Skills-Based Hiring Grows, but College Students Don’t Fully Understand It

BETHLEHEM, PA—Employer use of skills-based hiring is growing, but most college students don’t understand this approach to recruiting or how to prepare for it, according to research conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Seventy percent of employers participating in NACE’s Job Outlook 2026 survey report using skill-based hiring for entry-level hires, up from 65% last year. Furthermore, seven out of 10 say they use this approach at least half of the time—most often during the screening and interviewing processes.

However, results from NACE’s annual student survey indicate that although nearly nine out of 10 graduating seniors said they had taken part in a program or activity to develop skills relevant to their career goals, and nearly half said they were asked to demonstrate their skills through an assessment as part of the job application or interview, fewer than 40% of graduating seniors said they were familiar with the term “skills-based hiring.”

“College graduates are particularly poised to undergo a skills-based hiring process as they have been accumulating and honing their knowledge, abilities, and skills throughout their coursework and co-curricular activities. Employers are particularly interested in hiring graduates who are able to articulate those experiences and how they relate to the workplace,” says Shawn VanDerziel, NACE president and chief executive officer.

“The first step to overcome this disconnect is for students to understand what skills-based hiring is and how employers use it to identify and recruit them.”

Skills-based hiring is a strategic approach in which employers align their recruitment processes with the skills needed for success in today's dynamic workforce. Employers do so by focusing on the skills candidates have rather than specifically on academic degrees or grade point average (GPA).

“This is especially noteworthy as this approach has partly supplanted GPA as a screening tool,” VanDerziel points out.

In 2019, nearly three-quarters of employers—73%—screened candidates by GPA and required a candidate to have a minimum GPA, typically a 3.0, to be considered for an interview. This year, just 42% are using GPA as a screening tool.

“This shift in hiring filters—from relying heavily on GPA to focusing on skills—benefits students as it removes limits and widens the hiring focus to students who can show that they have the skills to do the job,” says VanDerziel.

Skill development among candidates is important whether or not employers use GPA: Most employers say they consider if a candidate has demonstrated proficiency in key skills—such as the ability to work in a team and critical thinking—when making hiring decisions.

The focus on skills is also evident in job descriptions: More than 80% of employers say they include the skills they seek in their job descriptions.

“Employers say students can best demonstrate their skills during the hiring process by sharing examples and situations when they honed and used their skills to resolve issues or solve problems,” VanDerziel notes.

Employers also reiterated the importance of students participating in internships and/or work during college and being able to translate their college coursework and extracurricular activities into a skills language.

VanDerziel explains that employers can help college students better understand this approach by:

• Including specific skill requirements in their job and internship position descriptions;
• Making sure their internship descriptions also identify the skills the students will develop through the experience;
• Being clear up front about the recruiting and hiring processes so students can prepare. For example, an employer can describe its behavior-based interviewing and provide students with examples of the questions its recruiters will ask; and
• Partnering with campuses to educate and prepare students for skills-based hiring through information, resources, and programming.

About the Job Outlook 2026 survey: NACE collected data for its Job Outlook 2026 survey from August 7, 2025, through September 22, 2025. Of the 183 total respondents, 170 were NACE employer members, representing 22.7% of eligible member respondents. The Job Outlook 2026 survey was also distributed to nonmember companies; this group provided an additional 13 responses. Job Outlook 2026 is available on NACEWeb.

About the 2025 Student Survey: NACE’s 2025 Student Survey, sponsored by Indeed, was conducted April 1 through May 30, 2025; 13,684 college students, including 1,479 Class of 2025 graduating seniors at the bachelor’s degree level, took part. 

About the National Association of Colleges and Employers: Established in 1956, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is the only professional association in the United States that connects more than 13,000 college career services professionals, more than 3,800 early career talent acquisition professionals, and more than 400 business solution providers that serve this community.

NACE is the premier source of market research on career readiness, the employment of recent college graduates, and the college-to-career transition. NACE forecasts hiring and trends in the job market; tracks salaries, recruiting and hiring practices, and student attitudes and outcomes; and identifies best practices and benchmarks.

NACE offers its members unparalleled research, networking and professional development opportunities, guidance on standards and ethics, and advocacy on key issues. For more information, visit www.naceweb.org. NACE maintains a virtual press room for the media.