Hudson, a global talent solutions company, has partnered with Validateskills to develop the SFIA Professional Skills Assessment. The assessment is based on the SFIA framework, which defines IT skills and proficiency levels. The assessment enhances recruitment by comprehensively evaluating candidates' skills and allowing employers to quickly make informed hiring decisions. Hudson has trialled the methodology successfully with clients and believes it will become standard for IT recruitment.

1. SFIA PROFESSIONAL
SKILLS ASSESSMENT
A unique process of comprehensive assessment based on the SFIA Framework.
This robust methodology completely enhances the recruitment process, and provides detailed
assessment results allowing employers to make the right appointment quickly, and ultimately
increasing retention.
If you would like any further information on how this has worked for other organisations and how it
can benefit you please contact: UK-sfia@hudson.com. We will also be presenting at the SFIA
conference outlining how the SFIA Professional Skills assessment has developed, and showcasing
specific examples of its success with key clients.
Background on SFIA
Essentially SFIA provides standardised definitions of information technology skills and levels. SFIA makes a
clear distinction between skills and technological matters; does not contain technobabble; is compatible with
your way of working; is not tied to any group of products; can be understood by technical managers and HR
managers. Use of SFIA will help you create a common language of IT skills development and deployment,
so as to improve communications between IT staff, management, HR and stakeholders.
SFIA defines 96 professional IT skills, organised into six categories, each of which has several
subcategories. It also defines seven levels of attainment, each of which is described in generic, non-
technical terms. Each skill has an overall definition, and an “at-level” definition for each of the levels at
which it can be recognised.
Hudson IT and Validateskills have joined forces
to develop the SFIA Professional Skills
assessment. It is currently being used by
Hudson, who have recently trialed the
methodology with their clients in order to
successfully recruit senior level IT positions.
Combining Hudsons recruitment expertise, with
Validateskills online assessment capability we
can map the job descriptions to the SFIA codes
and supply our clients with detailed assessment
results. This allows employers to make informed
appointments above and beyond the usual
assessment of core competencies.

2. SFIA PROFESSIONAL
SKILLS ASSESSMENT
In short, Hudson have been an accredited partner to SFIA for 8 years, we are one of the only Recruitment
companies in the UK and Globally with this association and were recently invited to present at the SFIA
Conference on how we are now integrating SFIA with IT recruitment.
We have developed a globally unique professional skills assessment tool and methodology for clients to
use within their recruitment process, we’ve recently trialed it with four different organisations and are now
looking to launch the product.
SFIA's intellectual content comes from a broad open consultancy process, focused on the practical
management of IT professionals in the workplace.
It is a serious management tool produced by experienced managers and practitioners in information
technology. SFIA is used in over 100 countries.
SFIA: Supports management systems in corporations, governments and charities Defines membership
grading in professional bodies Provides mappings for well-known certification bodies such as ISACA and
CompTIA Is used as a guide by training companies Underpins curricula at Universities.
To give an idea of scale, circa 80% of the UKFTSE companies are implementing SFIA within their IT
practices, within the Public Sector it’s wholesale – this is being been done mainly through L&D and HR
however Hudson are approaching this from a recruitment perspective.
We firmly believe this new approach will become common for IT recruitment and Industry leaders have
been extremely supportive of what we’re trying to achieve. In terms of Industry validation that includes
The SFIA Foundation which is a not-for-profit organisation which has five corporate members:
• The Institution for Engineering & Technology - The IET
• The Chartered Institute for IT - BCS
• The IT Service Management Forum - itSMF
• The Institute for the Management of Information Systems - IMIS
• e-skills UK - UK Sector Skills Council for IT
The Hudson Approach
SFIA can be used in many situations because it is a component that fits into any approach. SFIA provides
the professional skills part of the Capability Mix. However, SFIA's Generic Level definitions also provide
excellent guidance to the sort of business and behavioral attributes that enable employees to work at higher
levels.
Professional skills
Business process improvement and Database design are just two examples of almost 100 fundamental
professional IT skills defined by SFIA.
Behavioral skills
Hudson Talent Management Products would fit this area of assessment, particularly Hudson 5+1 and
Hudson BAQ.

3. SFIA PROFESSIONAL
SKILLS ASSESSMENT
Experience and qualifications, Technical
These validate the individual's capability. Qualifications certify elements of skill or knowledge; experience
gives practical demonstration of capability. The right sort of experience also acts as a powerful force for
learning, thereby enhancing capability – Hudson are using Techchek to test a candidates Technical
Knowhow.
Professional Skills
Knowledge
Behaviour Skills
Experience,
Qualifications&
CVEvaluation

4. SFIA PROFESSIONAL
SKILLS ASSESSMENT
TO DO – (some of this is done)
• Decide on a Product name – drill down onto what the proposition really is
• Confirm who will be trained to use and sell this proposition
• Formal costings – how much do we offer this product for and how do we measure it’s
success – does it have it’s own P&L line in each IT Business, similar to Client paid
Advertising ?
• Do we need to protect ourselves with some from of formal agreement between Validate and
Hudson ?
Marketing Requirements
• Help in developing marketing input - support on proposition development for internal and external
use – Inc. language, positioning, sales collateral (Inc. case studies).
• Agree a timeline of activity - soft and focused approach to market, building up to some
broader external launch activity once all of the internal work is in place.
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About Hudson
Hudson is a global talent solutions company with expertise in leadership and specialised IT
permanent and contracting recruitment. We believe in working closely with you to help you solve
your toughest people challenges. Our business and market knowledge, together with our proprietary
assessment tools, helps us deliver the right talent for your business. Our extensive country presence
and on-going relationship with millions of specialised professionals worldwide — and across a wide
range of functions and industries — allows us to provide you with talent solutions, quickly and
efficiently.

6. SFIA PROFESSIONAL
SKILLS ASSESSMENT
About Hudson
Hudson is a global talent solutions company with expertise in leadership and specialised IT
permanent and contracting recruitment. We believe in working closely with you to help you solve
your toughest people challenges. Our business and market knowledge, together with our proprietary
assessment tools, helps us deliver the right talent for your business. Our extensive country presence
and on-going relationship with millions of specialised professionals worldwide — and across a wide
range of functions and industries — allows us to provide you with talent solutions, quickly and
efficiently.