How AI and skills-first hiring are rewriting the rules of recruitment

Amid rapid technological advancement across industries, employers’ hiring needs are changing, requiring them to bring the right talent on board quickly.

Yet many employers are stuck in the old ways of hiring, leaning on degrees and years of industry experience as the main indicators of quality. These outdated metrics don’t align with modern hiring practices, and as a result, talented individuals who don’t fit the “traditional” mould may slip between the cracks. This can lead to missing out on qualified candidates and even inadvertently biased hiring decisions.

Finding the right candidate is based on many complex factors, but a person’s ability to do the job should come first.

Employers can tap into a wider talent pool by evaluating job seekers based on skills, ensuring a better match for their needs and increasing retention. The skills-first hiring approach can also ultimately help employers reduce both the time and costs associated with hiring, especially when supported by AI.

Source candidates more effectively and efficiently

While acknowledging some industries require formal education and certifications, “skills-first” hiring focuses on identifying and hiring for the skills required for the job. This includes technical abilities like programming and data analytics, as well as durable skills such as adaptability and effective communication.

A Harvard study found that when companies dropped degree requirements, the employees they hired without such requirements stayed in their roles 20% longer than their counterparts who had post-secondary education.

Skills-based hiring also opens up new ways to use technology for more effective candidate sourcing. According to the study, 74% of hiring managers prefer to match with qualified talent based on skills and relevant experiences, and AI makes that process possible.

Indeed Smart Sourcing facilitates instant skills-based matching, surfacing a list of candidates matched to their job criteria based on information collected from the job seeker and AI-generated summaries highlighting skill overlaps.

“When Indeed matches candidates to jobs, it can improve its understanding of the job seeker and employer to create better job matches more quickly than ever,” said Donal McMahon, VP of engineering and data science at Indeed.

Speed up applications from quality candidates

To get employers’ opportunities in front of quality candidates, Indeed’s AI Job Description Generator can help write tailored, comprehensive job listings more quickly. The tool uses OpenAI and Indeed’s unique data on hiring signals to deliver a job description within seconds.

Once employers hone their job descriptions and review their instant Smart Sourcing matches, they can invite candidates to apply with a single click. Indeed research found that employers who invited matched candidates to apply to their sponsored job were 23 times more likely to apply than job seekers who only see the job in search.1

After candidates accept those invitations and apply, Indeed’s AI continues to help employers move them through every step of the hiring process. Indeed Smart Sourcing’s generative AI capabilities deliver candidate highlights for all matched job candidates — which include analyses and summaries of those candidates’ resumes — and equip employers with tools to quickly connect with candidates through AI-generated, personalized outreach.

The combination of expedited job posts, broadened candidate pools, and quick application invites can help employers fill positions faster and more easily.

As hiring needs continue to evolve, making the hiring process easier with AI helps companies better plan and staff for the future.

“We are combining the power of AI with the incredible power of human judgment,” said Chris Hyams, Indeed CEO. “The power of you. It’s smart, it’s fast, and it’s incredibly effective.”