Skills vs. Degrees: What should matter more in hiring?
Are college degrees the golden ticket to ensure a job offer? Someone with a college
degree is often perceived as a smart, insightful individual who will be successful in their life and
career. But, through the eyes of a company or business, someone without a college degree is
perceived in the opposite way. When hiring someone for a job, employers often prioritize those
that went to college and got a degree. These college degreed individuals are usually the ones who
are offered the job, opposed to those who didn’t get their knowledge from college. This being
said, college degrees should not be the deciding factor in hiring decisions.
Although, going to college and getting a degree provides one with a good deal of
knowledge, it doesn’t guarantee that someone is more qualified than someone else without a
degree. Consider an employee who has been with a company for over 3 years, who demonstrates
excellent leadership skills, is a great communicator, and has a strong work ethic. Despite their
skills and impressive track record, they are often completely overlooked for a promotion solely
because they do not have a college degree. Instead, the company hires an external contender with
a college degree but has no loyalty to the company, and their skills and qualities are unknown. In
this situation this company is preventing an experienced, and very qualified employee from
advancing in the job. Not only is this unmotivating for the current employee it can be a set-back
for the company if they continue hiring random people with degrees. The company will have no
knowledge of the people’s work ethics. This scenario perfectly illustrates the problem with
focusing mainly on a college degree for hiring someone.
Of course, a criminology degree is just what you need as the director of the Pre-Access
department at a hospital. Apparently, those criminal skills are useful for a job that includes
managing patient scheduling, being in meetings all day and being in charge of 13 employees.
Most companies do not care if your degree is unrelated to the job itself, when hiring, they are
mostly looking for information that tells them you went to college. Unrelated degrees can cause
these candidates to struggle in their jobs, and can also cause unnecessary stress in the workplace
environment. Hiring someone with experience and skills is much more preferred for a healthy
and happy workplace. An employee who knows what they are doing, because they have prior
experience in this specific field, makes asking questions and working with them much easier.
Hiring someone with an unrelated degree over someone who doesn’t hold a degree, but has skills
and experience, can lead to inefficiencies, wasted time, and a lot of frustration amongst
coworkers.
Naturally, no one would expect or want anyone without a medical degree to perform
surgery. We also wouldn’t want an individual without an engineering degree building a bridge
that millions are going to drive over. In certain job fields, like a doctor or engineer, it’s completely
necessary to have a college degree. Earning a college degree is an investment of people’s time
and money. Individuals spend years working towards their degree and can easily get into debt. It
would be seen as unfair if these efforts go unrecognized in the hiring process. College degrees do
allow employers to quickly look through a resume and see that a candidate meets a minimum
level of competence for the job. One of which an individual, without a college degree, can’t
automatically provide for the employer. However, interviewing allows employers to get a better
understanding of the candidate, and the skills they can bring to work at their company.
Employers should look for experience, and work-place skills in their candidates, not only a
college degree.
In conclusion, having a college degree should not be the only golden ticket to getting a
job. Yes, college degrees can show valuable knowledge in people. However, people are capable
of so many different skills and qualities that are very often overlooked in the hiring process
because of their lack of a degree. At the end of your long workday, the college degree hanging
on your wall might make you look smart, but it’s the skills and qualities you have that should
have earned you that position.