Businesses are putting the value of the CV in doubt. The working world is changing dramatically, driven by a desire to remove bias and level the playing field. 

It’s clear it’s (an overdue) time to rethink hiring. 

Our latest report uncovered that two thirds of business leaders are already considering scrapping the CV. But they’re entering partially uncharted waters. The CV has been the default go-to data point for screening candidates in or out - but this can’t work if they’re to start selecting for experience and potential. 

Digitalisation driven 

The current skills mismatch is veering its way into a crisis. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future Jobs Report (WEF), there’ll be 97m new digital-first jobs by 2025. What’s more, 85m existing jobs will disappear entirely, with the WEF advising that 50% of all employees will need to reskill by 2025.

If businesses don't change the way they hire, they simply aren't going to fill roles and hit key business goals.

So, what’s the alternative to identifying talent? And how do you actually do it?

Scrap the CV, and then what? 

Well, it starts with a different mindset. Businesses have to think differently to broaden the talent pool. To do this, they have to look for transferable skills. Hiring is all about who gets ‘screened in’ to the process, not who gets ‘screened out’. Companies are being stalled by old school barriers like intelligence tests, video interviews or questions involving experience. The same goes with AI approaches that match job experience to job descriptions. 

What we are saying is to utilise the CV at a later stage of your hiring process. And not when you are trying to identify who has the transferable skills, whether that be empathy, curiosity, conscientiousness or learning agility. This is where new approaches like behaviour based assessments are breaking new ground.

With behaviour based assessments, employers are able to create a ‘Fit Profile’, defining “potential” through a blend of work related competencies suited for that role and company culture. Engaging in a range of interactive tasks, candidates are measured against their fit with these competencies. Those with the strongest potential are easily identified from their higher fit score and can be progressed to the next stage.

Hiring based on potential and transferable capabilities provides that all important fair and inclusive process, championing diversity and increasing the talent pool. 

Real world example: Leyton scraps the CV

Take Leyton, for example. As a company that helps businesses maximise their potential and accelerate growth, it seemed only logical that the in-house recruitment team did the same with their own approach to hiring. 

The team outsourced and turned to the fast emerging behaviour-based assessments. The aim was to use a behavioural approach to finding and unlocking potential. 

There was a slight senior level resistance to implementing the BBA, with some employees feeling that the way that ‘things have always been done’ was the best way. But the effectiveness of the assessment was the true winner. 

The BBA was able to identify the most suitable candidates objectively and without bias. Employees recruited through the BBA have since reached their productivity curve (internal measure of success within Leyton) three times faster than their traditional counterparts. Furthermore, the Leyton team was able to reduce their reliance (and with it, fees) on recruitment agencies by 90%!

A new CV-less dawn 

Companies are willing to change, but seem at a loss as to how to identify talent otherwise. Changing mindsets and leveraging technology that values potential over experience has the power to create seismic shifts in the working landscape. We can redefine candidate assessments and match up the skills-job mismatch. 

The world is full of highly-capable, talented people ready to be discovered and transitioned into new roles. And, unknown to many, the tools are there to achieve it. 

In that regard, the message is simple: there is a better way - put potential over privilege in your hiring process.

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