Skills-Based Hiring Trends

The Microsoft and LinkedIn 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report is out, and unsurprisingly, AI is rapidly transforming the global workforce. Based on a survey of 31,000 people across 31 countries, here are the highlights, and what it means for education. Key Highlights: - AI usage has more than doubled in the last 6 months, with 75% of global knowledge workers reporting using GenAI tools. - 79% of leaders agree their company needs to adopt AI to stay competitive, but 60% worry their organization lacks a plan and vision to implement it. - 78% of AI users are bringing their own AI tools to work (BYOAI), cutting across all generations. - Leaders say they would not hire someone without AI skills (66%) and would prefer a less experienced candidate with AI skills over a more experienced one without them (71%). - AI power users are experimenting frequently with AI, getting support and encouragement from leadership, and receiving tailored AI training. They are seeing significant benefits in productivity, creativity, and job satisfaction. What does it mean for education? - Experience with AI is becoming a key hiring criteria, in part due to research that shows that GenAI use can significantly decrease skill gaps. - 77% of leaders say early-in-career talent will be given greater responsibilities due to AI. This has major implications for how schools and universities prepare students for the job market. - Only 39% of people who use AI at work have received AI training from their company, and only 25% of companies plan to offer training on generative AI this year. This gap between need for training and availability is similarly playing out in schools and systems right now. - As AI reshapes work, the skills required for jobs are projected to change significantly. Educational institutions will need to adapt curricula to focus on the uniquely human skills that will be most valuable in an AI-enabled work world, such as creativity, critical thinking, and relationship building. The rapid rise of AI is transforming the workplace and the job market and the entire education ecosystem has an essential role to play in equipping students and workers with the AI skills and aptitudes that are and will be most in-demand. For the full report, visit: https://lnkd.in/eyfSRzNj AI for Education #aiforeducation #aieducation #durableskills #GenAI #AIliteracy

Don't let your Job Description be a laundry list of responsibilities without spelling out what the actual day-to-day work will look like. Here's a breakdown of a role, for instance, in Talent Acquisition, to illustrate how detailing can be helpful: Intake: 5% Dive into meetings with Hiring Managers, grasping their urgent needs. It's all about asking the right questions to sketch a clear talent and engagement strategy. Research: 5% Delve into the competitive talent landscape. Here, you're a researcher, creating talent maps based on candidate prototypes. Sourcing & Engagement: 60% This is where the magic happens. Use creative search techniques to find and engage passive technical talent from the maps you created. Develop long-term engagement plans, making every interaction count. Screen and Match: 25% Evaluate technical skills and delve into candidates' motivations and values. It's about matching the right talent with the right company, making impactful connections. Measurement and Strategy: 5% Analyze conversion rates and effectiveness of strategies. It's a constant process of learning and refining your approach. Now a candidate can look at this breakdown and self-select out if spending the majority of their time sourcing isn't aligned with their career ambitions at this time. Another way this is useful is that this can now act as a basis of your interview plan. You can build each interview to cover one of these key areas. On the back-end you could create some weighting of specific skills to help you make a hiring decision: *Numbers are completely made up* Sourcing hard-skills: .6 Communication: .2 Data and strategy: .1 Research: .1 Now when you have candidates that are stronger or weaker in specific areas, it's easier to stack rank against the most important aspects of the job. Push your Hiring Managers to describe the projected percentage of time the person will be spending on specific tasks. In the case there is some unknown, you can still do the skill-set ranking based on what the anticipated scope of work will be. #recruiting #hiring #techrecruiting

Navigating the employment market in the U.S. can be a daunting task. Despite our efforts in meticulously editing our CVs and tailoring cover letters for prospective jobs, success in the #recruitment process often hinges on 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Having recently undergone a positive recruitment process, I am eager to shine a spotlight on how Elisabeth Cohen of the Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency - City and County of Denver executed equitable hiring practices. 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: Sending interview questions in advance is a good practice as it allows candidates to prepare thoroughly, fostering more thoughtful and well-structured responses. This approach promotes #fairness, ensuring all candidates have an #EqualOpportunity, while also reducing interview-related stress. 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 (MBI): Prioritizing MBI extends beyond evaluating technical skills, offering insights into authentic enthusiasm, passion, and commitment. In certain instances, possessing relevant skills alone may not suffice; individuals overflowing with enthusiasm and passion often contribute to work with equal or greater efficacy. 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬-𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡: By prioritizing 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 over traditional markers, CASR paved the way for candidates from diverse backgrounds. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡: From the first screening interview onwards, it became evident that the hiring manager strongly prioritized transferable skills. Recognition of the value of transferable skills speaks volumes about CASR's commitment to assessing candidates beyond traditional qualifications. It's a game-changer that not only acknowledges the wealth of experiences individuals bring from various backgrounds but also enriches the organization with diverse perspectives and capabilities. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲: The CASR team demonstrated effective communication with candidates throughout every stage of the process. Transparency was key – from a clear timeline at each stage to ample time for tasks, the CASR Team ensured no guessing games about application status. Feeling #seen, #heard, and #valued throughout the entire journey was an empowering rarity. 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: The recruitment process fostered a secure and inclusive atmosphere, allowing the candidates to bring their authentic selves. CASR's recruitment practices are a beacon for other organizations aiming to create inclusive and equitable hiring processes. Hats off to the CASR Team for their unwavering dedication to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (#DEI). Encourage more organizations to embrace these practices by sharing and commenting on this post, thereby raising awareness on #EquitableHiring practices.

In another sign that more employers are shifting toward a "skills-first" hiring strategy, mentions of experience requirements in job postings have declined in recent years. In April, about 30% of US job postings on Indeed asked for a specific number of years of experience, down from almost 40% in April 2022. The pullback is most pronounced in sectors most likely to require higher levels of education, with the share of postings with experience requirements dropping from 66% in April 2022 to 44% last month. For more on this trend, check out Cory Stahle's research brief. The link is in the comments.

A bad hire can cost you 30% of their annual pay, according to the Department of Labor. I think it’s usually even more. Here is how. Last year a founder came to me distraught after his first seasoned sales hire had gone wrong. The hires salary was a big investment, but the anticipation for increasing revenue and growth was justifying it. After three months, the salesperson had only brought in 1 or 2 leads. Another three months later and revenue was less than $10K. In a word, this was a disaster. It set the business back and delayed projected growth by a year, not to mention the cash flow issues it caused or the mental impact on the founder and other team members. If you calculate the time spent hiring the person, 6 months compensation, and a year of delayed growth/revenue, then you can how the cost of a bad hire can be even more than 30% of their compensation. It's easy to point fingers at new hire, but as a business owner, it’s your responsibility to minimize hiring risks and avoid the revolving door. Here are 9 best practices that I urge you to follow for hiring and onboarding: 1- Clearly define the role. 2- Set performance objectives. 3- Assess their domain knowledge: how much do they know about your services, niche, and market? 4- Background: make sure you understand the size of the companies they have worked in and the size of clients they have worked with. Also make sure their expectations of systems, processes, and support align with your company's operations. 5- Determine the type of contract and compensation. 6- Decide if you want to hire junior or experienced talent and adjust your expectations accordingly. Junior hires draw a lower salary and can bring new energy but will need more hand holding by you. Conversely, a senior hire commands greater compensation but can hit the ground running. A general rule here: if you’re hiring for something that you don’t know much about or can’t afford to have someone learn everything from scratch, hire a senior person. 7- Work out non-competes, non-disclosures, and other legal considerations for your industry. 8- Once hiring is completed, invest the time to onboard them and get them up to speed on your services as well as your internal systems, processes, and policies. 9- Highlight the importance of continuous learning; this way, they stay vigilant and competitive. Are there other best practices I am missing? Let me know and leave a comment below so other founders and hiring managers benefit too. Sign up for the Daily Advisor for more best practices:  https://lnkd.in/e5kHksep #hiring #sales #consulting #entrepreneurship

Gartner's 2024 Top Strategic Tech Trends in #SoftwareEngineering just dropped! Based on analyzing client inquiries on software engineering, the top trends we've identified are: - Software Engineering Intelligence: Tools that measure developer productivity and developer experience are increasingly used, especially to measure to impact of generative AI on productivity and DevEx. - AI-Augmented Development: We project that by 2028, 75% of enterprise software engineers will use AI coding assistants, up from less than 10% a year ago. However, AI-augmented development goes beyond coding assistants, and now covers requirements analysis, testing, and refactoring. - Green Software Engineering: Green software engineering helps leaders to deliver mission-critical software in a sustainable way. This can include using more energy-efficient languages such as Rust, or an Internal Developer Portal which helps developers make energy-aware choices. - Platform Engineering: No surprise here, since this has been a top trend for a number of years now. But we hear our clients questioning the ROI of platform engineering more closely, as it moves beyond the peak of the Hype Cycle. - Cloud Development Environments: These provide remote, ready-to-use access to a hosted development environment. This decoupling of the development workspace from the physical workstation enables a low-friction, consistent developer experience and faster developer onboarding. Cloud Development Environments are a new entry in our Top Trends for Software Engineering for 2024, and it will be interesting to chart their progress. Congratulations to Joachim Herschmann, Manjunath (Manju) Bhat , Frank O'Connor, Arun Batchu, and Bill Blosen for leading this report. Gartner clients can access the full report here: https://lnkd.in/enkQvyas [Gartner subscription required]

Why skills-based hiring is your secret weapon! We’ve become obsessed with golden pedigrees, haven't we? - 40-50% of all job descriptions list a college degree, but - Only 0.203% of all jobs globally actually require a college degree. We are screening out incredible talent because of unnecessary requirements. We are dismissing the broader benefits of alternative education channels. And we are perpetuating existing inequalities. Especially if those degrees are not readily accessible to everyone. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau: - 69.2% of African Americans (ages 25-64) don't have a college degree. - 52.9% of non-Hispanic white Americans don’t have a college degree. The future of talent acquisition is about what candidates can actually do, not just where they went to school. If we focus on skills-based hiring, the benefits are huge! + 5x better predictor of job performance than degrees (McKinsey) + 19X increase in talent pool size (LinkedIn data) – meaning true diversity + 34% increase in retention (Harvard Business Review) Skills-based hiring focuses on what a person can do, not what they did in the past. Today’s science-based tools make that fast and easy. (And they are more accurate than hunches.) I created an infographic to break down the pros and cons of skills-based vs. degree-based hiring, giving you the intel to make informed decisions. Let's join Byron Auguste and #tearthepaperceiling What do you think? ****** P.S. Repost if you find this useful ♻️

There is an ongoing shift away from traditional degree-centric hiring practices, with many states leading the charge in redefining qualifications for government positions. Maryland set the precedent in March 2022 by eliminating the four-year degree requirement for most state jobs, sparking similar actions in at least 10 other states. Tennessee took it a step further and banned bachelor's degree mandates for state employment. These changes aim to broaden candidate pools and prioritize skills over formal education credentials. Private sector giants like IBM and Google have also embraced skills-based hiring, ditching college degree prerequisites for certain roles. This is a seismic shift in talent acquisition strategies. Skills-based Hiring is The Future of Work!

Our latest report on Skills-Based Hiring (https://lnkd.in/gZnWcqmD ) continues to resonate deeply within the business and workforce communities. A significant factor in why skills-based hiring has not yet led to a marked transformation in recruitment practices may be attributed to the increasing educational attainment within the workforce. The proportion of individuals with a bachelor's degree has seen a rapid rise in recent decades. Consequently, many fields are inundated with degree-holding candidates, diminishing the urgency to broaden the talent pool to include those without a bachelor's degree. However, the Skills-Based Hiring movement could achieve greater success by concentrating on sectors where employers face acute hiring challenges and numerous positions, traditionally requiring a bachelor's degree, could feasibly be filled by individuals without one. This strategic focus, could significantly bridge the gap between current labor market demands and the untapped potential of skilled, non-degree holders. By prioritizing practical abilities over formal education credentials, this approach not only promises to enhance inclusivity but also align more closely with the evolving needs of the labor market. #skillsbasedhiring #skills #recruitment #labormarket #futureofwork

The latest report from MIT SMR Connections prepared on behalf of Mercer is a gold mine for leaders wrapping their minds around modern work. Here’s what to look for as your team navigates a series of cascading (and overlapping) transformations encompassing distributed work, AI, and culture. ⚙️ NEW ROLES: Just as AI leads to new roles (prompt engineers), senior architects are needed to coordinate work without an office (Head of Remote/Hybrid/Distributed Work, Offsites Director, etc.) 📝 CODIFICATION. Skills-based hiring forces leadership to codify goals, jobs-to-be-done, and a clear definition of what success looks like. 🧠 ZONES OF GENIUS: Great leaders build teams with skill sets that fill personal voids. This allows everyone to operate primarily within their Zone(s) of Genius. ✅ EMPOWERED DRIs: Decision-making velocity increases with an organization’s willingness to empower directly responsible individuals (DRI). The key to moving away from consensus culture is to embrace iteration, giving DRIs agency to act on smaller components of work that can be reverted or redirected as lessons are learned. 💚 CULTURE IS A TOOL: New systems and workflows are only a part of transformation. Cultural adjustments must be deployed in parallel. “Only by acting as a servant to strategy can technology offer the right mix of tools to deliver each company’s version of skills-powered success.” 🏋️ BARBELL APPROACH: The report notes that “most organizations launch many trials before implementing a program companywide.” One side of the barbell is securing company-wide buy-in on piloting as a strategy. The other side is finding your pioneers to rapidly run the pilots you told the company to expect. 🔓 OPEN-SOURCE MINDSET: Skills-based hiring closely mirrors the open-source ethos. “At most large companies, people stick to their lane, whether it’s HR or marketing or sales. We are saying, ‘I recognize you for your skills, and you can use them to do something completely different.’” 🙏 HUMAN-CENTRIC: “Forty percent of executives surveyed believe redesigning work to incorporate AI and automation will deliver substantial business growth — but to fully realize the gains, work redesign must be human-centric.” This tracks. A 2022 Gartner report found that employees who operate in human-centric work models – where they are seen as people, not just resources – are 3.8 times more likely to be high performing. Kudos to Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA, Brian Fisher, and MIT SMR Connections for synthesizing reality for modern leaders. Take a peek at the full report and share what stood out to you. https://lnkd.in/eKkuHKc2