What is skills-based hiring vs degree-based hiring?
In skill-based hiring, employers often choose candidates for their abilities rather than their degrees. The popularity of this approach is growing. In the past, employers mostly looked at educational qualifications when evaluating candidates. Degrees were the primary measure of a candidate’s value and suitability for a job. Recently, however, employers have started to prioritize skills over degrees. Many now see skill-based hiring as more important than traditional degree-based hiring.
Professional degrees prepare students for specific careers like teaching, medicine or law, with programs lasting between one and five years. These programs provide practical knowledge and often include internships and projects, giving students hands-on experience and helping them build resumes. In contrast, a skill-based approach focuses on the individual’s abilities, removing unnecessary educational requirements. This strategy allows employers to select candidates based on their skills, which can lead to a more diverse workforce. Your hiring method can depend on the job you’re trying to fill. A degree is mandatory for some specialized roles, like doctors, lawyers and scientists. However, you can fill many other positions across various industries based on candidate skills and experience.
Skills-based hiring practices
Companies often list the desired skills and essential certifications in the job description to implement skills-based hiring. They typically inform hiring managers about the required skills, dividing them into must-have skills and those that candidates can learn on the job. Including soft skills like communication and work ethic can also be beneficial. Employers can verify candidates’ skills through certifications or tests. Applications could include job-related questions to help filter suitable candidates. To maintain effectiveness, companies might ensure employees regularly update their skills to stay competitive as the industry evolves.
Degree-based hiring practices
Degree-based hiring can help ensure candidates have foundational knowledge and training in their field. Employers often view degrees as proof of a candidate’s dedication and ability to complete rigorous programs. However, this approach can overlook skilled individuals who have gained expertise through non-traditional paths or hands-on experience. While degrees can signal competence in a specific area, relying too heavily on them may exclude talented candidates who lack formal credentials but possess valuable skills and practical knowledge. Balancing degrees with other criteria can create a more inclusive hiring process.
Jobs that typically require a degree
Obtaining a degree is a key step for these professions due to the specialized knowledge and rigorous training involved. Earning a degree equips candidates with the skills and expertise needed to handle the responsibilities of their roles effectively, supporting their long-term career growth and success.
- Law
- Accounting
- Education
- Engineering
- Medical and health fields
Jobs that are more skills-focused
Employers often prioritize candidates’ skills and experience over formal educational qualifications in the following fields. This approach fosters a diverse and dynamic workforce, emphasizing practical abilities essential for the job.
- Information technology roles
- Mass hiring positions
- Technical jobs
- Sales and marketing roles
- Executive positions
- Retail and service roles
- Administrative positions
Skill-based hiring pros
Many companies are seeing the benefits associated with skill-based hiring. Here are some of the pros:
Wider talent pool
When employers focus on skills rather than qualifications, they can access a broader talent pool, including individuals who have gained the necessary skills through non-traditional methods. These can include vocational training, online courses and simply learning by doing. This brings in a new group of talents that you could otherwise miss.
More diversity
Skill-based hiring can bring more diversity into the workforce and break barriers for people from different socio-economic backgrounds who can’t afford higher education. This typically means a greater scope for innovative and creative problem solving within an organization.
Emphasize relevant skills
With this approach, employers can focus on just the relevant skills and competencies in a role, increasing candidates’ ability to do their jobs. This can improve job performance and increase productivity.
Less training costs
Having someone with the right skills helps the organization save time and resources on training. This can lead to faster integration and quicker contributions to the team.
Faster recruitment process
Skills assessment and tests speed up recruitment, since practical demonstrations reduce the need for educational background reviews or checking formal qualifications.
Skill-based hiring cons
While there are several advantages to skill-based hiring, there are some potential cons, including:
Overlooking applicants
Skill-based hiring can focus on the candidate’s present skills, not their ability to grow and learn. That means missing potential applicants who can develop new skills and adapt to a change in job requirements. It may result in missing specific technical skills at the expense of softer skills like communication, teamwork and problem-solving, impacting job performance and workplace culture.
Narrow view
A tight focus on specific skills often misses the broader perspective that people from different educational or experiential backgrounds can bring to the company. This can limit the team’s innovation and creative problem-solving capabilities.
Evaluation issues
Assessing a candidate’s potential can be time-consuming and sometimes challenging. Employers may also have to invest in reliable testing methods and tools to evaluate the skills properly, which could prove very expensive and challenging to implement.
Bias
While skill-based hiring aims to be unbiased by focusing on objective criteria, biases can still occur in how people assess and value skills. For instance, assessors may overemphasize or undervalue specific skills.
Degree-based hiring advantages
Degree-based hiring involves evaluating candidates based on their academic qualifications, such as diplomas or degrees. Despite its downsides, this method offers some benefits for employers, including:
Standardization and benchmarking
Degrees generally provide a standard measure of educational achievement so that employers can compare candidates from different backgrounds and institutions. Standardizing these degrees makes life easier for the employer by laying out a basic guideline of knowledge and competence.
Deep knowledge
A degree provides in-depth education in a specific field, often covering a broad range of related subjects. This can be valuable in industries that require a sound basic understanding of certain subjects or specific technical skills as a starting point.
Professional accreditation
Certain professions legally and practically require a degree to meet industry standards for professional accreditation or licensing. Degree-based hiring ensures that a candidate has these essential qualifications to do the job.
Transferable skills
Most degree programs include courses and experiences that help develop transferable skills like communication, teamwork and project management that are useful in many roles and industries. Graduates from certain institutions may have specific values or ways of thinking that align more closely with an organization’s culture and values, making them a better fit and integrating more easily.
Degree-based hiring disadvantages
Degree-based hiring also comes with challenges. Here are some possible cons:
Too much emphasis on credentials
Overemphasizing credentials can lead to overlooking candidates with skills and experience who lack formal qualifications. This may result in losing out on self-taught experts or those who follow non-traditional paths.
Less diversity
Degree-based hiring can further bias against socioeconomic status, race and gender. Candidates from underprivileged backgrounds typically have less access to higher education, which can result in a less diversified workforce.
Outdated knowledge
Degrees don’t always reflect industry trends or technological changes. Relying on degrees can mean you might always be hiring people with obsolete qualifications, especially in fast-changing fields like tech.
Ignores practical experience
Real-world experience offers a wealth of knowledge and abilities that candidates can’t learn through education. Although employers generally require such practical experience, degree-based hiring takes real-world experience less into account.
Less innovation
Degree-based hiring could result in a workforce that thinks alike. With less diversity, backgrounds and experiences, fewer ideas, thoughts and innovations will exist.
Skill-based hiring focuses on candidates’ abilities, allowing for a more diverse and dynamic workforce. This strategy can lead to improved job performance and faster integration, but it also has challenges like potential biases and overlooking long-term potential. On the other hand, degree-based hiring ensures a standardized level of knowledge and professional accreditation, which can be essential for specific fields. On the downside, it may exclude talented individuals who lack formal qualifications and can limit diversity and innovation. Balancing both methods can create a more inclusive hiring process, leveraging the strengths of each approach.