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How to Assess Candidates’ Skills Without a Degree Requirement

Assess candidates against the work they will do: define job-related skills, use representative assessments, score consistently, and review results for disparities.
From TheFinanceBase Team4 min to read
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Assess candidates without a degree requirement by first identifying the work the role actually involves, then evaluating applicants against those job-related skills with consistent, structured methods. A representative work sample, simulation, or scored interview can provide evidence of capability; a degree should remain a requirement only when it is genuinely necessary for the role.

Start with the work, not the credential

Before removing or retaining a degree requirement, identify the role’s important tasks and the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics needed to perform them. This job analysis connects each hiring criterion to actual work and helps determine what an assessment should measure. In 2007 testimony to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), industrial-organizational psychologist Kathleen K. Lundquist described this as a way to establish whether a selection procedure is asking the right questions about successful job performance: EEOC testimony on employment testing and screening.

Translate duties into observable capabilities. For example, if a role requires explaining a financial process to customers, assess whether a candidate can explain it accurately and clearly—not whether they have a particular credential unless that credential is independently necessary. Replace vague criteria such as “culture fit” with work-related behaviors that evaluators can identify and score.

Choose assessments that reflect important job tasks

Pick a method that gives useful evidence about the skill in question without creating unnecessary burden. The EEOC has described work samples, video simulations, and assessment-center exercises as higher-fidelity ways to observe relevant behaviors or work product. That does not mean one format is best for every role; the exercise should reflect important work at an appropriate level of complexity. See the EEOC testimony and testimony on assessment methods.

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  • Work sample: Ask candidates to complete a representative task or produce a realistic work product. Score only aspects that matter for the role, such as accuracy, completeness, reasoning, or safe execution.
  • Simulation: Present a scenario that approximates an important part of the job and observe how the candidate responds.
  • Structured interview: Prepare job-related questions in advance, ask the same core questions as consistently as practicable, and define what a strong answer demonstrates.
  • Assessment-center exercise: Use an exercise involving multiple relevant behaviors when that added complexity is useful, while keeping it tied to role requirements.

When several options could assess the same skill, compare them by how closely they reflect real work, how clearly they can be scored, how accessible and proportionate they are for candidates, and whether outcomes can be monitored for disparities. Also consider whether the method can be administered consistently without unnecessary time, expense, or privacy burdens.

Set scoring criteria before reviewing applicants

Write the rubric before evaluators see candidate results. For interviews, prepare a point-based score sheet that connects each question to a skill and defines what different levels of evidence look like. For work samples, identify the observable elements that count toward a score. This makes it easier to apply standards consistently and explain how decisions were reached.

The EEOC’s federal-sector barrier-analysis prompts identify advance preparation, point-based score sheets, consistent questions, and objective grading as process features that can be examined. See the agency’s Section 15: Barrier Analysis. Keep notes about the evidence behind ratings rather than relying on a general impression.

Apply the process consistently and make it accessible

Use the same core standards for candidates applying to the same position, and plan for reasonable accommodations where required. An assessment should measure the target capability, not an unrelated obstacle introduced by its format. For example, confirm that instructions are understandable and that the way a task is delivered does not test an incidental factor unrelated to the work.

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The EEOC advises employers to screen applications consistently and accommodate applicants where required by law in its small-business hiring guidance. Removing a degree screen does not by itself make the rest of a hiring process fair: tests, interviews, and work samples can also create barriers.

Review outcomes and revisit criteria

Track selection outcomes and examine whether a test or other screen may create disparities between groups. If a procedure has adverse impact, EEOC compliance-manual material discusses the need to address validity or business necessity and to investigate suitable alternatives with substantially equal validity and less adverse impact. These issues can be fact-specific and technically complex, so employers should obtain qualified advice for their own process. See the EEOC’s Section 15: Race and Color Discrimination.

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Document why each criterion is relevant, how it is scored, and whether it reflects successful performance. Revisit the assessment if the role changes or if outcome monitoring suggests that a screen is not serving its intended purpose.

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Decide whether a degree is actually necessary

Evaluate education alongside experience, writing samples, interview responses, and other selection factors: ask whether each is necessary for successful performance in the occupation or whether another form of evidence can establish the relevant capability. A degree may be appropriate for some roles, but the evidence here does not establish a universal rule to require one—or never to require one. The defensible choice is the one grounded in the work and applied through a fair, job-related process.

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This legal context reflects U.S. federal EEOC materials. Requirements may differ by state or locality, sector, occupation, or country; the cited agency guidance does not settle those specific questions.

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