Recruiters, imagine you’re on a Starbucks run, but instead of picking up your usual, your barista sells you on the newest seasonal drink. You might be so impressed with their powers of persuasion that you offer them a job on the spot.

That’s what happens in Mateo Askaripour’s darkly comedic recent novel Black Buck. After graduating high school as valedictorian, Darren, unsure of what to do next, spends four years working as a barista at Starbucks. One day, a tech startup CEO, Rhett, walks into his store, where Darren blows him away with his sales skills and customer service.

So, what happens next? Rhett, seeing Darren’s potential, offers him an entry-level job on his corporate sales team. In other words, skills-based hiring at its finest.

You can do this, too. Skills-based hiring, or hiring based on skills rather than work experience and education, is a growing trend in recruiting. In fact, when looking for candidates on LinkedIn, recruiters are 50% more likely to search by skills over years of experience, SHRM reported earlier this year.

Skills-based hiring can open up a company’s candidate pool, said Mila Singh, VP of people and culture at Catchafire, a New York-based org that connects volunteers with nonprofits, as recruiters can find talent that they wouldn’t otherwise reach.

“Talented people are everywhere,” said Singh. She added, “When I think about places where I’ve found really excellent talent, it’s not always: ‘Oh, you have this corporate background or you have XYZ background.’”

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