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How To Find Top Talent in a World Without Resumes

Few things in the hiring world are more disliked than resumes. Job seekers struggle to write good ones; hiring managers may skim them for only a few seconds before forming an impression. Yet it's difficult to imagine hiring without them.

A world without resumes, however, is already here. The future of hiring and recruiting has arrived, and it is a future that no longer requires job seekers to sweat over crafting a resume or hiring managers to spend time and suffer paper cuts to read them.

Here's how hiring managers can embrace skills-based hiring and find their next top performers.

Need flexible access to skilled candidates? Give All StarZ Staffing a call, and we'll deliver the people and solutions you need.

The Rise of Credentialization

Skills-based hiring is already here. A recent survey of members of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) found that:

  • 56% of employers use pre-employment assessments to measure skills.
  • Nearly 80% found these evaluations are "just as" or "more" important than the resume.
  • And more than one in three (36%) said they'd advance a candidate to the final round of hiring if they demonstrated strong skills, even if the candidate lacked the requested years of experience.

As HR professionals focus on skills, they also report reaping the benefits. In the SHRM survey, 78% of respondents said the overall quality of their hires has improved after shifting to a skills-based approach.

Why does a focus on skills work? It gets to the heart of the matter. For decades, human resources professionals relied on education and experience as shorthand for skills. They trusted the assumption that if a worker had completed a degree or credential, or the person had worked at a role for some time, they had acquired the necessary skills to work in an open position.

Years of mismatched hires, however, have taught HR teams that proxy information isn't enough. Rather, it's important to examine skills directly – and skip the resume that merely stands in for those skills.

What Comes After the Resume?

Skills-based hiring offers a wealth of benefits. But what does the shift to a new form of hiring mean for you and your company? Here are several things human resources professionals can change to hire more effectively in a post-resume world.

First, focus on both skills and capacity for learning. Existing skills and knowledge tell you how a worker will perform on the job today, but they don't say much about how that employee will adapt as skill demands change. And with the half-life of many job skills standing at five years or less, the ability to adapt is crucial.

In addition to skill assessments, examine candidates' ability and motivation to learn. Examples of self-directed lifelong learning can help, as can certain assessments of candidates' values and personality traits.

Next, understand each role down to the details. Focus on both tasks and skills. What does the person do in the role each day, and what skills are required to perform those tasks?

Here, AI-enabled skills intelligence solutions can offer valuable insights. AI can analyze roles, breaking down essential skills and tasks. It can also show where skills overlap between roles, indicating roles that a candidate can grow into or learn from in a mentor relationship.

Moving beyond the resume requires a shift in perspective. HR professionals who can look past job titles and degrees to skills and abilities are better positioned to help their companies find and keep adaptable, skilled talent.

Tips for Shifting to a Skills-Based Hiring Approach

To make the shift to a skills-based hiring approach:

  • Shift to a skills-based job description approach. Drop requirements for certain degrees, prior job titles or years of experience whenever possible. Instead, break each job posting into a list of tasks and skills required to complete each task. Work with team members who already hold these positions to get an accurate view of what each job requires.
  • Build partnerships. Partnerships with community colleges, career training programs and other learning sources can help you better understand the skills required for current and future work. These partnerships can also help you develop the talent you have as you search for team members with the ability to learn and grow.
  • Communicate regularly with your recruiter. Your strategic staffing partner can help you identify essential skills, craft job descriptions that focus on these skills and choose assessments to find skilled workers with the ability to continue learning.
Concerned your recruiting process might not be uncovering the best candidates? Learn how to enhance your technique and avoid common mistakes. Reach out to at for expert guidance and actionable strategies.

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