Posted on : 2023-10-27 06:24:20
Article : 27th oct 2023- Good evening Friday Management TASK 265- Having a degree doesn’t guarantee that a candidate will be better employ.
Even though employers note that having a degree doesn’t guarantee that a candidate will be a “better” employee, some companies still require that applicants have their degree. This is in spite of the fact that 63% of employers say that the degree requirements make it harder to fill positions, which may be because nearly two-thirds of the U.S. workforce does not have a bachelor’s degree. For some organizations, proving you can do the work is enough to get you the job without a degree. Recently many leading companies have changed their mindset about requiring degrees, including Google, Netflix, Tesla, IBM, Penguin Random House, Bank of America, Hilton, and Apple. In fact, nearly half of Apple’s U.S. workforce includes people without four-year degrees. There are many high-paying jobs and fast-growing careers that don’t require a degree, such as computer programming, product management, and other tech-related positions. There are also many non-tech-related jobs that don’t require a degree, including virtual assistants, pharmacy technicians, online advertising and social media roles, customer service representatives, payroll clerks, and more.
Given that college costs are on the rise and the average student loan debt in 2020 was about $37,500, many people are starting to question the wisdom of pursuing a bachelor’s degree. Does it make sense to spend all that time and money getting your degree when you could be working, earning, and gaining experience? And do employers value real-world experience and on-the-job training enough to overlook the lack of a degree on a resume? To think it otherwise - for example, people with a bachelor’s degree who were at least 25 years old in 2019 had a total unemployment rate of 2.2%, while those with only a high school diploma had a rate of 3.7%. The data shows that people with a bachelor’s degree had median weekly earnings of $1,248, versus $746 for a high school diploma. Additionally, employers are willing to pay a starting salary that’s between 11% and 30% higher for people with a bachelor’s degree.
According to a 2017 Harvard Business School study, between 2007 and 2010, job postings listing a bachelor’s degree requirement as a condition of employment rose by 10%. The same study also found that in nine out of 10 job postings that requested a bachelor’s degree, the postings did not contain different duties or added responsibilities than postings with the same title that didn’t require a bachelor’s degree. Why require a degree when the job’s duties and responsibilities are the same no matter how much education an employee has? The study found that employers believe that applicants with a college degree are more “job-ready” than those without a degree. Specifically, employers feel that candidates with degrees possess more hard and soft skills than non-degreed candidates. While the range of “hard” skills varied by field, the desired soft skills were generally the same across the board (including verbal communication skills and the ability to mentor other staff).
However, at the same time, employers also admit that possessing a college degree does not guarantee that a candidate will be any better at the job than someone without a degree. Certain employers feel that productivity levels are no different between degreed and non-degreed employees and that retention rates remain the same between workers with and without degrees.
Harvard Business School’s study found that 37% of employers rank experience as the most important qualification in an applicant compared to educational attainment. When a job is hard to fill, employers are more likely to overlook the lack of a degree when candidates have sufficient experience in place of the “right” education. And in large organizations (those with more than 10,000 employees) 44% of the time, experience is more important than a degree.
It’s not just experienced that employers say they value. A 2019 study found that 45% of recruiters and hiring managers say that a candidate’s potential is the most important aspect of their application. But potential isn’t just the likelihood that a candidate will perform their job duties adequately (or even go above and beyond). Employers define potential as someone’s ability to grow into and beyond the job. They want people who will solve problems for the company and will, in the long run, bring value to their role.
This is an interesting topic of academic value for future employees and employers in different sectors and cadres. Many of you might have come across many job seekers or situations with education and or with experience, post your observations on such with examples to help the future or in job employees for betterment and at the same time for the employers to understand the jobseekers for a suitable job employment. Our Good Morning Monday Management solution for this task will be posted on 30th Oct 23.
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