Skills Over Degrees: Promoting Skills-First Hiring in India's Competitive Market

At our Pune office, we hired someone who learned data science through YouTube and side projects—he outperformed most IIT grads in our hackathon. However, when we presented him to a client in BFSI, they flat-out said they would prefer someone from a good college. Even internally, I keep hearing, "What if they don't have the right background?"

How to push for skills-first hiring in India

How do you push for skills-first hiring in India, where pedigree still matters a lot? Any success stories?

To promote skills-first hiring in India's context where educational pedigree holds significant weight, it's essential to strategically approach this shift in mindset. Here are practical steps to advocate for skills-based recruitment:

1. Highlight Success Stories:
Share success stories within the organization where individuals with diverse educational backgrounds excelled based on their skills. Concrete examples can help change perceptions.

2. Implement Skills Assessments:
Incorporate skills assessments as a crucial part of the hiring process. This objective evaluation can showcase a candidate's abilities regardless of their educational background.

3. Offer Training Programs:
Provide training programs or upskilling opportunities for existing employees to enhance their skills. This not only boosts morale but also demonstrates the value of skills development.

4. Educate Stakeholders:
Conduct workshops or seminars to educate hiring managers, clients, and other stakeholders on the importance of skills over degrees. Showcasing the impact of skills on performance can be enlightening.

5. Foster a Skills-Driven Culture:
Encourage a culture that values continuous learning and skill development. Recognize and reward employees based on their skills and contributions rather than just their educational background.

By consistently advocating for skills-first hiring practices and demonstrating the tangible benefits, it is possible to gradually shift the focus towards skills and competencies in the recruitment process.

Dear Anand,

Your post is not about skills vs. degree per se, but skills vs. education. Therefore, it is pertinent to understand the purpose of education.

The purpose of education

Education is the cornerstone of human development and progress, an enduring journey that empowers individuals with knowledge, skills, and wisdom to navigate life’s challenges and opportunities. It is a transformative process that extends far beyond the confines of classrooms, as it shapes the essence of who we are and who we become. Education equips us with the tools to understand the world, fostering critical thinking, creativity, and a sense of curiosity that fuels continuous growth. From early childhood to adulthood, pursuing knowledge enriches lives, ignites aspirations, and lays the groundwork for a brighter, more enlightened future for individuals and society.

The rise of skill-based hiring

Notwithstanding the importance of education outlined above, lately, we hear news about skill-based hiring. Though companies may find merit in this new approach, there are risks, too. So, let us look at the other side of the coin.

Skill-based jobs were prevalent a few hundred years ago. The jobs of carpenter, mason, potter, etc., were passed to the succeeding generation for ages. However, this approach was too narrow. In contrast, when education was imparted in an organized manner, the students understood their purpose in life. By promoting skill-based hiring, are we taking a huge step backward for a few hundred years?

The value of formal education

By declining the candidature of a self-learner, your client wishes to send you a message that they value the knowledge acquired by learning and instruction. The degree certificates are not just pieces of paper, but they validate the level of personality developed by the student. Over and above the degrees, you might have conducted your recruitment tests, but your client did not rely solely on the internal tests, but a formal validation of the knowledge.

The need for systematic study

The jobs of the 21st century need to be backed by systematic study to understand the hidden patterns behind the activities or events happening in the department. Such a systematic study is possible only if the student has a theoretical understanding of the subject. Those who have only practical knowledge just execute the work.

A Customer Service Executive (CSE) may have excellent service skills, but they may not be able to study the causes of customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. In contrast, an MBA could conduct such a study and take measures to prevent customer dissatisfaction.

A classic example is the difference between a mason and a civil engineer. Self-learning is sufficient to become a mason, but certainly not a civil engineer.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Client Preferences vs. Skills-First Hiring

The problem is that you cannot decide for a client who is better. If you are working on your own projects or given a task to deliver, it does not matter whether the person has a qualification or not. But if you are essentially a manpower provider, you need to do what the client says.

I am highly skeptical that a person can learn something like data science through YouTube videos. So, I can understand the client being skeptical.

Your company should work on getting projects instead of placing manpower with clients if you want to utilize talent like what you have found.