How Much Do Employers Care About College Courses

Education and experience are both important aspects of finding a job, but which is most important to employers? Here's what the stats say.

Education vs Experience: What Do Employers Want 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?

Value of a College Degree

For the 2020-2021 academic year, the approximate price for one year at an in-state public college is $26,280 (including tuition, room, board, and other fees), for a total cost of $105,120 for four years. Four years at a private institution is approximately $219,520.

Clearly, pursuing a traditional four-year degree can add up. However, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that there are benefits to pursuing a degree.

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.

Do Employers Require College Degrees?

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 ten job postings that requested a bachelor's degree, the posting 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. For example, 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.

Even though employers note that having a degree doesn't guarantee 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.

Shifting Norms

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.

Harvard Business School's study found that 37% of employers rank experience as the most important qualification in an applicant, not 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), experience is more important than a degree 44% of the time.

Potential Is Important

It's not just experience 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.

Next Steps for Jobs That List a Degree Requirement

Job descriptions often state that applicants should have a degree, which can be frustrating for job seekers who know they could be successful in the role even though they lack this credential.

Fortunately, you can still apply to jobs that say they require a "bachelor's degree" or "college degree" when you don't have one. If you're confident you can do the job based solely on your experience and skills, go ahead and apply.

Here's how to handle this in your application materials. On your resume, in the Education section, add a line such as:

"10+ years of experience in lieu of a bachelor's degree," so the keywords "bachelor's degree" appear on your document.
"2 years of coursework completed toward Bachelor of Science in Accounting" if the job posting lists a specific degree requirement.

In your cover letter, focusing on the positive and explaining how you meet many of the other requirements can help you get your foot in the door—particularly if you have relevant experience.

What to Do When You Don't Match All the Requirements

Studies have found that many job seekers, especially women, hold themselves back from applying if they don't match the vast majority of the job requirements. According to LinkedIn, while both genders browse jobs similarly, they apply for roles differently. Women often feel they need to meet 100% of the criteria for a job, while men usually apply if they meet about 60%.

As a result, women are 14% less likely than men to apply to a job after viewing it and, on the whole, apply to 20% fewer jobs than men. But, despite this, women are 16% more likely than men to get hired after applying for a job!

Rather than holding out for those 100% matches, if your qualifications match 80-90% of what's listed in the job description, consider applying. Remember, a job description is simply a wishlist from an employer, and they'll most likely not wind up hiring someone with all (or even most) of the qualifications.

How to Get Education and Experience

Fortunately, there are alternatives to a traditional degree program that can help advance your education and work experience.

Community College

Some employers accept two-year degrees from a community college if an applicant can demonstrate they have some of the desired experience.

You may still need to complete internships to gain additional experience, but you won't have to spend nearly as much time (or money) on your education in a two-year program. And, when you complete community college, you'll have an associate's degree. Several states have programs in place to make community colleges more affordable.

Trade School

Trade schools train students for a specific career. Using a combination of classroom and hands-on training, you'll gain experience and technical skills in a specific occupation. Like community college, you can complete the program in approximately two years. You won't have a degree, but you will have a diploma or certificate that proves you successfully completed the program.

Apprenticeships

An apprenticeship is similar to trade school, only with less school and more on-the-job learning (and earning). Employers agree to train and pay people willing to learn a job or trade.

Most apprenticeships require a high school diploma to enter. Not every career field offers an apprenticeship, but in certain trades, an apprenticeship can fill in the gap between not having a degree and not having the required experience. At the end of the apprenticeship, you'll have a nationally-recognized credential that can help you find employment.

Volunteering

Beyond giving back to your community or a favorite cause, volunteering is a great way for you to gain experience, hone your skills, and prove you've got what it takes to get the job done.

For example, if you volunteered to run social media campaigns for a pet shelter and can demonstrate that your social media posts led to an increase in engagement with your audience, you're showing a potential employer that you've got social media and marketing savvy.

Virtual Learning and Upskilling

Even before the pandemic increased the popularity of online learning, many people turned to certifications and degrees through a virtual learning experience. Online colleges offer the opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree, often on a flexible schedule or with lower tuition costs.

Professional certifications, such as those offered by hundreds of universities and organizations on Coursera and edX, can help you gain new skills at a low cost without going through a traditional degree program. Udemy offers over 100,000 online courses taught by experts in their field, and LinkedIn offers many courses as well (with some free through Dec 2021). Online schools such as Lambda and Merit America, teach programming with no upfront tuition until you land a job.

Companies often offer their own certification programs. For example, Google offers programs in cloud architecture, DevOps engineering, and security engineering. HubSpot offers certification courses in Social Media and Marketing, Inbound Marketing, and Digital Advertising.

Finding an In-House Mentor

Sometimes you know you want to work at a specific company, but you don't have the right education or experience to get the job you want.

Consider taking a different role at the company as a way to get your foot in the door. Then, over time, as you learn about the company and network with coworkers, seek out a mentor who's in the department or role you want to move into.

That person can help guide you on your career journey, giving you advice and suggestions along the way about what education options might be better for your situation or how to gain the right experience and skills to advance your career.

How FlexJobs Can Help

Whether you have a degree or not, FlexJobs' mission is to help you find a better way to work.

With flexible and remote job listings in over 50 categories and heavily discounted career coaching packages, we're here to support our members throughout their career.

Connect with our coaching team and talk to an expert about your career path.

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How Much Do Employers Care About College Courses

Source: https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/education-vs-experience/