Ep 49 Skills-First Revolution: Kyle MK on Redefining Talent Acquisition

Did you know that 81% of jobs on Indeed are now matched to candidates based on skills, not degrees? Yet talent acquisition leaders struggle as employer expectations outpace candidate realities—creating a crisis where high hopes and rigid requirements collide. With only a small fraction of job seekers filling out "what do you want to do" fields on job sites (according to Indeed), recruitment faces unprecedented disconnect, making it urgent for employers to rethink old hiring playbooks. Only by embracing new approaches, organizations can seize the skills-first hiring opportunity to future-proof their teams.

What should forward-thinking organizations do when the rules of hiring are being rewritten at record speed? In this episode of the Time to Hire podcast from the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference, host Lamees Abourahma welcomes Kyle MK, Indeed’s Senior Talent Strategy Advisor and bestselling author, to explain how skills-first frameworks—and smart use of AI—are transforming the way employers attract and retain talent.

Indeed is a sponsor of the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference and a Gold Partner of the RPO Association. 

Learn about and find more content from the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference here. 

About the Podcast

Time to Hire is produced by the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA), the leading authority on recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) foresight and innovation, and the trusted convener for the global RPO community. Through conversations with industry leaders, the podcast explores the trends, insights, and innovations shaping the future of talent acquisition.

Learn more about RPOA and join the community at: https://www.rpoassociation.org.

Follow the host, Lamees Abourahma, on LinkedIn.

Transcript

Podcast Introduction & Setting the Stage

Lamees Abourahma: Have you ever wondered why job seekers often leave the "what do you want to do" field blank on job platforms, or how hiring for skills over traditional degrees is reshaping our workforce? In today’s fast-changing talent landscape, understanding these shifts is more important than ever. Welcome to Time to Hire, the podcast from the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA), where we explore the stories and strategies that are shaping the future of talent acquisition. I’m your host, Lamees Abourahma. This episode was recorded live at the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference in Chicago. Today, we’re joined by best-selling author and Indeed Senior Talent Strategy Advisor, Kyle MK, for an in-depth look at skills-first hiring. You’ll hear actionable insights on conducting skills audits, writing more effective job ads, and supporting job seekers with nontraditional backgrounds. Stay with us for these powerful insights—let’s listen to Kyle.

Introducing the Expert: Kyle MK’s Perspective

Kyle MK: Hi, everybody. I’m Kyle, Indeed’s Senior Talent Strategy Advisor. If you’ve never met a strategy advisor before, my job is to know as much as I can about the labor market—past, present, and especially the future. I advise Indeed’s executives and many employers around the world on how to anticipate what’s next. There are only ten of us globally. Today, I want to focus on future trends, specifically skills-first hiring. First, let’s empathize with job seekers. Often, job platforms only ask two questions: what do you want to do, and where do you want to do it? Surprisingly, most job seekers don’t answer the “what” question, leaving it blank—the number one search on Indeed for years. Why? Because platforms like Indeed, Amazon, and Netflix increasingly leverage pattern matching, serving up suggestions before users even articulate their preferences. After COVID, many job seekers are already in a skills-first mindset, especially in fields like education, healthcare, and transportation. They want to see available opportunities and figure out where their existing skills fit, regardless of industry.

Job Seeker Experience and the Role of Job Ads

Rather than typing in job titles, candidates scroll through listings, often without entering any keywords. This endless search can be overwhelming—the concept of “doom scrolling” applies here. Every job ad represents a completely new possible future for someone, making the process stressful. That’s why we work to make ads informative at a glance: clear job title, company name, location, pay, and highlights, so candidates don’t have to click into every listing. First impressions count, so job ads need engaging, human language and digestible formatting. If an ad is too long or formal, people will move on. When candidates click through, they’re instantly told if they’re qualified based on their resumes. Then, the application process begins—though every employer handles it differently.

Hiring Challenges and Employer Expectations

Despite advances from job platforms, it’s still tough to land a job today, and it’s equally difficult for employers to hire. High expectations like demanding five years of experience for entry-level jobs have led to a misalignment. Employers want “purple squirrels” or “golden unicorns”—candidates that don’t exist. Job seekers now use AI to polish resumes, and employers often oversell roles in job ads. A recent statistic: in 2023, most people believed that skill requirements for their jobs would change within five years, and many felt confident they could adapt. But change management is a big industry challenge—people say they’re open to change, but few actually move forward.

Skills-First Hiring: Framework and Industry Transformation

Skills-first hiring isn’t just a trend; it’s a framework for attracting, growing, and retaining talent. It involves evaluating both technical and relational skills—what people can do and how they interact. These attributes are significantly more predictive of job success than degrees or prior job titles. Today, most platforms, including Indeed and LinkedIn, match candidates by skills rather than old proxies. For instance, 81% of jobs on Indeed are now matched to seekers based on their skills. The skills-first framework covers attraction, hiring, evaluation, onboarding, learning, retention, mobility, and even bringing back alumni through “returnships.” In this episode, we focus on the first steps: attracting and evaluating talent.

Conducting a Skills Audit and Lowering Barriers

The most important—and often overlooked—step is conducting a skills audit for every job. This means being more specific about which technical and relational skills are truly needed and differentiating between what’s required on day one versus what can be trained later. Removing barriers such as unnecessary degree requirements, restrictive on-site mandates, and dismissing candidates with prior nonviolent offenses opens your candidate pool to a wider, more diverse range of talent. Often, just one inclusive sentence in a job ad encourages more people to apply.

Embracing STARs: Skills Through Alternative Routes

We also champion STARs—people with Skills Through Alternative Routes. Nearly half the workforce didn’t attend college. Many have thriving, non-linear career paths but may pass over your job if they see a degree requirement. Eliminating such hurdles increases retention by about 20% and helps employers access talent from underrepresented groups, including rural workers, minorities, and veterans.

Innovations in Screening and Candidate Evaluation

Screening for skills instead of proxies is challenging but essential. Modern AI tools can help, but there’s a growing industry need for universal skills taxonomies to standardize and clarify assessments. The biggest obstacle? Training hiring managers to adopt skills-first methods. Relying on candidates’ stories isn’t enough—we need scenario-based questions that reveal real problem-solving abilities relevant to the job.

Real-World Impact: NHS Skills-First Hiring Success

A practical example: In the UK, the NHS launched a skills-first hiring initiative in 2019. By 2023, they’d hired 4,000 individuals—40% of whom had never worked in the industry. Most of these hires are still in their roles, demonstrating the approach’s potential for high retention and job satisfaction.

From Ideas to Action: Implementing Skills-First Hiring

Transitioning to skills-first hiring takes time. Start with a skills audit, remove friction from the application process, and focus on connections and relationships. Above all, hire not just for today’s needs but for the future direction of your organization. Building a more human, adaptable workforce is the goal.

Podcast Closing & Staying Connected

Lamees Abourahma: Thank you for joining this episode of the Time to Hire podcast from the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association. If you enjoyed the conversation, please leave a review and stay connected for more insights in talent and recruiting. The RPOA is your trusted resource for staying informed about the future of talent acquisition.