Do employers really favour candidates with a degree?

Over the years, having a degree has become somewhat of a 'standard requirement' for many jobs – and not just graduate ones! So, we conducted a survey on Twitter and asked Exeter-based employers whether or not they would hire someone without a degree... and the results are in!

94.4 per cent of respondents said they would hire someone without a degree – a promising sign. However, there are a few things for us to consider here. Firstly, how many of those employers actually follow through on their promises? There’s often a huge amount of bias hidden in the hiring process, which may – knowingly or unknowingly – filter out candidates who haven’t undertaken higher education.

Secondly, are these employers making it clear that holding a degree is not a requirement for the job? Other studies tell us that 37 per cent of Gen Z – the newest generation to enter the workplace – believe employers favour those who do have a degree. Thus, they would be deterred from applying to many of the jobs that they may well be qualified for, or worse, feeling like higher education is their only option.

Times have changed. More and more companies are looking beyond the dated idea that you must obtain a degree to have a successful career.

Recently, many leading companies have changed their policies on degree requirements, including Google, BBC, Facebook, and Apple. In fact, almost 50 per cent of Apple’s US hires don’t have the standard US four-year degree.  

So, for an employer, what are the benefits of hiring candidates without a degree? 

Diversify your talent pool

Companies that choose to forgo the degree requirement are more likely to find capable candidates from diverse backgrounds, and opening up your talent pipeline can boost the diversity of your team and bring in fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and great value to your bottom line. 

If you were to ask ten employees that all took the same career route – let’s say, getting a degree and entering the workforce upon graduation – to come up with an idea, they will share similar responses based on their own experiences. But if you have a team of employees with less conventional and more varied backgrounds, they will come up with a wider variety of ideas and examples – providing much more valuable insight.

In 2017, the Office for National Statistics reported there were 34 million people aged between 21 and 64, in the UK, who were not enrolled on any educational course. Of those 34 million, 14 million were graduates, and seven million had qualifications equivalent to an A -Level. By simply changing degree ‘required’ to ‘preferred’, you could double your talent pool! 

Upskill your workforce 

Possessing the skills and lived experience required for a role is arguably more important than a formal education for many roles and industries. 

Along with experience, the plethora of free or low-cost online resources available to candidates in this day and age is extremely valuable, and can actually have a bigger impact on someone’s capability to perform well than a degree. As an employer, you always have the option to upskill or train employees on the job if more training is needed further down the line.

Reconsider your requirements 

There are many industries that require degrees for good reason, such as medical professions, but if the job’s duties and responsibilities are the same no matter how much education an employee has, why require a degree?

We work in a number of incredible industries where employers can benefit from hiring employees without a degree… 

• Technology
• Finance 
• Manufacturing
• Customer Service
• Project Management… and many more! 

If you are a business looking to improve your hiring practices and get recruitment solutions advice from an Exeter-based agency, please contact our team who will be more than happy to help.