Skills-based hiring refers to the practice of employers setting specific skill or competency requirements or targets.
The intent of skills-based hiring is for applicants to demonstrate, independent of an academic degree the skills required to be successful on the job.
It is also a mechanism by which employers may clearly and publicly advertise the expectations for the job – for example indicating they are looking for a particular set of skills at an appropriately communicated level of proficiency.
In this sense, skills-based hiring is similar to the U.S. practice of individuals taking third party (e.g., SAT or ACT) tests, and then using those scores as part of a college application.
The public nature of the communication, usually in the form of want ads containing specific numeric skill scores, was intended to allow both school systems and individuals to more readily measure themselves against, and strive to meet, employer expectations.