A college degree has long been one of the simplest ways for employers to screen candidates. It can show that someone completed formal education and developed knowledge in a particular field.
But hiring is changing.
More employers are putting greater emphasis on what candidates can actually do: the skills they have developed, how they solve problems, how they work with others, and whether they can demonstrate their ability.
The shift is particularly relevant to remote hiring. When employees work from different locations, employers cannot rely on office presence or day-to-day supervision. Communication, digital skills, independence, problem-solving, and adaptability can have a direct impact on whether someone succeeds in the role.
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 70% of employers surveyed for its 2026 Job Outlook report use skills-based hiring, up from 65% the previous year. Employers most commonly use this approach during interviews and candidate screening.
The question is increasingly not just what a candidate studied, but what they can demonstrate.
What Is Skills-Based Hiring?
Skills-based hiring is an approach that puts greater emphasis on a candidate's skills and demonstrated abilities rather than relying primarily on degrees, job titles, or a specific career path.
That does not mean degrees no longer matter.
Some professions require formal qualifications, licenses, or specialized education. But for many roles in technology, marketing, sales, administration, customer service, and other digital fields, employers can assess candidates more directly based on the work they are expected to perform.
Relevant factors can include:
- Technical skills
- Communication
- Problem-solving
- Analytical thinking
- AI and digital literacy
- Collaboration
- Adaptability
- Time and project management
- Previous work
- Portfolio evidence
For remote positions, several of these skills can be especially important because employees need to communicate and collaborate effectively without sharing a physical workplace.
Why Are Employers Looking Beyond Degrees?
One reason is the speed at which the workplace is changing.
Technology and AI are creating new tasks, changing existing jobs, and increasing demand for skills that may not have been part of a candidate's formal education.
The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 found that work experience remains the most common way employers assess candidates, with 81% of businesses expecting to rely on it between 2025 and 2030. Skills assessments are the second most common approach, expected to be used by 48% of employers.
At the same time, the skills employers value are changing. A 2026 GMAC survey of more than 620 corporate recruiters and hiring managers found that technology, AI, and data analysis skills had increased the most in importance over the previous year, while communication, problem-solving, and adaptability remained among the most valued skills.
That creates a practical problem for employers.
A candidate may have a relevant degree but lack experience with the tools the company uses today. Another candidate may have developed those skills through previous work, freelance projects, certifications, or independent learning.
Skills-based hiring gives employers a way to compare both candidates based on their ability to do the job.
What Skills Should Employers Look for in Remote Candidates?
There is no universal skills list for every remote position. A software developer, marketing specialist, and customer service representative will need different technical abilities.
However, several skills are increasingly relevant across remote roles.
1. AI Literacy
AI literacy is no longer limited to people working in specifically AI-focused positions.
Employees may use AI for research, writing, data analysis, customer support, coding, design, marketing, and administrative work.
Employers do not necessarily need every candidate to understand how AI systems are built. They may instead need people who know how to use AI tools effectively, recognize their limitations, and check the accuracy of their output.
GMAC's 2026 research found that skills involving AI tools were among those employers expected to grow most in importance over the next five years.
For remote employers, AI literacy can therefore be part of a broader assessment of digital competence.
2. Communication
Remote employees cannot simply walk over to a colleague's desk when they need clarification.
Much of their communication happens through email, messaging platforms, project-management tools, and video calls.
Employers should therefore look for candidates who can:
- Explain ideas clearly
- Ask useful questions
- Give concise updates
- Raise problems early
- Communicate across teams
- Adapt their communication to different audiences
Communication remains one of the skills employers value most. GMAC's 2026 research placed it among the leading current skills identified by recruiters, alongside problem-solving and other interpersonal abilities.
3. Problem-Solving and Analytical Thinking
Remote employees often have to handle smaller problems independently before asking someone else for help.
That makes problem-solving particularly valuable.
Instead of simply asking candidates whether they are good problem-solvers, employers can ask them to describe a difficult situation they handled or give them a short, realistic task related to the position.
This provides evidence of how they think rather than relying on a claim on a resume.
The World Economic Forum identifies analytical thinking as a leading core skill among employers and highlights the growing importance of directly assessing candidates' capabilities.
4. Digital Collaboration
Remote work depends on digital collaboration.
Employees may need to use tools for:
- Video meetings
- Team communication
- Project management
- Document sharing
- CRM systems
- Reporting and analytics
- Task management
A candidate does not necessarily need experience with every platform a company uses.
What matters is whether they can learn new systems and work effectively when information is spread across multiple digital tools.
5. Adaptability
Remote teams can change quickly.
A company may introduce a new software platform, change its processes, expand into another market, or incorporate AI into an existing workflow.
Employers therefore need people who can learn and adjust rather than relying only on a fixed set of skills.
Adaptability remains one of the capabilities employers value highly. GMAC's 2026 research found that it ranked among the most sought-after skills alongside communication and problem-solving.
A candidate's previous experience can provide useful evidence. Someone who has successfully learned new tools, taken on new responsibilities, or adapted to changing projects has already demonstrated this ability.
Technical Skills Still Matter
Skills-based hiring does not mean replacing technical expertise with soft skills.
For many positions, technical ability is still the most important requirement.
For a marketing position, that could mean SEO, analytics, paid advertising, content management, or email marketing.
For a developer, it could mean programming languages, frameworks, databases, or cloud technologies.
For a customer support role, it could include CRM systems, ticketing platforms, product knowledge, and customer communication.
The important question is not simply:
"Does this candidate list the skill?"
It is:
"Can the candidate demonstrate it?"
A Portfolio Can Show More Than a Resume
A resume tells an employer what a candidate says they have done.
A portfolio, work sample, or practical assessment can provide evidence.
Depending on the position, employers can review:
- Previous projects
- Portfolio work
- Code repositories
- Marketing campaigns
- Writing samples
- Design work
- Client results
- Relevant certifications
- Practical assessments
This can be particularly useful when hiring remotely, because employers often have fewer opportunities to observe how someone actually works before making a hiring decision.
NACE's 2026 research also found that employers place significant importance on candidates being able to provide examples of how they have used their skills to solve problems.
How Can Employers Assess Skills During Remote Hiring?
Changing the hiring criteria is only part of the process. Employers also need ways to assess those skills.
For more practical guidance, see our guide to 10 Remote Hiring Mistakes Employers Should Avoid in 2026, which covers common problems with skills assessment, job descriptions, interviews, and remote hiring processes.
A skills-based remote hiring process can include:
Resume screening: Look for relevant skills, experience, and results rather than focusing only on education and previous job titles.
Structured interviews: Ask candidates comparable questions based on the skills required for the position.
Work samples: Give candidates a short task that reflects the type of work they would actually perform.
Portfolio reviews: Examine previous work where relevant.
Practical assessments: Test specific technical or professional abilities.
Experience-based questions: Ask candidates to explain how they used a particular skill to solve a real problem.
NACE reports that employers most frequently use skills-based hiring during interviews and screening, with 87% using it during interviews and 65% during screening.
The goal is not necessarily to make recruitment more complicated. It is to make the selection process more closely connected to the actual work the employee will perform.
Skills-Based Hiring Does Not Mean Ignoring Experience
It is easy to turn the discussion into a simple degree versus no degree debate.
That misses the point.
Experience can be one of the strongest forms of evidence that someone has developed a particular skill.
A candidate who has managed remote projects, solved customer problems, developed software, or run marketing campaigns has demonstrated capabilities that may be more relevant to a particular position than the title of their degree.
The strongest hiring decision may therefore consider several factors together:
Education + experience + demonstrated skills + results.
For some positions, formal qualifications will remain essential. For others, practical ability may provide a more useful indication of whether someone can perform the job.
What Does This Mean for Remote Employers?
Remote hiring gives companies access to a wider talent pool, but it also requires a more deliberate approach to evaluating candidates.
A company can recruit someone who lives hundreds or thousands of miles away, but location alone tells an employer very little about whether that person will succeed.
A skills-based approach starts with the job itself.
What does the employee actually need to know? Which tasks will they perform? Which skills are essential from day one? Which can be learned after hiring? And how can the candidate demonstrate those abilities?
The answers can then shape the job description, screening process, interview questions, and practical assessments.
Instead of automatically requiring a particular degree or a fixed number of years of experience, employers can focus their requirements on the capabilities that directly affect performance.
A Practical Checklist for Employers
Before publishing a remote job, ask:
- What technical skills are genuinely essential?
- Which skills can be learned after hiring?
- Is a degree actually necessary for this position?
- Does the role require strong written communication?
- How much independent decision-making is involved?
- Which digital tools will the employee use?
- Is AI literacy relevant?
- Can the required skills be demonstrated through a work sample?
- What evidence would show that a candidate can perform the job?
This can also improve the job description itself.
Instead of broad requirements such as "excellent communication skills" or "five years of experience," employers can explain what the employee will actually be expected to do and which capabilities are needed to succeed.
That gives candidates a clearer idea of the role and gives employers a more useful basis for evaluating applications.
Looking for remote talent with the skills your business needs? Explore qualified candidates on Online.jobs.
Sources
NACE — Job Outlook 2026
World Economic Forum — Future of Jobs Report 2025
LinkedIn Economic Graph — Skills-Based Hiring 2025