Skills-based hiring continues to gain momentum as employers seek more effective alternatives to traditional résumé screening, with recent Fortune-highlighted research showing nearly three-quarters of organizations now incorporating some form of skills assessments. These methods have demonstrated benefits such as reduced time-to-hire and stronger overall hiring outcomes. In hands-on, performance-driven sectors like restaurants, haircare, skilled trades, automotive, and construction, however, standardized tests often fall short of capturing essential real-world factors such as pace, communication, and quality under pressure.
Quick Intel
"In many service and trade roles, the skill is the job," said Chris Fairley, founder of Vetano. "Written résumés and assessments can't show pace, communication, or quality under real-world conditions. Employers want to see how someone actually performs before committing time to interviews."
While traditional skills assessments measure knowledge or theoretical competency effectively in some fields, they often feel removed from the daily realities of hands-on positions. Employers are therefore shifting toward proof-based hiring, where candidates submit concise, verifiable demonstrations—such as ID-verified video clips showcasing their work—to illustrate capability directly. This method reduces dependence on keyword-filtered résumés and initial phone screens, enabling faster identification of strong fits.
The trend is largely pragmatic rather than philosophical. High turnover rates, tight operational schedules, and the financial impact of poor hires push operators to seek clearer, quicker indicators of performance. By reviewing tangible evidence early, hiring managers can filter candidates more accurately and reserve interviews for those who have already proven baseline ability.
"Skills-based hiring works best when employers can actually see the skill," Fairley said. "Proof-based approaches don't eliminate interviews, but they make those conversations more productive because ability has already been demonstrated."
As AI tools make it easier to craft polished but unrepresentative résumés, and application volumes continue to rise, proof-based evaluation offers a practical counterbalance. Industry expectations point toward hybrid processes that combine multiple inputs—prior experience, references, assessments, and direct demonstrations—to create more reliable hiring decisions in performance-oriented roles.
About Vetano
Vetano is a video-first hiring and gig platform designed for performance-based industries, including restaurants, haircare, skilled trades, automotive, and construction. Vetano enables candidates to demonstrate real skills through short, ID-verified videos, allowing employers to evaluate ability before the interview.
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