What résumés won’t tell you — and how to hire more effectively

Résumés are often poor indicators of a person’s unique capabilities and potential. Sure, a résumé can tell a recruiter about someone’s educational background and career history, but it rarely gives a clear picture of what recruiters really need to know — what a candidate is capable of in practice or their potential to learn new skills.

That’s because experience isn’t a proxy for capability. In fact, McKinsey states that hiring for skills is five times more predictive of job performance than hiring for education and two times more predictive than hiring for work experience.

Enter talent intelligence platforms. While technology is driving industry and workforce transformation, it’s also helping people find best-fit roles and projects based on their skills and potential to learn new ones.

Talent intelligence platforms go beyond the traditional résumé by using data and complex algorithms to identify skills and skills adjacencies. These platforms take into account an individual’s skills, experiences, and potential rather than just their formal education and work history.

With the help of these platforms, recruiters can widen a shrinking talent pool and quickly identify best-fit talent. With more than three in four employers adopting skills-based hiring, talent intelligence platforms are becoming an integral part of the hiring process. But in today’s labor market, it’s impossible to hire for all the skills you need to be successful — and that’s why it’s also important to consider your internal talent’s skill sets as well.

Building a digital-first workforce with a skills-based approach

It should come as no surprise to business and talent leaders that the WEF report also found that “six in 10 workers will require training before 2027,” the fastest-growing roles being driven by technology, digitalization, and sustainability. Yet it appears that only half of workers have access to adequate training opportunities today.

To truly address existing skills gaps, organizations need to take a multipronged approach to determine whether they need to build, buy, or borrow talent. Switching to a skills-based approach won’t happen overnight, but here are five steps you can use to start equipping your workforce with the skills they need to handle the challenges of today and tomorrow.