The calls for hiring processes that emphasize skills and experience over education seem to be getting louder.
A handful of states have recently dropped degree requirements for many government jobs, opting to focus more on candidates’ background and proven expertise than on where they studied. Experts predict that more states will soon follow suit.
Earlier this year, for example, Melissa Barker told Public Eye that she foresees more states shedding education prerequisites for government roles, which Barker views as a good thing.
“I like where this is going,” Barker said in an interview for Public Eye’s April cover story, “Forgoing the Four-Year Degree: The Public Sector Rethinks Degree Requirements.”
“It’s a great wave of the future, because it will help cast a wider net of candidates.”
At a June 22 House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection hearing, experts suggested that stressing applicants’ demonstrated skills when sizing up job candidates could help address gaps in the cybersecurity workforce.
As reported by MeriTalk, Will Markow, vice president of applied research at Lightcast, compared shortfalls in the cybersecurity workforce to “missing one-third of an army” during his testimony to the committee.
“We are stepping onto the digital battlefield missing nearly a third of our cyber army,” said Markow, noting that 460,000 new skilled cybersecurity workers are needed to meet employer demand.
Markow urged Congress, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the federal government at large to work on strengthening the cyber pipeline by becoming “an exemplar for innovative, skills-based cybersecurity hiring practices.”
Stressing Skills
Finding cyber talent on the scale the federal government requires will mean adopting a more skills-based approach, Markow said, pointing to steps such as reducing education, experience and certification requirements in job openings and prioritizing training for high-growth and high-value skills.
Other panelists urged the subcommittee to take these and other actions to revamp federal hiring practices to rely more on applicants’ proven expertise.
“This allows the federal government to compete for a talented and diverse workforce pool that prioritizes skills and a candidate’s ability to do the job and leads by example in equity-focused workforce development,” said retired Marine Col. Chris Starling, who is now executive director of NPower, a non-profit with a mission to create pathways to economic prosperity by launching digital careers for military veterans and young adults from underserved communities.
According to MeriTalk, Starling said that NPower has trained 560 individuals from under-resourced communities in cybersecurity since 2015, and is looking to scale up the program in the months and years ahead.
“Technology is one of the main drivers of the U.S. economy, and the demand for talent constantly outpaces the supply of skilled workers,” Starling told the subcommittee. “Experts project tech sector employment to grow at the fastest rate of all occupations, and people simply aren’t entering the field fast enough to replace retiring workers.”
Panelist Anjelica Dortsch, senior director of U.S. Government Affairs at SAP America, called on Congress to educate employers on the critical importance of embracing a more skills-oriented hiring process for cyber roles. Dortsch recommended that the federal government create a dashboard that provides employers and employees alike with cyber training resources in one centralized location, doing the same for cyber careers.
“It’s really a call for harmonization and removing duplication. That’s key,” said Dortsch, adding that current frameworks and regulations, as well as those yet to come from Congress, have to be “best practices that we can incorporate into our businesses and make sure that we’re fostering good cyber hygiene.”
14 July 2023
Category
HR News Article