Hiring is one of the most important decisions an organization makes, yet many hiring processes rely on assumptions and guesswork. Resumes highlight the polished version of a candidate. Interviews often reward confidence over competence. And common filters like college degrees or years of experience are treated as reliable predictors of performance, even though they rarely tell the full story.

This webinar introduces a better approach: skills-first hiring.

Skills-first hiring shifts the focus from what candidates have done in the past to what they can do now. It prioritizes job-relevant skills, learning ability, and behavioral competencies over traditional proxies like education and work history. This model is gaining traction among forward-thinking organizations because it leads to better hires, more inclusive talent pools, and fairer evaluations.

Dr. Mark Smith, organizational psychologist and author of A Better Choice: The Manager’s Guide to Skills-First Hiring, will guide participants through the why and how of this important shift. Drawing on his consulting work, research expertise, and recent congressional testimony on the topic, Dr. Smith will outline practical ways to adopt a skills-first mindset in your hiring process, without overhauling everything.

At the core of skills-first hiring is a fundamental insight: The “most qualified” person is not necessarily the one with the most impressive background. It’s the person most likely to succeed and thrive in your specific role and environment. Degrees may reflect persistence, and experience may reflect time in the field, but neither guarantees the ability to perform, solve problems, or work effectively with others on day one.

To make better hiring decisions, employers need to focus on the skills and behaviors that truly matter. That means using valid, job-relevant assessments, asking better interview questions, and making more consistent, objective evaluations, especially when comparing final candidates. These changes do not require expensive platforms or complex systems. They simply require clarity about what success looks like and a willingness to let evidence guide your choices.

Skills-first hiring is not a trend. It is a better way to make high-stakes decisions about people. By shifting focus from resumes to real capability, you not only reduce hiring risk but also unlock access to untapped talent.

Whether you are in HR, talent acquisition, or a business leader who hires regularly, this session will give you a clear understanding of what a skills-first approach looks like in action. You’ll walk away with practical insights you can use immediately to improve your hiring process and outcomes.

Join us to challenge outdated assumptions, strengthen your decision-making, and learn how to choose candidates based on what they can actually do (not just where they’ve been).