Hiring for potential, not perfection: The rise of Skills-first recruiting

Skills-based recruiting is on the rise. According to Deloitte’s most recent “Time to Rethink Talent in the Boardroom” survey, a whopping 78% of respondents considered skills and talent availability a significant risk source for their organizations.

In 2024, 81% of global employers prioritized skills-based recruiting, a significant increase from just 56% in 2022.

As more recruiters prioritize practical skills and experience over formal qualifications, a new era of skills-first hiring is set to redefine how companies approach talent and how applicants present themselves.

With this in mind, let’s take a deep dive into what a skills-first approach could mean for your recruitment team in 2025 and beyond.

What is Skills-First Recruiting?

Skills-first recruiting is a strategy that recognizes practical skills, on-the-job experience and practicality as essential factors to consider when hiring a candidate.

As the UK working world evolves, so does the definition of ‘top talent’. While formal qualifications still hold an enormous amount of weight in the interview room, skills such as seamless adaptability, technological expertise and industry experience are becoming all the more attractive to modern employers.

If you’re considering skill-first hiring, here are just some of the benefits you could expect:

1. Diverse talent pools: Skills-first hiring focuses less on a candidate's training and more on the skills they possess. This form of hiring promotes inclusivity and allows all candidates from various backgrounds to apply on an equal footing.
2. More candidates to choose from: If you’re focusing on skills as opposed to degrees and formal qualifications, the talent pool rapidly opens up. This opens up opportunities for those who have not taken traditional career paths.
3. Rising retention rates: Skilled employees are always looking to grow within a company. If you hire a candidate who is well-suited to their role, they are twice as likely to be engaged and committed to the company, which in turn reduces employee turnover.

There are plenty of advantages for job seekers, too. Those without formal degrees get the chance to showcase their abilities on their resume, and practical experiences, self-taught skills and internships are given more value in the hiring process.

3 Ways to Implement Skills-First Recruiting in Your Hiring Strategy

To implement a skills-first strategy, there are a few steps you must take as a recruiter. To appeal to a broader pool of candidates, you must rethink job descriptions, review your current skills requirements and develop skills-based assessments that can replace traditional entry-level tick-boxes.

Here are three steps to take to get you started:

Rethink Your Job Descriptions and Skills Requirements

If you’re planning to take a skills-based approach to your recruitment, it’s best to start with a skills audit. During this process, you can pinpoint the critical skills needed for each role and help guide applicants through the application process. If you want to take it to the next level, remove unnecessary degrees and qualification requirements and replace these with specific skills. For instance, when hiring for technical roles, focus on network engineer skills like cloud experience and automation expertise, or for analytical positions, emphasize systems analyst capabilities rather than specific degree requirements. You'll have to implement ways to encourage candidates to demonstrate this, but we'll get to that later.

Lastly, don’t forget to use inclusive language in your skills-based job descriptions. By removing traditional tick-box entry requirements, you open up your role to a broader talent pool from all different backgrounds. Ensure that each of them has an equal footing when it comes to applying for the role.

Create Your Skill-Based Assessments

Listing skills on an application is one thing; testing them out is another. The key is to implement practical assessments, such as coding challenges, technical tests, and real-world case studies, to evaluate applicants' abilities accurately.

There are plenty of creative ways to simulate on-the-job tasks that provide a realistic arena for candidates to compete in. For example, American Supermarket Walmart uses VR to simulate shop-floor situations and challenges that candidates must complete before being invited to an interview.

Consider using AI tools to help assess candidate skills. AI-powered algorithms are brilliant at discovering patterns in a candidate’s skillset and filtering out applicants that don’t quite reach the mark.

Broaden Your Talent Pool

Last but not least, don’t forget to broaden your talent pool. Look beyond traditional backgrounds and make your hiring experience more inclusive for the best results.

Consider candidates who have taken diverse career paths or come from non-traditional industries. Those coming from an internship-style background, for example, are often equipped with more on-the-job skills than a degree-educated candidate. Recent graduates and students with relevant skills can bring fresh perspectives and adaptability to your organization.

To account for candidates from apprenticeships, re-entry schemes, and mentorship programs, consider offering a structured skills-based entry points system. This is particularly important when evaluating entry-level candidates who may lack direct experience but possess transferable skills. This will help filter out any applicants who lack direct experience.

Lastly, consider investing in your company's internal learning and development. If you want to foster a skills-based team, helping your current employees grow and develop will make for great team leaders as you onboard a new type of workforce. Focus on developing essential teamwork skills and employee development capabilities that strengthen your existing workforce while attracting new talent.

Skills-first recruitment is on the rise. In an era where technological advancements are redefining the workplace, candidates who possess a specific set of skills will continue to outperform those with more traditional qualifications.

The key here is to know precisely what you're looking for from a candidate. Whether you're seeking creative professionals with graphic design expertise or entry-level HR professionals, 2025 is the year of hiring for potential, not for perfection.