What hiring strategies have you found effective for sourcing candidates based on skills rather than credentials? Are there channels, platforms or communities that you rely on to find skilled talent?

We use specialist ICT recruitment firms but look at skills as well as values, independent thinking, soft skills, referee feedback and general track record in our ICT community.
We are also introducing SFIA (Skills for the Information Age framework) into our skills matrix, to assess vacant roles and how we can pivot to fit evolving needs. It can help define skills and levels for individual job roles as well as general coverage of what could be needed for the organisation.

We've found that sourcing by skills—not just credentials—requires active engagement with communities where talent demonstrates capability. We prioritize portfolio reviews, code sprints, and real-world project experience, which we access via specialized AI, tech, and healthcare forums, as well as GitHub and curated challenge platforms. Our best candidates come from interdisciplinary hackathons, LinkedIn groups focused on operational AI, and clinician-informaticist circles where skill and impact are evident. Internal peer assessments and case study exercises offer a clearer measure of fit than résumés alone, helping us build a team that creates measurable outcomes in demanding, real-world healthcare environments.