eSkill

Is it summer already? Are we at the beach? Did we remember to bring our snorkel? Because we are absolutely swimming in this season’s G2 badges! 🌊 A big thank you to our customers for leaving us such glowing reviews on G2, and for our team for making the eSkill platform what it is. 🩵 Looks like we’re making waves together 🏄 Come dive in and see what’s making such a splash: https://lnkd.in/gk2P2PcA

Both sides of hiring are feeling the pain right now.   Hiring managers are buried in applications. Too many resumes, not enough time to figure out who can actually do the job at hand. So naturally, companies try to make things easier on themselves with AI resume screeners, automated filters, one-way interviews, another step here, another step there. And now, there are more steps to narrow the pool before a human gets involved. I get it. But sometimes fixing the problem on one end just creates a new one on the other.   For candidates, the process can start to feel like an obstacle course. Retype your resume. Answer the same questions again. Take a test. Record a video. Wait. Follow up. Wait some more. At some point, people drop off. Not necessarily because they’re unqualified, but because the process feels too frustrating, there are too many unclear steps, or the prospect of landing the job is simply not worth the steps they need to take to get there. So, what’s the answer? In my eyes, it’s not to make hiring less rigorous. It’s to make the rigor make sense. So, what should hiring managers do? Here are some places to start: Use assessments where they actually measure the skills needed for the job.  Be clear about what candidates should expect.  Don’t add steps just because a tool makes them easy to add. Hiring teams need better signal — that’s a given. But candidates also need a better experience. The best hiring processes are built for both.

Job applicants aren’t burritos 🌯 In a SHRM article on why candidates drop out of the hiring process, HR director Ken Meyer says: “I don't like it when hiring managers say to recruiters, ‘Keep the candidate warm’ [i.e., prolong the hiring process by staying in touch but not making an offer or refusal]. We're dealing with real people and can't treat people like we’re heating up a burrito. While we do not want to hurry employment decisions, we want to act quickly.” Hiring managers should strive to find the sweet spot between an efficient, respectful hiring process and one that singles out talented candidates — such as by leaning on mobile-friendly applications, fewer redundant steps, better communication, transparent AI usage, and role-relevant assessments. Read our full blog on how to keep candidates engaged during the hiring process (without lowering hiring standards) here: https://lnkd.in/gJz8M9nt

We admire hiring teams that go the extra mile for their candidates. This is super cool! (Or should we say, un-bean-lievable?! 🫘)

I speak to HR leaders almost every day, and I very rarely hear about hiring processes that are exactly the same. When it comes to the hiring funnel, everyone has their own process.   Imagine you’re hiring for a high-turnover, remote position — how does the hiring process differ from that of a highly-technical, mid-level role?   Whether it's spending more time on certain tasks, changing the order, or removing steps completely, everyone tunes their hiring processes to the roles they’re hiring for.    I see this all the time with where hiring leaders put their skills assessments.   For entry level roles that get a ton of applications, we recommend that hiring teams put shorter, out-of-the-box assessments very high in the hiring funnel. Right after the resume review. With such a big volume of applicants, it’s important to identify qualified candidates quickly. Unserious candidates will self-select out of the process by not taking the test. The ones who take the test and score well are worth sending to the next stage of the hiring funnel.   For mid-level or senior roles, it’s essential to use custom tests a bit further down the hiring funnel. Perhaps after a phone screen or virtual interview. Since these roles require a wider array of skills and come with higher compensation, nailing these hires is essential. A customized assessment with questions tailored to the requirements of the job will help identify strengths and weaknesses and lead to better hires. Some companies even send a behavioral or job simulation assessment in addition to the skills assessment to get a better view of their candidate.    Creating these custom assessments takes a little more work, but we see that they’re more predictive of on-the-job success and worth the time when it comes to high-value roles.   We’re also currently working to streamline the process by using AI to create job-specific assessments based on the role’s JD. I want to hear about how other people hire — and how it differs across positions.

In a 2025 Deloitte report, over 30% of 600 manufacturing executives surveyed said their top concern was “equipping workers with the skills and knowledge they need to maximize the potential of smart manufacturing and operations.” Competition for skilled labor in manufacturing remains high. As manufacturers invest in advanced tools and smart manufacturing, they must also invest just as intentionally in the evolving skillsets needed to use them. Sourcing skilled, capable talent that is capable of taking on training is one of the ways to do that. And one of the most basic things to measure is: can they follow complex directions? Read our Test of the Month blog covering our Following Directions for Manufacturing test: https://lnkd.in/gxgKvivM

Hiring for temporary positions is a completely different ballgame. When you’re hiring for three critical career roles, you can afford a slower, more hands-on process. But when you need 45 people in seats next week? That’s a different conversation. Temp hiring is often high-volume, fast-moving, and brutally practical. Retention can be challenging because many candidates see the role as a job, not a career. And recruiters shouldn’t have to spend hours manually sorting through applicants for short-term roles. But that doesn’t mean quality stops mattering. In fact, for most temp roles, quality matters a lot. Think about call centers, event venues, ski lodges, seasonal retail, hospitality, and other short-term staffing environments. You may not need someone for the next five years, but you absolutely need them to show up, follow directions, communicate well, and represent your organization professionally. One bad temp worker working a major event can damage the entire customer experience. That’s why I think temp hiring is an underutilized use case for skills assessments. You don’t always need a long assessment. That can actually backfire—candidates don’t want to spend a ton of time on demanding applications. Sometimes, all you need is a smart top-of-funnel screen that helps recruiters quickly identify who is likely to be reliable, capable, and ready to work. Can they follow instructions? Can they communicate clearly? Can they handle basic job-related tasks? If teams can’t afford to sink hours into interviews but can’t afford to fly blind either, a short screen during the application process can certainly help.

We had a wonderful time exhibiting at the San Antonio Manufacturers Association (SAMA)'s 25th Annual South-Central Texas Trade Show & Conference! Among trash-collecting robots, specialty vehicles for drone operation, the latest CNC machine tech, and state-of-the-art cobots, we sure felt the energy of innovation all around the Freeman Coliseum. As skillsets needed for manufacturing positions evolve, eSkill will be right there alongside manufacturers to help them test their hires for new and increasingly tech-forward skillsets. We’ll see you at the SAMA trade show again next year!

We’ve always known there’s a difference between an A+ player and a B player. An A+ player might be 25% more productive, more creative, more resourceful, or more impactful.   But with AI, that gap can become much bigger.   That 25% difference can quickly become 50% — or more — because the best employees aren’t just using AI. They’re figuring out how to make AI work for them.   They know how to ask better questions. They know when the answer is useful and when it’s nonsense. They know how to experiment, refine, challenge, and improve the output.   A less motivated employee won’t suddenly become exceptional because they have access to AI. If they lack curiosity, tenacity, decision-making ability, or taste, the tool may not help much at all.   But someone who wants to learn? Someone who is creative about solving problems? Someone who can spot when AI is making things up? That person becomes dramatically more effective.   That’s why hiring well matters more than ever.   As AI becomes part of everyday work, companies can’t afford to settle for good-enough. The employees who are curious, adaptable, and driven to keep learning will create outsized value.   The future won’t just belong to companies with the best AI tools.   It will belong to companies with the best people using them.

SKRRT! What’s that? It’s the ESKILLMOBILE!!! 🏎️🏎️🏎️ Our CEO took the Skillster (we’re workshopping different names) out for a drive at Harris Hill this past week, and the Skillata (hmm, not this one either) put in the work! The eSkillmobile (I think we’re gonna stick with this one — suggest better names in the comments!) works hard, just like everyone on our team! Want to take us for a test drive (pun intended)? Talk to our team here: https://lnkd.in/geaDNk-j