Skills-based hiring is growing quickly. The next challenge is making sure the skills being evaluated actually reflect the work, setting, and outcomes of the position.
John P. Beck, Jr.Author & Talent Assessment SMEJuly 19, 20267 minute read
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Skills-based hiring has moved from an emerging idea to a common operating model. In its Job Outlook 2026 research, the National Association of Colleges and Employers reported that 70% of participating employers use skills-based hiring. Employers most often apply it during interviews and screening, and many also use it when writing job descriptions and interview rubrics.
That momentum is encouraging, but here is the question I have asked clients for more than 30 years: which skills should you assess, and why do they matter for this job? A list of broadly desirable traits is not the same as a job-relevant selection strategy.
Skills-first should not become context-free
A skill can be valuable in one position and secondary in another. Even familiar labels such as communication, judgment, adaptability, or leadership can describe different behaviors depending on the level of the role, the customers served, the operating environment, and the consequences of error.
The practical starting point is not an assessment catalog. It is the work itself: the job description, manager input, structured job information, organizational expectations, and the outcomes the person will be responsible for delivering. I have seen too many organizations start with a test and work backward. That is the wrong order.
Define the work and the decisions the role must make.
Identify observable requirements and meaningful success factors.
Select measures that have a defensible relationship to those requirements.
Keep the assessment battery focused instead of measuring everything available.