Christie (Cimring) Hall
VP, People & Development
Taylor Morrison Home Funding
Episode 127
Future of Talent: Why Ditching College Degrees Unlocks Your Next Great Hire
Current chapter: This podcast is presented by Previ. Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern among employees
Built By PeopleJune 27, 2025 · 11:52
Thesis
“The traditional HR and talent acquisition models are outdated; organizations must adapt by innovating programs, removing artificial barriers like college degree requirements, and actively listening to the next generation to effectively attract, develop, and retain talent.”
Show notes
"You don't need a college degree to become a loan consultant." That statement — coming from the VP of People and Development at a home funding company — is either obvious or radical, depending on how honest you're willing to be about how your job descriptions are written. Christie Hall has been in that fight, removing credential barriers that had no relationship to actual job performance, and the results have been a broader, more capable talent pipeline.
Christie came to HR through teaching — five years in the classroom gave her a lens for development that most HR executives simply don't have. At Taylor Morrison Home Funding, she channeled that background into building the Financial Services University, a next-generation talent program designed to address the industry's aging workforce problem before it became a crisis. The program blends internships, external rotations, and internal cross-functional moves into a development engine that attracts people who hadn't previously considered mortgage as a career — including high school students from communities where the industry wasn't even on the radar.
Her partnership with New Journey, a nonprofit focused on financial literacy in low-income areas, adds another dimension: not just recruiting from underrepresented communities, but building genuine career awareness and access from the ground up. Christie also makes an unflinching case for listening to Gen Z and younger talent on their actual terms — including accepting that two-to-three-year career stays may simply be the new baseline.
- Building a "Financial Services University" from scratch — the structure, partnerships, and outcomes that make it work
- Removing degree requirements strategically — which roles actually need credentials and which ones don't
- Nonprofit partnerships for talent access — how New Journey opens pipelines that corporate recruiting misses
- What younger talent actually wants — what focus groups revealed about engagement, learning styles, and retention
- Addressing an aging workforce proactively — why waiting until the gap arrives is too late
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What you'll take away
- 1Actively brand and partner with non-profits to bring awareness to industry career paths for diverse talent pools, including high school students, challenging traditional college-only recruitment.
- 2Develop multi-faceted 'next-gen' talent programs (internships, external rotations, internal cross-functional moves) to proactively address an aging workforce and future talent needs.
- 3Critically evaluate and eliminate unnecessary education requirements in job descriptions to broaden the talent pipeline, remove artificial barriers, and focus on skills and potential.
- 4Engage in focus groups and listen directly to younger generations to understand their needs, learning styles, and what fosters retention (e.g., adapting to shorter career stays of 2-3 years).
- 5Leverage organizational expertise (e.g., financial services) to offer community initiatives like financial literacy education, benefiting both the community and serving as a talent pipeline strategy.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Challenging the necessity of college degrees for many roles, especially in industries like mortgage/title, stating it creates unnecessary barriers for potentially fantastic employees.
- •Pushing back strongly on the 'this is the way we've always done things' mentality, advocating for radical shifts and adaptability in talent acquisition to attract the next generation.
- •Acknowledging that younger generations typically stay for 2-3 years, rather than aiming for 10-year careers, and advising organizations to adapt programs and expectations accordingly.
In Christie's words
“I did not take the normal trajectory to get into HR. I actually taught for 5 years... I didn't even know it was a career path.”
Highlights the unexpected paths into HR and personal motivation behind creating new career programs.
“Not everybody has to go to college. You do not need a college degree to become a loan consultant or to become a processor or a closer.”
Directly challenges conventional hiring requirements, advocating for skills-based hiring over formal degrees.
“If you go to college, you're not majoring in mortgage. I don't want to put barriers in place for individuals who could be fantastic employees simply because they did not get a piece of paper at the end of the day.”
Emphasizes the disconnect between academic qualifications and job readiness in specialized fields.
“We're not looking for a 10-year career path. If it happens, great, but we know individuals usually stay for 2 to 3 years.”
Demonstrates an adaptable, realistic approach to modern career expectations and employee retention strategies.
“If we want to attract the next generation of talent, we have to do things differently... It's not going to work. So I think it's just to continue being open and being willing to change and shift and be adaptable.”
This encapsulates the guest's overall philosophy on the need for organizational agility in talent strategy.
The problems this episode addresses
- •An aging workforce in critical industries like mortgage and title necessitates proactive strategies to bring in younger talent and ensure business continuity.
- •Many potential candidates, especially younger individuals, are unaware of lucrative and rewarding career opportunities in specialized sectors, hindering talent pipelines.
- •Existing managers may lack the specific skills and understanding required to effectively lead, develop, and retain Gen Z and millennial employees, impacting team performance.
- •Outdated hiring requirements, such as mandatory college degrees, create unnecessary barriers, excluding potentially high-performing individuals who possess relevant skills or experience but lack formal qualifications.
- •A significant gap in standard education curriculum means many young people enter the workforce without fundamental financial literacy skills, which financial institutions are uniquely positioned to address.
In this episode
This podcast is presented by Previ. Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern among employees
Built by People
I'm happy to be a guest on the podcast
How to Get Out of College With a Career
Taylor Morrison Home Funding has developed several next-gen talent programs
Taylor Morrison Home Funding's Next-Gen Talent Programs
We've had success stories from several of our talent development programs
WSJD.com Talent Development Programs
New Journey aims to teach financial literacy in low-income areas
Kristi has talked about eliminating unnecessary education requirements in your hiring process
The Need to Raise the Skills of Your Talent
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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