Skills-based hiring only works when teams can consistently define, assess, and develop the right skills.

Alessandra Pegnim, Head of Global Talent Acquisition at Udemy, joins Shannon to share how her team built a more practical approach to skills-based hiring. She explains how Udemy validates skills with managers, identifies patterns of top performers, and uses structured interviews to make hiring decisions more predictive.

Alessandra also discusses how this work extends beyond hiring. She walks through training interviewers with AI role-play, widens the talent pool beyond traditional backgrounds, and uses onboarding to close skill gaps early so new hires can ramp faster.

Key takeaways:

1. Start with top performers: Analyze what your best employees do differently and build hiring criteria from those patterns.
2. Validate skills with data: Combine internal insights with external benchmarks to confirm what actually predicts success.
3. Train for consistency: Use rubrics and practice sessions, so interviewers know what strong answers sound like.
4. Hire for mobility: Track skills beyond hiring to unlock internal moves and reduce the need for external hiring.

Timestamps: 

(00:00) Introduction

(00:54) Meet Alessandra Pegnim

(02:25) Why skills-based hiring matters right now

(04:04) What skills-based hiring actually looks like

(04:58) Building job descriptions around validated skills

(05:57) Three steps for skills-based hiring

(07:57) How to validate skills for hiring

(09:48) Turning skills into structured interview rubrics

(12:21) Training interviewers with AI role play

(16:33) Widening the talent pool through skills-first hiring

(18:19) How skills visibility supports internal mobility

(19:54) Adding AI proficiency to hiring criteria

(21:31) Using onboarding to close skill gaps faster

(22:32) Where to connect with Alessandra