Skill-based sets new impulses for the world of work

Hamburg News: You spoke earlier about “other professionals”. What characterises such people?

Frederika Hornef: “Other (or alternative) professionals do not necessarily meet all the advertised job requirements, but have skills that enable them to do the job. They don’t have to have a degree or an apprenticeship. Yet, the culture of recruitment remains very traditional in Germany. We believe that everyone, naturally, has different skills. We  use these skills to bring different personalities and jobs together.

Hamburg News : Do traditional skill-based application criteria play any role at all?

Frederika Hornef: Using a CV to infer skills is one option. However, we found that companies often look at a CV and quickly say: “This person comes from a different field, it won’t work.” So we decided to do away with the CV altogether. We don’t ask about work experience or anything like that.

Hamburg News: Do you offer companies an alternative to other job portals?

Frederika Hornef: Our starting point is when companies can no longer find staff. Of course, if a company can choose between hiring a trained professional with the ideal qualification and hiring a career changer, the skilled professional will get the job, in case of doubt. But if that expert is not available given the tight labour market, our platform can suggest other (alternative) professionals.

Hamburg News: How do you ensure that companies and candidates see the right profiles?

Frederika Hornef: We have written a complex algorithm that calculates which candidates are suitable for each position based on various categories and criteria. We plan to integrate artificial intelligence to make the procedure faster and smarter, and to automatically suggest complete job profiles to companies in future.

Hamburg News: How did the pilot phase go in 2023?

Frederika Hornef: Our pilot was very valuable. During the test phase, companies were able to post an unlimited number of job advertisements free of charge. We requested feedback in return, which proved abundant. That enabled us to significantly improve the procedure. We were particularly impressed by one successful company that signed the contract within ten days of advertising the job.

Hamburg News: How can platforms such as Skillbased impact the working world?

Frederika Hornef: People who are struggling with the current system are being shown brand new job opportunities. In the long term, we want to expand our idea to include training opportunities and to show companies that a lack of skills is not an obstacle. We want to become a one-stop shop for matching people with suitable jobs all over Germany. We are focussing on Hamburg initially and optimising our functions. Later, we hope to expand to other cities.
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Interview by Felina Wellner