Skills-based hiring is gaining ground: 81% of employers say they’re using some form of skills-based recruiting or hiring in 2024, up from 56% in 2022. And 94% say skills-based hiring practices are more predictive of on-the-job success than resumés. 

That’s according to one 2024 report, which also found that employers with a skills-based hiring strategy are seeing improved diversity and retention scores and lowered mis-hire and cost-to-hire rates. 

But these wins don’t tell the full story. Despite the benefits, many organizations are struggling to successfully adopt a skills-based hiring approach. As of February 2024, 45% of firms who’d made a commitment to skills-based hiring had yet to actualize any changes, and another 18% had “backslid” into old hiring patterns. 

That’s a big problem when you consider the need to evaluate candidates for their skills and, most importantly, for their potential is growing. Consider that: 

• With the rise of GenAI, past work experience, titles held, and keywords crammed onto a resumé all matter less. 
• Hard skills have a shorter life expectancy.
• Hiring teams must show more creativity in assessing what candidates can truly bring to a role. 

At WeSolv, we help companies tap into a diverse, vetted pool of MBA and other advanced degree talent and find their best match using real projects, or Case Challenges. These challenges cull candidates based on how well they solve a problem that reflects a company’s actual business needs, making Case Challenges an intuitive fit for skills-based hiring initiatives. 

Here’s the thing. While we’d love to claim the power to solve for companies’ every skills-based hiring need holistically, the truth is that project-based recruitment represents one (important!) piece of a larger puzzle. To make the switch to skills-based hiring, it requires a real mindset shift across your organization — and it also requires avoiding some common roadblocks that keep many companies from fully actualizing this new hiring model. 

What are those roadblocks? Keep reading to learn the mistakes some organizations make when attempting to switch over to a skills-based hiring model, so that you can avoid repeating them. Then, see what actions we recommend taking in their place.

1. Making “skills-based hiring” and “no degree requirements” synonymous

Let’s be clear: Dropping unnecessary degree requirements is a skills-based hiring best practice, and it removes a barrier for underrepresented talent, too. A 2023 Census Bureau report found these requirements auto-eliminate almost two-thirds of workers, with a disproportionate impact on Black and Latino workers. 

That said, the belief that skills-based hiring starts and ends with degree requirements fails to transform hiring behaviors and ignores the fact this hiring practice is meant to benefit underrepresented advanced degree holders, too. Regardless of degrees obtained or not obtained, the idea is to bring in new recruitment and hiring measures that accurately assess the potential of all candidates — and not just to delete one line from your job postings.

2. Using inadequate definitions of required skills

If you’re going to hire “for skills,” you need to have clear, comprehensive definitions of the skills actually needed for each open role. Without precise definitions, hiring teams are forced to assess skills subjectively or haphazardly, leading to hiring decisions based on vague or inconsistent criteria. 

Invest time in meticulously mapping out the skills required for each role, including proficiency levels and how they contribute to business objectives. And focus on the skills candidates will need within the first 6-to-12 months of a job, allowing room for on-the-job learning.

3. Thinking bias can’t exist in skills assessments 

Some people hear “skills-based hiring” and assume it, by default, means objectivity. But even in a skills-based model, bias can infiltrate the assessment process. For example, if assessments are designed or administered in ways that favor certain groups, they won’t provide an equitable evaluation of all candidates.

Regularly review and adjust assessment tools to minimize bias, ensuring they’re fair, transparent, and inclusive. Consider using blind skills assessments where possible, and transparently share your selection criteria to help candidates understand what they’re being scored on.

4. Not training hiring managers sufficiently 

It’s only natural that hiring managers who haven’t received sufficient training on a new hiring system will default to what they know. And, for a lot of people, what they know is recruiting and hiring talent by focusing on degrees, job titles, or previous companies, rather than evaluating candidates’ skills directly.

A skills-based approach requires hiring managers to know how to assess skills in a measurable way. (At WeSolv, we grade candidates’ Case Challenges based on a weighted scorecard!) You can start by offering your hiring managers workshops or e-learning modules that walk them through the principles of your new hiring methodology. Then, through simulations and clear examples, focus on their ability to create clear, skill-focused job descriptions and conduct structured interviews that evaluate specific competencies via skills assessments. 

5. Overlooking the need for technological integration

Trust us: You’ll need tools to streamline the process of assessing, tracking, and comparing candidates’ competencies. Without integrating this tech — whether in the form of applicant tracking systems (ATS), skills assessment platforms, or AI-driven tools — hiring teams may struggle to scale skills-based practices. Not only that, but legacy HR systems may not be equipped to handle skills-based data or integrate it with other talent management systems.

Find and deploy the right tools to support your switch, with an eye toward standardized skills testing, automated rankings of candidates based on skills, and data-driven insights that’ll help refine your hiring strategies. Without these, it’s easy to revert back to manual processes, even if they’re more time-consuming, error-prone, and biased.

6. Implementing inconsistently across departments

When different departments or teams apply a skills-based hiring model in varying ways, it can lead to inconsistencies, confusion, and an overall lack of coherence in the hiring process. It can also create internal friction, where teams that prioritize skills-based hiring may struggle to collaborate with departments that still focus on credentials or experience.

Adopt a unified approach. Start by establishing clear, company-wide guidelines for skills-based hiring that are documented and communicated to all departments, and cover these in company-wide trainings. This ensures everyone understands the importance and benefits of the model, as well as the steps required to implement it consistently.

7. Ignoring the role of external talent ecosystems

To effectively adopt skills-based hiring practices, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Don’t forget to consider how external talent ecosystems — like universities, certification bodies, industry networks, and online skills marketplaces — can support your efforts. These are precisely the groups that can give you access to a broader, more diverse talent pool, too.

Build strong relationships with external talent ecosystems (like WeSolv!) to ensure a steady pipeline of candidates with the skills your organization needs. Update your sourcing and recruitment processes to incorporate these external ecosystems, as well, ensuring your skills-based hiring model is drawing from the widest pool of candidates for enhanced talent diversity and skill alignment.

Unlock the advantages of a skills-based hiring platform built to improve recruitment and DEI outcomes. Learn about the WeSolv Case Challenge system.