Skills Based Recruiting: When, not How
Alice Snell
here has been a lot of buzz lately about "skills-based recruiting." Is this yet
another management fad pushed down from above? With scant time in the
day to even read last week's email, a busy recruiter might worry about finding
the time for professional development to brush up on another new recruiting
methodology. The good news is there's no need to take a seminar or certify
for anything new. Recruiters have been using skills-based recruiting all along!
Skills-based recruiting is the term given to the recruiter-driven process of
matching skills to a perceived hiring need. The emphasis is on the recruiter
driving the process, actively pursuing the information he or she needs to
assess a match between the candidate's skills and the requirements of the job
position.
Who's Driving?
Perhaps the best way to appreciate the subtle shift in emphasis placed by
skills-based recruiting is to consider the difference between an interview and
a resume. An interview is quintessentially recruiter-driven; the recruiter asks
the questions, and generally determines the course of the interview. Skills
assessment is one of the most important functions of an interview. Situational
and behavioral interview techniques are two methods for assessing skills in job
situations. (Even reference checks fit the definition of a recruiter-driven
skills-assessing process.)
The content of a resume, on the other hand, is wholly determined by the
candidate. In the traditional recruiting cycle, the resume is the first means by
which a recruiter can assess the match between the candidate's skills and the
requirements of the job position. However, (candidate-driven) resumes
generally do not contain the right information. In reviewing a resume, the
recruiter must look for clues that indicate whether it is worthwhile to bring the
hiring process to the next step-to the (recruiter-driven) skills-based recruiting
interview.
Skills-Based Prescreening
A software company recently ran a classified ad that contained a short piece
of computer code. The ad stated the function of the code, and asked readers
if they could improve upon it. This is an example of skills-based prescreening
being introduced as early as possible-to the ad creative. Past work experience
and duties, past education, and other information typically pushed from a
candidate to a recruiter is secondary. What is important is a skill that is
directly applicable to job performance-whether the potential candidate
understands the computer code, and can improve upon it. Which will the
software company recruiter look at first: the resume or the suggestion for
improving the computer code?
Skills-based recruiting can also be pushed towards the beginning of the
recruiting process through automated pre-screening. Sophisticated hiring
management systems provide the application through which recruiters can
glean candidate skills information through online questionnaires during the first
contact. So initial questions can automatically gather the fundamental skills
information up front. And, the recruiter's valuable time is spent conducting a
more in-depth, thorough interviews of the most qualified candidates.
Early and Automated
In skills-based recruiting, the recruiter is driving the process to get the
information that is sufficient to assess the match between the candidate's
skills and the requirements of the job position. With traditional resume-based
recruiting, skills-based recruiting is performed but delayed. That delay, which
comes from an inadequate and inefficient process, can ultimately result in bad
decision-making. The lack of critical information at the right moment in the
process may even mean the recruiter hits the proverbial dead end-no
opportunity for thorough skills-based recruiting procedures.
Moving skills-based recruiting activities earlier in the recruiting process
through automated pre-screening systems enables the recruiter to use his or
her own skills most effectively. All recruiters practice skills-based
recruiting-some just do it earlier than others!
Articles
Finding Candidates
- 10 Reasons to Hire Vets
- Hire Older Workers
- Improving Candidate Quality
- Sourcing 101
- Sourcing Candidates Well
- Tips for Building Employment-Related Websites
- U.S. Employ of People with Disabilities: Free Workshops
- Virtual College Recruiting
Interviewing Basics
- 10 Commandments of Recruiting
- 5 Keys to Successful Hiring
- 7 Tips for Successful Phone Interviews
- Behavioral Interviewing Basics
- Contrary Evidence Questions
- Interview Questions: Do's and Don'ts
- Interviewing Opening and Closing Remarks
- Interviews: Common Weaknesses
- Mistakes Amateur Interviewers Make
- Phone Screen Interview Mistakes
- Probing Techniques Explained
- Screening Interviewing: Top 10 Red Flags
- Strengthen the Validity of Your Interviews
- Telephone Interviews: Basics
- Ten Bad Listening Habits of Interviewers
- Types of Interviews
- Typical Probes and Follow up Questions
- What Do Interviewers Need to Know to be Effective?
Interviewing Best Practices
- 7 Keys to Effective Selection Interviews
- A Closer Look at Behavior-Based Interviewing
- Advantages / Disadvantages of Interviewing
- Applying Core Competencies to Selection Interviews
- Are You Really a Behavior-Based Interviewer?
- Assessing Speaking and Listening Skills
- Best Practices in Interviewing Candidates
- Deadly Interview Mistakes
- Death by Interview
- Ensure Hiring Success in Every Situation
- Executive Assessment Should Be Mandatory
- Generational Interviewing
- Hiring Interview + Strategic Applicant Management
- Hold Evening and Off-Time Interviews
- How to Interview a Top Performer
- Improve your Interviewing Techniques
- Interview Questions to Assess Soft Skills
- Interviewing for Ethics
- Interviewing Millennials
- Interviewing: Business or Psychology
- Metrics Interview
- Peeling Back the Onion
- The Positives of Panel Interviews
- Time for Candidate Advocacy?
- Tips for Conducting Successful Interviews
- Two Critical Interviewing Questions
Laws & Documentation
- Applicant Reference Release
- At Will Employment Release
- Avoid Negligent Hiring Mistakes
- Employee Referral Program Metrics
- Fair Labor Standards Act Information
- Four Interview Questions Never to Ask
- Giving Employee References
- Hiring Compliance Guidelines
- Hiring for Small Business
- Interviewing People with Disabilities
- Job Denial Letter
- Legal Issues in Interviewing
- Minimize Employment Risks: Document
- SAMPLE Employment Policy
- SAMPLE Letter: Educational Records Check
- SAMPLE Letter: Reference Check
- Ten Safe Hiring Tools
- What is Negligent Hiring
Line Manager / Recruiting Partnership
- Defending Candidates to Hiring Managers
- Interlocking Core Competency Interviews
- Internal Application Process
- Making Internships Work for You
- Making the Case for Behavioral Interviewing
- Non-Traditional Merit Pay Alternatives
- OFCCP Definition of an Internet Applicant
- Why Managers Shouldn't Do Most Hiring
- Workforce Planning: Strategic Staffing Strategy
Post-Interview
Pre-Planning & Retention
- Bonus or Incentive?
- Brand-Building on a Budget
- Build a First-Rate Hiring Process
- Closing the Deal
- Compensation Plans: An Overview
- Conducting an Exit Interview
- Good Hiring Starts with a Good Job Profile
- Improve the Quality of the Employment Function
- Interview Process Problems
- Interview the Job Before the Candidates
- Job Description Template-Link Pay to Performance
- Linking Pay to Company Performance
- Selecting and Using Salary Surveys
- Succession Planning
- Succession Planning: Identifying Top Performers
- Using a Pre-Interviewing Questionnaire
- Winning the War for Talent
- Worker Shortage by 2010: Preparation
Reading the Candidate
- Beware of Those Who Boast
- Blind Man's Bluff
- Decision, Decisions: Choosing the Better Applicant
- Detecting Deceit in Interviews
- Little White Lies on Resumes
- Suspend Judgment Until the Interview is Over
Recruiting Basics
- College Recruiting Basics
- College Recruiting Essentials
- Cut Down on Interview No Shows
- Discouraging Low Quality Applicants
- Don't Hold Too Many Interviews
- Job Descriptions: Why are they Important?
- New Strategies for Screening Job Candidates
- Preventing Resume Overload with Questionnaires
- Resume Review Basics
- Test Validation Explained
- The Value of Person-Organization Fit
- Three Companies Cut Turnover with Tests
Recruiting Best Practices
- 25 Telltale Signs of the Wrong Candidate
- 5 Overlooked Ways to Hire Winners
- Asking the Right Recruitment Questions
- Attracting Your Competitor's Employees
- BPR.......for Recruiters!
- Candidate Engagement
- Cloud Recruiting
- Evaluate Your Capture Strategy
- Hiring Best Practices
- How Do You Attract and Retain the Best People?
- How to Attract Applicants to Undesirable Jobs
- How to Attract, Develop and Retain Best People
- How to Find and Keep Valued Employees
- Ignorance and the Human Condition
- Onboarding Success Secrets
- Secrets to Non-Profit Hiring
- Selecting Top Management Talent
- Semi-Active Candidates are Best Bets
- Six Core Selling Principles
- Skills Based Recruiting: When, not How
- Smart Choices: How to Hire the Best
- Strategy for Hiring the Best This Year
- The Uses and Misuses of Personality Tests
- Top 10 Employee Selection Mistakes & Solutions
- Treat Candidates with the Carbon Rule