--- title: "How Can You Do Skill-Based Hiring Right—And Wrong? | CoderPad" description: "Skill-based hiring is a powerful approach to finding the right tech talent for your organization, but it must be executed thoughtfully." canonical: "https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/how-can-you-do-skill-based-hiring-right-and-wrong/" last_modified: "2026-04-15 16:20:40" --- [Back to blog](https://coderpad.io/blog/) # How Can You Do Skill-Based Hiring Right—And Wrong? October 12, 2023 4 Minute Read By Nathalie Figuière [Hiring Developers](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/)![The Dos and Don'ts of Skill-based Hiring](https://coderpad.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/cp-refresh-5-The-Dos-_-Don_ts-Of-Skill-Based-Hiring.png) Traditional hiring methods have their limitations, and can lead to mismatched skill sets and poor job fits. Skill-based hiring, on the other hand, has gained popularity as a way to objectively identify and evaluate candidates’ practical abilities. The thing is, there are right ways and wrong ways to implement skill-based hiring. In this article, we’ll explore the dos and don’ts. ## The dos of skill-based hiring ### “Do” build relevant technical assessments One of the fundamental dos of skill-based hiring is to design technical assessments that closely mirror the tasks developers will perform in their role. Ensure that the assessment evaluates the skills, tools, and technologies directly related to the job. This not only provides a more accurate picture of a candidate’s capabilities but also sets expectations for the role from the outset. ### “Do” be reasonable when it comes to assessment length and difficulty Candidates shouldn’t be expected to spend several hours or even days on an assessment. Keep assessments reasonably short and make sure that the difficulty level matches the role’s requirements. In other words, don’t ask a senior engineer to write a “Hello World” program. Candidates should be able to complete their assessment within a reasonable timeframe, allowing them to showcase their skills without feeling overwhelmed. A test that takes days to complete may well discourage top talent from pursuing your organization. ### “Do” facilitate two-way coding conversations To focus on skills doesn’t mean to eliminate any human interaction. After the technical assessment, schedule follow-up interviews where candidates can discuss their thought processes, problem-solving skills, and approach to coding challenges. This collaborative interaction also provides valuable insights into a candidate’s ability to work with others. ### “Do” choose a performant, familiar development environment for technical interviews Spoiler alert: a whiteboard is not it. Ensure that candidates complete their technical assessments in a performant, familiar Integrated Development Environment (IDE). This environment should mimic the one they would use in their day-to-day work and include all the normal features (syntax highlighting, auto-completion, multi-language support, refactoring support, etc.). Using an IDE they are comfortable with allows candidates to perform at their best. ## The Don’ts of Skill-Based Hiring ### “Don’t” focus on resume pedigree One of the biggest hiring mistakes you can make is narrowing your candidate pool based solely on resume pedigree. The opposite of skill-based hiring, if you will. > “When recruiters spend just seconds on application and resume reviews for each candidate, unconscious bias can easily creep in. For example, a Harvard graduate or Google alumni might be moved to the next stage without regard for skills, while a top performer without well-known institutions or organizations listed may be quickly passed over.” – Jen Dewar, Women in Tech Be conscious and thoughtful about your screening process. Don’t assume that candidates with prestigious degrees or experience at well-known companies are the only ones worth considering. Instead, focus on evaluating skills and potential contributions. ### “Don’t” neglect other skills and technologies While specific language proficiency might be essential for a role, remember that developers can learn new skills and technologies. Don’t limit your hiring process to only one language or framework. Consider the transferability of skills and a candidate’s ability to adapt to new tools and processes. ### “Don’t” ignore soft skills 66% of developers and 56% of recruiters consider that, when it comes to hiring software engineers, soft skills are just as important as hard skills. Don’t make the mistake of hiring someone solely based on technical prowess without evaluating their communication, teamwork, analytical and problem-solving skills. Developers who can effectively collaborate and communicate are valuable assets to any organization. > 🔖 Related read: [Skills-Based Hiring Is on the Rise](https://hbr.org/2022/02/skills-based-hiring-is-on-the-rise) ### “Don’t” restrict resource access Lastly, don’t limit candidates from using available resources during assessments and interviews. In real-world development, developers have access to online resources, documentation, and collaboration tools. Allowing candidates to leverage these resources provides a more realistic evaluation of their problem-solving abilities. With this in mind, we recently released our [CoderPad Interview ChatGPT integration](https://coderpad.io/resources/docs/interview/pads/chatgpt-integration/) to enable interviewers to observe how candidates critically approach problems and utilize modern toolsets. Many users of our ChatGPT integration use it as a collaboration tool during interviews with candidates. They present a question to the candidate and allow them to use the integration as they would Google or StackOverflow. ### “Don’t” presume that skill-based hiring starts and ends with assessment Skill-based hiring is a holistic approach. Make sure to adjust every part of your funnel to facilitate skills-based recruitment. Take your job descriptions, for example. Rather than describing the person you hope to hire, focus on the results you hope to see—and the skills needed to achieve those results. Highlight the role’s responsibilities and the skills needed to get the job done. This way, you avoid creating an unnecessary barrier to entry, like a requirement for a formal computer science degree. You may well find that this approach boosts your application numbers. According to LinkedIn research, job posts that mention “responsibilities” without mentioning “requirements” receive [14% more applications per view](https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-strategy/why-skills-based-hiring-starts-with-job-descriptions). > 🔖 Related read: [How to Get Started with Skills-Based Hiring](https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-acquisition/how-to-get-started-with-skills-based-hiring) Skill-based hiring is a powerful approach to finding the right talent for your organization, but it must be executed thoughtfully. By following the dos and avoiding the don’ts, you can create a hiring process that accurately assesses a candidate’s abilities, fosters collaboration, and ensures a strong match for your team. ## Subscribe for more CoderPad insights ## Trending Articles Previous slide Next slide [Hiring Developers ## How to Eliminate the Resume in Tech Recruiting Revolutionize your tech recruiting process with these effective methods to eliminate the resume and find top talent. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/eliminate-resume-tech-recruiting/) [Hiring Developers ## 18 Behavioral Interview Questions to Ask Software Engineers In this article, we’ll break down all the most common behavioral interview questions and provide valuable insight for both software engineers and hiring managers and recruiters. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/behavioral-interview-questions-software-engineers/) [Hiring Developers ## 6 Essential Tech Recruitment Metrics and How to Use Them Get a set of 6 tech recruitment metrics to guide your hiring process and talent acquisition for in-demand tech roles. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/tech-recruitment-metrics-guide/) [Hiring Developers ## How to Hire for AI Fluency Now That It’s a Critical Skill Based on the CoderPad webinar featuring Bayo Ojuri (CoderPad), Bonnie Dilber (Zapier), and Melany Austin (GoDaddy). “AI fluency” has quietly become a line item in nearly every technical job description. The problem: most teams added the requirement long before they had a reliable way to assess it. You can ask a candidate whether they use […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/how-to-hire-for-ai-fluency-now-that-its-a-critical-skill/) [Hiring Developers ## Hot Takes on Hiring: “AI Fluency” Is a Myth Our CEO, Amanda Richardson, and our Head of Product, Frank Hauben, can’t agree on anything else. We put Amanda and Frank on camera, handed them five spicy hot takes about AI in hiring, and told them not to sit on the fence. They sat on the fence anyway. Here’s what they actually fought about. Amanda […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/hot-takes-on-hiring-ai-fluency-is-a-myth/) [Hiring Developers ## 5 Unfiltered Takes on AI That Engineering Leaders Actually Believe We put a room full of senior engineering leaders together, took away the slides, added beer, and asked them to say the thing they’d never put in a LinkedIn post. No PR-approved talking points, no vendor gloss, just people who ship for a living telling the truth about what AI is doing inside their orgs […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/5-unfiltered-takes-on-ai-that-engineering-leaders-actually-believe/) [Hiring Developers ## Your Developer Interview Loop Is a Year Old. Is It Still Finding Your Best Candidates? A YC-backed founder called me last week with some good questions. His 20-person startup hadn’t hired an engineer in over a year. Now they’re opening reqs again, and instead of just dusting off the old loop, he wanted to understand how interviews had changed and if candidates were ready for AI interviews. His process — […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/your-developer-interview-loop-is-a-year-old-is-it-still-finding-your-best-candidates/) [Hiring Developers ## AI Fluency Is the New Technical Skill. Is Your Hiring Process Ready? Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed software development. Developers are no longer working in isolation, writing every line of code from memory. AI has become part of the engineering workflow, helping developers brainstorm approaches, generate boilerplate code, and debug complex issues. The question isn’t whether engineers are using AI. It’s how effectively they’re using it. Hiring […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/ai-fluency-is-the-new-technical-skill-is-your-hiring-process-ready/) [Hiring Developers ## AI Didn’t Kill Entry Level Hiring. Bad Screening Did. For the last two years, the narrative has been loud, confident, and mostly wrong: AI is coming for entry level engineering jobs. The story goes something like this: If AI can write code, summarize docs, generate tests, and debug basic issues, why would companies still hire junior engineers? It sounds logical. It is also incomplete. […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/ai-didnt-kill-entry-level-hiring-bad-screening-did/) [Hiring Developers ## The Resume Is Dead. Most Teams Just Haven’t Admitted It Yet. Resumes made sense when applying for a job took real effort. That era is over. AI lets candidates apply to hundreds of roles in the time it once took to write a single cover letter. Employer-side AI systems process the flood. The result is a hiring funnel built almost entirely on artificial signals, where the […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/the-resume-is-dead-most-teams-just-havent-admitted-it-yet/) [Hiring Developers ## Is Your Technical Hiring Process Screening Out Great Engineers? The short answer: Many technical hiring processes are doing the latter. High-friction interview loops, live coding under observation, and AI-restrictive assessments are measuring interview performance, not job performance. The fix isn’t rebuilding from scratch — it’s auditing whether your process measures engineering capability or something else entirely. If you attended our recent webinar with CoderPad […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/is-your-technical-hiring-process-screening-out-great-engineers/) [Hiring Developers ## Junior Developers Are Your Strategic Advantage—If You Can Actually Evaluate Them Campus recruiting season arrives the same way every year: hundreds of applications, a narrow window, and a process that was never designed for this much volume or this much pressure. Meanwhile, the definition of “technical skill” is actively shifting—AI-polished resumes have made traditional screening nearly meaningless, and the skills that predict junior developer success look […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/junior-developers-are-your-strategic-advantage-if-you-can-actually-evaluate-them/) ## Hire with confidence. See why engineering teams trust CoderPad to evaluate developers with realistic, AI-ready hiring workflows. [Request a demo](https://coderpad.io/sales/)