You can assess candidates without using a degree as a proxy: define the work the role requires, collect job-related evidence through consistent assessments, and score that evidence against criteria set in advance. Then review the process for accessibility and potential disparities. A degree may still be appropriate where it is genuinely necessary, but it should not substitute for identifying the capabilities the job actually demands.
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 gives you a defensible basis for deciding what to assess. In testimony to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), employment-testing expert Kathleen K. Lundquist described the central question as whether a selection procedure measures characteristics necessary for successful job performance: the procedure must ask the right questions.
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Translate tasks into observable capabilities. For example, if a role involves explaining technical problems to customers, assess whether a candidate can explain a problem clearly and accurately. Avoid vague standards such as “culture fit” unless you can connect them to specific, job-relevant behaviors.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteFor each proposed hiring criterion—including education, experience, writing samples, and interview responses—ask whether it is necessary for successful performance. If another form of evidence can establish the relevant capability, consider whether that evidence is a better fit for the role.
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Choose an assessment that represents the job
Use an assessment that samples important work without creating unnecessary time, expense, privacy, or access burdens. EEOC testimony identifies work samples, video simulations, and assessment-center exercises as methods that can provide relatively direct evidence of job-related behavior or output. That does not mean one method is best for every position; the task and its complexity should reflect the role.
| Method | What it can show | Design consideration |
|---|---|---|
| Work sample | How a candidate completes a representative task or produces a realistic work product. | Use an important task at an appropriate level of complexity; assess only features that matter for the job. |
| Simulation | How a candidate responds to a scenario approximating an important part of the work. | Keep the scenario tied to role requirements rather than testing unrelated familiarity or access. |
| Structured interview | How a candidate explains relevant experience, reasoning, or decisions in response to job-related questions. | Prepare core questions and scoring criteria in advance, and standardize questions as much as practicable. |
| Assessment-center exercise | Multiple relevant behaviors observed through one or more exercises. | Use it when those behaviors matter enough to justify the added administration and candidate effort. |
The EEOC’s testimony on testing and job analysis and its statement on high-stakes testing discuss work samples and simulations as methods that can more closely resemble job performance. Use that resemblance as a design principle, not as proof that any particular exercise predicts performance.
When several methods could work, compare how closely each reflects important work, how clearly it can be scored, whether it is accessible and proportionate, whether you can monitor outcomes, and whether it can be administered consistently.
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Set scoring rules before reviewing candidates
Decide what counts as strong evidence before candidates complete the assessment. A rubric helps evaluators judge the same evidence by the same standards rather than relying on an overall impression.
- For interviews, prepare the same core questions for candidates for the same position as far as practicable, and use a point-based score sheet.
- For a work sample, define observable criteria—such as accuracy, completeness, reasoning, or safe execution—only where those features are relevant to the role.
- Describe what different performance levels look like, so evaluators can explain a score with reference to the candidate’s response or work product.
- Record the rationale for each criterion and the scoring approach, making it possible to review how the process was applied.
EEOC federal-sector barrier-analysis prompts identify practices such as preparing point-based score sheets, asking consistent questions, and objectively grading responses as features that can be reviewed. Those prompts support structured evaluation; they do not guarantee that an assessment is valid or free of bias.
Apply the process consistently and make it accessible
Use consistent standards for candidates applying to the same role. At the same time, consistency does not mean ignoring accommodation needs or leaving an assessment format unchanged when it creates an irrelevant barrier. The EEOC’s small-business hiring guidance advises employers to screen applications consistently and accommodate applicants where required by law.
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Check whether an exercise measures the intended skill or an incidental obstacle. For example, a timed digital task should have a job-related reason for its timing, and candidates should have a way to request an accommodation where applicable. Keep the assessment focused on the capability identified in the job analysis.
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Review selection results for potential disparities and examine whether each assessment still reflects the job. A procedure that appears neutral can still have adverse impact. The EEOC’s compliance-manual guidance on discrimination theories discusses the need to justify selection procedures with adverse impact through validity or business necessity and to investigate suitable alternatives with substantially equal validity and less adverse impact.
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Keep records of the tasks the assessment represents, the criteria used, how candidates were scored, and the outcomes. If results suggest a disparity, investigate its causes and consider whether a suitable alternative could assess the same capability with less adverse impact. Applying a rubric consistently does not by itself resolve those questions.
These are U.S. federal EEOC materials, not a determination for a particular employer or role. Requirements may also depend on state or local law, sector, and occupation; seek qualified advice about a specific selection process.
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