The Great Disconnect: Skills-First Solutions for Smarter Hiring

Key Takeaways

• The majority of job seekers and hiring managers agree that skills are more important than experience, but many employers are not taking the key steps to implement skills-first hiring.
• Job seekers can improve their hiring experience by taking a more “skills-first” approach to resumes and applications. 
• Embrace AI to help match candidates with roles based on skills. 

If there were a candidate with a college degree but no relevant experience, and a candidate with no degree but plenty of hands-on experience, who would you choose? 

The majority of job seekers (70%) and hiring managers (62%) agree on choosing the latter, according to Indeed’s recently released Smarter Hiring report.

That’s what skills-first hiring is — hiring the person who can do the job, not limiting the search to those who check a list of boxes. Skills-first hiring, also known as skills-based hiring, can look different depending on the organization, but it typically means prizing skills over more traditional indicators like educational requirements or years of experience.

As we explored in Part 3 of our Great Disconnect series, hiring is getting harder for candidates and employers alike. But, based on insights in the Smarter Hiring report, focusing on skills can reduce the ambiguity that often muddles the hiring process. This shift can help employers write better job descriptions, screen candidates faster and make better hiring decisions.

“Many employers have a habit of falling back on known qualifications — where they went to school, what specific degree they have — without really looking at the tangible skills that are needed to do the job,” says Matt Berndt, who leads the Indeed Job Search Academy.

A skills-first hiring approach could bridge some of the gaps between job seekers and employers. However, 55% of employers say that a lack of understanding of skills-first hiring is a barrier to implementing it. 

Let’s explore what skills-first hiring means for employers and job seekers.

This is the fourth in a series of Lead with Indeed articles about “The Great Disconnect,” which explores the growing chasm between what job seekers need and what employers offer. For more, see: 
The Great Disconnect: What Job Seekers Want vs. What Employers OfferThe Great Disconnect: Closing the Gap Between Job Seekers and Employers
The Great Disconnect: Overlooked Talent, Overwhelmed Employers

Four Skills-First Strategies to Bridge Hiring Disconnects

1. Define which skills matter the most for the role

For employers: Identify the capabilities you’re looking for so the right candidates can find you.
Start by defining the core skills necessary for the job. Instead of using traditional metrics, create a list of essential skills required for each role and use these to craft job descriptions. For example, rather than asking for a degree in computer science, specify that proficiency in Python coding is necessary.

“When employers take the time to really define the skills required for the role and adjust their processes accordingly, it leads to better matches,” says Jenna LaBella, Indeed VP of Client Success. 

For job seekers: Take a skills-first approach to job applications.

Job seekers often fail to effectively communicate their relevant skills. Preparing a skills inventory that highlights core competencies and relevant experience can help. Using specific examples to illustrate how they’ve successfully applied these skills in the past adds impact. A well-crafted resume tells a clear, compelling story. 

“When job seekers effectively showcase their skills — whether it’s through certifications or during the application and interview process — it creates more meaningful connections,” LaBella says.

2. Use behavioral interviewing to ask the right questions and give the right answers

For employers: Adopt a behavior-based interview approach.
Ask interview questions that require candidates to give concrete examples of how they’ve used their skills in previous roles so you can learn from their past performance to assess future capabilities. Instead of asking, “Do you have experience in project management?” ask, “Can you share a specific project where you led a team and what the outcomes were?”

For job seekers: Focus on illustrating skills through relatable, quantifiable examples.
Job seekers benefit from developing a repertoire of success stories that demonstrate their skills in action. Says Berndt, “We’re constantly coaching job seekers that if you claim you’ve got a skill, you must be prepared with an example. Because if you don’t have an example, you’re just offering an opinion.”

3. Prioritize communication

For employers: Maintain clear communication throughout the hiring process.

Keep candidates informed by sharing timelines and ensuring that candidates receive timely updates. Use automated systems to acknowledge applications as they come in.

For job seekers: Be proactive.
Asking key questions to clarify the hiring process helps job seekers stay informed and better prepared. “I tell job seekers to never leave an interview without asking when they can expect to hear back and what the next steps are,” Berndt says. “And on the other side, I tell recruiters that those are the two questions candidates should never have to ask.”

4. Embrace technology to support skills-first hiring 

For employers: AI-powered tools can help.
AI can help streamline everything from writing clear job descriptions to sourcing qualified talent faster. But only 36% of employers use AI in their hiring processes. Once employers have identified the skills required for the job, AI-powered job descriptions and matching tools can simplify the search by finding candidates based on skills rather than less relevant indicators. 

“On the employer side, it helps to automate the stuff that ought to be automated, so that humans can focus on the human elements of hiring, because the human element is never going away,” Berndt says.

For job seekers: Leverage technology to help demonstrate skills and streamline job searches.
Job seekers can use online platforms and AI tools to create skills-first resumes and to research companies, job roles and interview strategies tailored to their skills. “AI gives both candidates and employers the opportunity to be more efficient in their search,” Berndt says. 

Indeed’s profile tools help job seekers clearly showcase their skills, non-degree credentials, certifications and other qualifications, enabling its matching AI technology to connect them with roles that fit their capabilities. Additional AI tools assist with crafting tailored profile summaries and accomplishments for specific jobs. 

Indeed is also developing new solutions that will coach job seekers on how to present their skills more effectively (for example, listing non-degree credentials in the education section).

Remote work, pay transparency, convoluted hiring processes — there is often a divide between what job seekers want and what employers offer. We call it the Great Disconnect, and this short video dives into that research and offers a few simple solutions.

The Power of Human-Centered Hiring

Employers who take a skills-first approach and embrace AI tools to support their hiring strategy will fill roles faster and find better matches.

And for job seekers, a smoother, more transparent process means less stress, more clarity and a better chance to find roles that align with their strengths. The end result is that those employees are more likely to stick around, and businesses can gain a reputation as great places to work. 

Hiring is not only about getting the job done. It’s about creating a better experience for job seekers and employers alike. 

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Further reading:

A Beginner’s Guide to Skills-First Hiring

Accenture Thrives Thanks to Skills-First Hiring

AI Has the Power to Unlock Skills-First Hiring

Indeed resources that can help close the gap by powering connections between job seekers and employers:

Invite to Apply, which sends AI-based job recommendations to job seekers based on their resumes, Indeed profiles and other qualifications. 

Indeed’s AI Job Description Generator, which leverages OpenAI’s GPT to create the core job description. Then, paired with Indeed’s machine learning expertise and taxonomy on millions of job descriptions, Indeed’s tool adds specific phrases and details that can help further tailor the job description to the candidates you want to attract. 

Released in April 2024, Indeed Smart Sourcing enables employers to instantly match and efficiently connect with active candidates on Indeed using AI, instead of waiting for candidates to apply. 

At FutureWorks 2024, Indeed CEO Chris Hyams announced an upcoming AI-powered product from Indeed that will provide job seekers with the resources to develop a career path and help employers fill talent gaps. Stay tuned for more details in the near future.