work. Skills-based hiring requires a fundamental shift in how organizations evaluate and select talent, moving away from traditional credentials and standardized tests and toward a focus on demonstrated skills and competencies.

It starts with knowing what skills you need. Misunderstandings of the actual skills you are looking to add to your teams lead to poor hires, attrition, and wasted time. We build to specific needs, with depth and breadth. Iterating a search is as frustrating as it is wasteful. Getting it right the first time saves everyone from headaches.

That's why we put candidates through real-world challenges with tools and applications that mirror the tasks they'd be expected to perform on the job. No more generic coding exercises or puzzles—we want to see how they tackle the same problems your team faces daily. The best way to assess a candidate's skills is to have them complete a job-relevant work sample or project.

By evaluating candidates based on their ability to do the work, not just their past testaments, we can uncover hidden gems that the traditional hiring process would have overlooked. After all, the best person for the job isn't always the one with the most polished resume.

But it's not just about identifying top talent. SkillsProject empowers candidates to take ownership of their skills and showcase their authentic capabilities. By providing them with a scored profile they can use to apply to multiple companies, we're creating a more transparent and equitable hiring landscape. Skills-based hiring platforms can help level the playing field for candidates from diverse backgrounds by highlighting their abilities.

No more guesswork, no more reliance on outdated proxies. With SkillsProject, both clients and candidates can finally focus on what truly matters: the work.