The U.S. is facing a severe cybersecurity talent shortage, with nearly 500,000 positions unfilled nationwide. As the digital world continues to evolve, the demand for cybersecurity professionals outpaces the availability of qualified candidates.

The current administration has recognized this challenge and is pushing for skills-based hiring practices to fill these critical federal cybersecurity roles.

According to Federal News Network, “The goal isn’t just to fill open cyber positions now. Advocates of skills-based hiring argue it will open up IT and cyber jobs to a wider range of applicants, at a time when digital technologies are growing in importance.”

Shifting hiring strategies to focus on skills rather than traditional credentials will help the federal government meet its cybersecurity needs while adapting to the rapid advancements in digital technology.

HireVue Human Potential Intelligence provides the science-backed AI-driven solutions specifically designed to assess the skills and competencies that best predict success, empowering federal cybersecurity hiring teams to unlock the potential of their candidates.

The shift to skills-based hiring

Skills-based hiring emphasizes talent, abilities, and practical experience over traditional credentials such as degrees or resumes. Rather than prioritizing where someone went to school or their specific degree, employers focus on what candidates can actually do and their competencies that drive success in a role. This hiring model values individuals’ capabilities, such as individual attributes, competencies such as problem solvings, and hands-on skills and knowledge that align directly with job requirements.

According to Federal News Network, “The Office of Personnel Management is leading the effort to transition nearly 100,000 federal cyber and IT jobs to skills-based hiring by next summer. The Energy Department is leading a corresponding initiative to move federal IT contracts to skills-based hiring.”

In a traditional hiring process, 100,000 new opportunities means reviewing more than 100,000 resumes, which would amount to more than 15,000 hours of candidate screening. This is neither sustainable, nor does it actually align talent to opportunities based on skills. Strict resume review also invites bias in your process—frequently assuming qualified candidates attend certain schools, hold specific roles, or even have certain names. By evaluating potential over resumes, the federal workforce can attract diverse talent capable of meeting today’s cybersecurity challenges.

The growing importance of cybersecurity talent

According to a McKinsey Global Survey of global executives, “87% say they either are experiencing gaps now or expect them within a few years.”

The cybersecurity skills gap is well-known, but the talent shortage isn't just about numbers—it’s about finding the right individuals with the right skills. To close the gap, hiring strategies across federal agencies and commercial enterprises, alike, must evolve to better assess and recruit candidates with the potential to succeed in the growing and ever-changing world of cybersecurity.

Retaining young federal talent

Former Federal CIO Suzette Kent addresses the urgency of expanding the funnel to address the skills gap.

“We have to find talent, and skill talent at a pace that matches the pace of evolving technology….Both inside agencies, but also with our contractors, we need a bigger pool.”

And for federal agencies, providing opportunities for young talent to improve upon skills is critically important if there’s going to be a valiant effort to retain them.

According to Federal News Network, “Skills gaps in the federal workforce are contributing to persistent challenges for agencies and their programs…. more than half of GAO’s list of vulnerable federal programs and broad government challenges—stem from issues of mission-critical skills gaps.”

Federal agencies should audit their hiring practices to establish a respected and consistent internal mobility program that focuses on skills and enables young talent to grow within the agency. In an ever-changing landscape, especially as baby boomers age out of workforces, creating workforces of young talent that will last for years to come is critically important.

Skills gap vs headcount gap

In front of Congress, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified about the importance of qualified talent in an age of cybersecurity threats.

“It’s more important than ever to ensure the federal government has the best and brightest cyber professionals on the frontlines of America’s cyber border. We need not only enough people, but also the right people with the right skills to meet the cyber threat from increasingly empowered nation-states and opportunistic criminals.”

A recent SANS report underscores the importance of clearly defining the skills required for cybersecurity roles. Many employers continue to face difficulty in matching candidates to specific positions due to a lack of clear job descriptions.

The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Framework could help streamline job postings, providing a standard that aligns job descriptions with real skills needs, however when only 14% of organizations report using it, federal interviews are unstructured—and therefore much less effective at evaluating talent.

HireVue structured interviews and competency assessments, aligned with frameworks like NICE, can help federal agencies assess potential in employees more effectively—quickly finding the most qualified candidates in the pool.

Structured interviews ensure every candidate is offered the same experience and evaluated consistently, and with an assessment for every job at any level, HireVue offers well-rounded evaluations backed by science and data, not gut-instinct. Assessments backed by science and automation enables agencies to identify high-potential at scale, much more quickly than evaluating hundreds or thousands of resumes manually.

This shift toward skill evaluation allows hiring managers to match candidates more closely with the actual demands of cybersecurity roles, improving both hiring efficiency and workforce preparedness.

Reskilling and breaking free from resume requirements

By offering hands-on training and reskilling opportunities, the federal government can bridge the gap between a candidate’s existing qualifications and the skills needed for cybersecurity roles.

This challenges the reliance on resume reviews and degree requirements, which often invite bias into the hiring process and should no longer be the standard evaluation. This opens up the door for more pathways and opportunities into cybersecurity careers.

For example, the nation’s first federal reskilling pilot program, Federal Cyber Reskilling Academy (FCRA), “offers Federal employees the opportunity for hands-on training in cybersecurity, one of the fastest growing fields in the country.”, which opens the door to new talent to be skilled and considered for cyber opportunities.

HireVue technical assessments empower technical and non-technical recruiters to easily prioritize tech talent with auto-scored coding assessments—empowering teams to not only qualify talent but screen out talent earlier in the process.

Supporting DEI initiatives

As agencies embrace skills-based hiring, they are likely to see an increase in the number of applicants and the diversity of the talent pool. Successful adoption of this model can build multiple pathways into federal cybersecurity roles, making it easier for those with non-traditional backgrounds to highlight and contribute their skills and ultimately be considered for open opportunities.

For the federal government to maintain a sustainable cybersecurity workforce, it must fully adapt to this hiring model. Doing so will ensure a steady influx of talent that can keep up with the growing demands of cybersecurity, ultimately safeguarding the nation's critical systems and infrastructure.

By focusing on skills over credentials, the federal government is poised to close the cybersecurity talent gap. Skills-based hiring opens doors for a diverse range of candidates and creates new pathways for talent attraction, selection, development, and retention, ensuring that the U.S. can meet the evolving challenges of cybersecurity head-on.

Ready to learn more? Request a demo.