Talent search | Skills overtake qualifications as employers' top talent priority

According to new findings released by LinkedIn, employers are increasingly looking for skills when hiring, which now take precedence over the traditional qualification requirements.

The revelation came about due to US-based analysis that LinkedIn ran within a search for new sales support staff; it discovered that the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic within the jobs market had led to discerning good candidates from what it called ‘unexpected places’.

One of the key areas in which staff were unexpectedly qualified for the role was the service industry, which was one of the hardest hit by coronavirus redundancies and closures, and where LinkedIn claimed staff had around 70% of the transferrable skills needed to succeed as sales support staff.

As such, LinkedIn scrapped its qualification requirements and guaranteed interviews for candidates who undertook training courses to fill the gaps in their skills.