Why You Should Hire for THESE Skills Instead

There’s been a lot of buzz about the extinction of the traditional resume. Professional social networks like LinkedIn are slowly but surely killing the paper dinosaur, but there’s not a whole lot of discussion as to why this is the case.  Currently, the job market is leaning towards a list of skills and qualifications as a means of deciding a candidate’s fit for a position, not necessarily the experience they have. While, yes, the time spent in the field is indispensable, it’s not all that’s necessary to cultivate a powerful team of knowledgeable employees. Core skills are core skills. There is no disputing the fact that, as a professional in nearly every field, candidates need the ability to communicate interpersonally and in a group while paying attention to detail.

Why exactly are these core skills more important than the amount of experience your talent pool has?

Setting Mandatory Years-of-Experience Requirements Doesn’t Work for Everyone

Plus, they don’t necessarily benefit you or your talent pool. Minimums – and maximums – damage and decrease the number of candidates. Upon looking at job boards, candidates will self-select out of the running for the position because they don’t have the mandatory “seven years experience.”

Employers who have made the change have seen a difference. Those who hire based on skills rather than experience see a 25-75 percent reduction in turnover. In fact, in the event of a career change, core skills are truly transferable to any given profession. Any professional must be able to communicate – and communicate well – both verbally and via the written word. This is where face-to-face or video interviews come into play. That interpersonal interaction allows you as a recruiter to determine a candidate’s particular set of skills through body language, tone of voice, and their attention to detail.

The Results Are Limitless

When you hire – recruit for – the hard skills dictated by a particular profession, you lose a wide range of candidates who would otherwise be qualified in soft skills. While eager to learn the hard skills of the job, these candidates are often overlooked.

It takes longer to fill a job in today’s employment market than it did just a few years ago in 2010. Creating job descriptions full of a plethora of specific hard skills and training necessary to even obtain an interview only prolongs the process. Employers can’t wait for perfection to walk through their door. Otherwise, they risk extending the time-to-fill exponentially. Even Bill Gates advocates hiring for skills rather than experience or a particular title.

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Originally posted on Recruiter.com

photo credit: Israel Orlandi via photopin cc

Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan is CEO of Red Branch and general Bad@$$

Maren Hogan is a seasoned marketer and community builder in the HR and Recruiting industry. Maren started Red Branch Media and, before she hired all the smiling faces you see below, she ran it on her own. In marketing for over 15 years, she has deep experience in strategic campaigns and a long-term, results-based operational approach.