How come financial companies in 2025 still rely on resumes and formal degrees—even though it's been clear for a while that these criteria lead to the biggest recruiting mistakes? In highly sensitive industries such as finance, legal, and real estate, hiring the wrong person can not only be expensive, but also damaging to a company's reputation. Nevertheless, many HR departments spend countless hours screening resumes that reveal little about actual skills.
The problem runs deeper than that: rigid requirement profiles and a culture that places more weight on certificates than on demonstrable abilities, a.k.a. skills, artificially narrow the applicant market. Many highly qualified talents remain invisible – simply because they have not followed the “right” career path. At the same time, bottlenecks are becoming more acute because companies are narrowing their search too much to titles and positions.
This is where digital tools for skill-based recruiting come in. They make it possible to visualize and compare skills – regardless of how or where they were acquired. AI-supported matching, competency mapping, and objective assessments are creating new ways to find talent that is truly a good fit. The benefits go far beyond efficiency. It's about equal opportunities, better decisions, and ultimately greater competitiveness in a market where skilled employees have become the scarcest resource.
Skill-based recruiting is gaining ground
In recent years, skills have established themselves as the decisive currency in recruiting. Research shows that candidates who are hired on the basis of skills rather than formal qualifications stay with the company longer on average and have better career advancement opportunities (BCG 2023). This development is not a short-term trend, but is fundamentally transforming the way recruitment works.
The shortage of skilled professionals is becoming increasingly apparent, particularly in regulatory industries such as finance, law, and real estate. At the same time, the risk of hiring the wrong person is high – the consequences range from financial losses to regulatory sanctions. Companies that continue to rely on traditional selection criteria are closing themselves off to potential talent and artificially narrowing their pool of applicants.
Skill-based recruiting breaks with this logic. Instead of evaluating career paths or positions, the focus is on verifiable skills. Digital tools play a central role in this: they make skills measurable, comparable, and to ensure strategic usability. From applicant tracking systems with skill tagging to AI-supported matching, the technological basis is in place and developing rapidly.
More and more organizations are recognizing that this is not only a solution for acute bottlenecks. They see skill-based recruiting as a lever for increasing fairness, reducing bias, and promoting diversity in the company (Deloitte 2023). This is precisely what makes the approach so attractive for sensitive industries.
Which tools really matter
Digital tools are the foundation of effective skill-based recruiting. They do not replace strategy, but they create the necessary transparency and speed. Three categories stand out in particular: applicant tracking systems, AI-supported matching, and digital assessments.
ATS systems as a foundation
Applicant tracking systems have long been standard, but they are gaining new significance in the area of skills-based hiring. Modern ATS solutions can record skills in a structured way and compare them with the requirements of a position. This means that candidates are evaluated not on the basis of keywords, but on the basis of measurable competencies. It is crucial that ATS systems are not seen as mere administrative tools, but as platforms that make skill data usable.
AI for matching and workforce planning
Artificial intelligence brings additional precision. AI-supported matching algorithms can analyze profiles from applications, internal talent pools, and external databases and compare them with open positions. They recognize patterns that remain hidden to the human eye—such as transferable skills or hidden potential. This is particularly valuable in regulatory industries, where requirements are complex and often industry-specific. At the same time, AI reduces dependence on intuitive decisions and promotes more objective selection processes (PALTRON 2025).
Digital assessments for objectivity and fairness
Digital assessments go one step further. They test skills in a practical way – from technical tests to simulations and case studies. In the legal or real estate environment in particular, realistic scenarios can be crucial for assessing candidates fairly. Such tests provide data that traditional interviews cannot lay. This not only gives companies a clearer picture of candidates' skills, but also creates more equal opportunities because the spotlight is on actual performance (alphacoders 2025).
Digital tools are most effective when they work together. An ATS that stores skill data, AI that recognizes patterns, and assessments that prove performance – this creates a system that takes recruiting in regulatory industries to a new level.
Finance, legal, and real estate - specific requirements
Skill-based recruiting only reaches its full potential when it is tailored to the specific characteristics of individual industries. Finance, legal, and real estate are among the most demanding fields. Not only are specialist skills required here, but also integrity, regulatory compliance, and a high degree of adaptability.
In the finance sector, risk management, compliance, and regulatory requirements are paramount. Digital tools must do more than just sort candidates by skills. They must also ensure that industry-specific certifications, language skills, and soft skills such as accuracy and analytical thinking are taken into account. Misplacements can lead directly to financial losses or damage to reputation (BankingHub 2024).
The legal industry demands particular precision. Law firms and legal departments are not only looking for legal expertise, but also for transferable skills, such as the ability to use digital tools for document analysis or compliance systems. Digital assessments that reflect practical case studies provide an objective basis for selection decisions in this area.
In the real estate sector, the range of required skills is particularly broad. Project development, financing, contract law, and sustainability issues all come into play. Skill-based recruiting helps to map this diversity in a structured way. AI-supported matching systems can identify talent that can work across disciplines and manage complex projects.
All three industries have in common that they operate in a global competition for talent and are subject to strong regulatory pressure. Digital tools help to create transparency and comparability – both internally and in the external labor market. Those who rely on skill-based processes here can overcome bottlenecks and at the same time ensure that quality and compliance in recruiting are not left to chance.
Equal opportunities through technology
Digital tools can help make recruitment fairer in the context of skill-based recruiting – and to ensure a decisive contribution to equal opportunities. Especially in regulatory industries, where selection processes are traditionally based heavily on resumes and networks, technology-supported competence assessment opens up new possibilities.
Algorithms that focus on skills reduce the importance of background, career paths, or personal contacts. AI-supported matching reveals hidden talents that are overlooked in traditional processes. Studies show that companies that consistently focus on skills build more diverse teams and thus also strengthen their innovative power (Deloitte 2023).
Digital assessments reinforce this effect. Instead of just looking at the stages in a CV, they measure what candidates can actually do. Those who solve complex cases or impress in realistic simulations demonstrate skills that go beyond formal titles. For applicants, this means greater transparency and the chance to impress through performance.
For companies, in turn, it is more than just a recruiting advantage. Equal opportunity is increasingly becoming a factor in reputation and employer branding. Talented individuals expect fair procedures that focus on skills – particularly in a market where demand exceeds supply. Companies that act credibly in this area not only gain suitable employees, but also strengthen their attractiveness as employers.
The technological foundation has been laid. The question is whether companies are ready to leave traditional patterns behind and design their recruiting processes in a way that is truly open and fair.
Outlook – Where is the market headed?
Skill-based recruiting is evolving dynamically. What is beginning today with ATS, matching algorithms, and assessments will become much more comprehensive in the coming years. The first signs of this are already apparent: internal talent clouds are making the skills of a company's own workforce visible. This enables companies to fill vacant positions more quickly, not only externally but also internally. For regulatory industries, this is a critical lever for retaining knowledge within the company and reducing potential staff turnover.
At the same time, skill marketplaces are emerging that compare candidates across company boundaries based on their skills. Such platforms create new opportunities to find talent across industries and deploy it on a project-by-project basis. Especially in the real estate sector, where interdisciplinary teams are in demand, this can increase project speed and quality.
The integration of recruiting and compliance systems is also gaining in importance. In the financial and legal environment in particular, it is crucial that regulatory requirements are already taken into account in the selection process. Digital tools that link skill data with certification or licensing information could soon become standard here.
Not least, the role of AI will grow. While today's matching algorithms primarily recognize patterns, future systems could provide forecasts: Which candidates are likely to develop quickly? Which skills will be critical in two years? Such questions are increasingly being answered on the basis of data – giving companies a clear competitive advantage.
The direction is clear: recruiting will be decided less by titles and networks and more by the ability to make skills visible, comparable, and strategically usable. Companies that take this path now will secure a head start in a market that is increasingly driven by skills.
Conclusion: Skills instead of titles – a necessary change
The initial question remains: Why will financial companies still be relying on resumes and titles in 2025 when there are already better ways of doing things? The answer lies less in a lack of technology than in a reluctance to rethink old ways of doing things. Digital tools for skill-based recruiting are already available – from ATS with skill tagging to AI-supported matching and digital assessments. They make skills visible, comparable, and measurable. But they only reveal their value if companies are willing to question old routines.
Particularly in regulatory industries such as finance, legal, and real estate, hiring the wrong person is expensive, risky, and difficult to correct. A skills-focused approach, on the other hand, creates transparency, fairness, and sustainable talent pools. It broadens the view beyond traditional career paths and makes it possible to recognize potential that would otherwise remain hidden.
Recruiting is to ensure a strategic tool that strengthens competitiveness, promotes diversity, and optimizes the fit between people and tasks.
The decision lies with companies: Will they stick to old patterns—or seize the opportunity to rethink recruiting?
Digital tools are transforming how talent is found, evaluated, and hired. Anyone who wants to recruit successfully in finance, law, or real estate today needs people who are familiar with skills-based recruiting—and who understand the technology behind it. Numeris Consulting combines recruiting expertise with industry knowledge and data-driven methods. For companies that want to make their recruitment future-proof. Contact us – we look forward to hearing from you.
References
- BCG (2023): Competence over Credentials: The Rise of Skills-Based Hiring.
- Deloitte (2023): The skills-based organization: A new operating model for work and the workforce.
- PALTRON (2025): Technological support in skills-based recruiting: Which tools really help
- alphacoders (2025): Skills-Based Hiring: The Answer to the IT Skills Shortage?
- BankingHub (2024): Competency-Based Recruiting in the Financial Industry.
Read more:
The 8 most common mistakes in skill-based recruiting in regulatory industries—and how to avoid them
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