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How to Conduct an Effective Skills-Based Interview The talent world has all but swooned over skills-based hiring for the past few years. By prioritizing skills, rather than degrees, companies can solve a number of problems: reduce bias, widen talent pools, and address daunting talent shortages. 1. Identify the skills that are needed for the role  When prepping for a skills-based interview, you need to know: What skills are required for the role?  First, review the job description to get a better understanding of the skills, abilities, and behaviors needed. Next, speak to the hiring manager and ask them to create a comprehensive list of all the skills used in the role. Be sure to include both technical and soft skills. If the role requires soft skills such as effective communication, leadership, problem-solving, and curiosity, add those to the list. 2. Use the STAR method to write your list of questions  Once you have a list of skills, use the STAR method to create questions that will help you evaluate the candidate’s past experiences and behaviors. STAR stands for: Situation, Tasks, Action, Results. Focusing on these four things will help you elicit specific examples that illustrate a candidate’s problem-solving skills, leadership abilities, conflict management style, and work ethic. 3. Develop a structured interview format to use with every candidate You can reduce bias by developing a structured interview process for phone screens and in-person interviews. In other words, ask each candidate the same questions in the same order. Every time. This will ensure that all candidates are being evaluated on the same criteria. 4. Give candidates a take-home assignment or skills-assessment test  One of the great things about hiring for skills is that you can, and should ask candidates to take a skills assessment as part of the interview process. While these evaluations aren’t foolproof, they can help indicate whether the candidate has the skills for the job.  You can use an online skill assessment platform or an internally developed tool to measure a candidate’s skills. Be mindful, however, of a candidate’s time. The most in-demand workers likely won’t have time for lengthy take-home assignments or assessments. 5. Ask follow-up questions This may seem obvious, but it’s important to ask follow-up questions. “Follow-up questions can help you understand what motivates and demotivates the candidate. When you ask a candidate about their role in a team project, for example, their answer may demonstrate how they contributed, how well they work with others, and how they manage conflict. But you may want to know more. You can ask: What motivated you to take the lead in this project? What aspects did you enjoy the most and why? What problems did you uncover in the process?  Ultimately, follow-up questions will help improve your ability to assess candidates accurately. 

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