Education requirements for open roles

Education requirements in job postings include a wide range of degrees beyond a basic high school education. Common degree requirements include an associate, bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degree. Some career paths might need a certificate from a technical or vocational school.

Some job titles have standard educational requirements to earn a license. For instance, to become a licensed architect, you typically need at least a bachelor’s degree. Licensing requirements can vary by state and by profession.

Organizations may require a college degree for other professional positions, even if there aren’t universal education requirements. The preferred or required college degree typically varies depending on the responsibilities of the position.

Pros of considering a candidate’s education

What’s the case for education over experience? Here are some benefits of candidates who have degrees:

• Industry-specific knowledge. A degree in a related area usually prepares a candidate by providing in-depth theoretical knowledge about the industry. This gives them a solid foundation in your niche, which they can apply to their position.
• Soft skills. While anybody can work on soft skills, higher education experience could lead to individuals having more efficient communication, collaboration, prioritization and presentation skills.
• Diverse experience. Many colleges expose students to diversity. Experiencing new things can help graduates adapt easily to new situations on the job. It can also improve how they interact with others from different backgrounds.

Cons of only considering a candidate’s education

Sometimes, a candidate’s main qualification is their degree and they have little industry experience. Here are some potential downfalls of that situation:

• No real-world practice. Learning about an industry and doing the work is often different. The knowledge gives you a foundation, but you’re not always ready to hit the ground running. That lack of real-world experience could result in a longer training time.
• No guarantee of their skills. Applying academic knowledge to work situations isn’t always easy for everyone. You could hire someone with a degree who knows the industry but doesn’t have the right skills to perform the duties well.
• Smaller candidate pool. By requiring a specific degree level, you could eliminate talent that would fit into your team well.

Experience requirements for job vacancies

When you look at a candidate’s experience, you’re typically looking at previous jobs, internships and other work-related situations. While many candidates may have a combination of education and experience, others might only have work experience with no degree.

Job posts often list a minimum number of years of experience in the same or a similar position. They might also request experience in certain skills, duties or programs. For example, you might expect a human resources generalist to know how to use applicant tracking software.

Pros of considering a candidate’s experience

Accepting experience rather than requiring a degree can benefit you in several ways, including:

• Practical experience. Related work experience shows that the candidate has real-world experience doing the job.
• Wider talent pool. Eliminating or softening educational requirements in your job posting broadens the talent pool for the position. You have more candidates to interview, so you could improve the quality of the hire.
• Reduced training time. Many candidates with extensive experience can jump into the job faster than a candidate with only education. While they might need to learn your company’s procedures, they’re familiar with the expectations of the role.

Cons of only looking at a candidate’s experience

Only evaluating candidates based on their past experience can have some drawbacks, including:

• Improper training. Relying solely on experience overlooks the foundation and specialized training required for professions like law, medicine and engineering.
• You may overlook potential talent: Individuals with limited experience but strong potential and transferable skills could be excluded.
• Lack of diversity: Certain people may have had fewer opportunities to gain experience, which could limit your talent pool. Instead, consider evaluating for skills vs only experience.

Experience in lieu of education

A compromise is to have both education and experience guidelines. You might require either a bachelor’s degree or four years of relevant industry experience, for example. The equivalent experience option gives you more flexibility in your hiring decisions. It opens up the position to people who meet the other requirements but lack a formal degree.

If you choose this option, consider what someone with a degree learns during their schooling. Consider how much real-world experience without a degree it might take to gain that same knowledge. You can decide on a number of years of experience that makes sense to compensate for not having a degree.

Or, consider skills-first hiring, where you only look at the skills and abilities needed to do the work. This is a shift away from relying on traditional indicators of a candidate’s capabilities (four-year degree, previous job titles, etc.) and instead sourcing and evaluating candidates based on the specific skills required for the job. You could start your skills-first hiring efforts by including skills tests in your job applications and conducting behavioral or situational interviews.

Education vs. experience: which to choose

In a perfect world, you wouldn’t have to decide between education vs. experience. In reality, the debate isn’t clear cut.

While it was once common for employers to require a college degree for professional positions, that stance is changing. Companies realize that real-world experience can be just as valuable, if not more, than a traditional degree.To help you decide, consider these factors:

• Industry regulations. Determine if the role has any standard education and licensing requirements. In that case, you likely won’t have any choice and will require the minimum degree. For example, you’ll need to set minimum education requirements when hiring a lawyer, but you may want to focus more on experience or skills when hiring a project manager.
• General role expectations. If there isn’t a specific educational requirement, keep the requirements open-ended and interview candidates to get an understanding of their experience, skills and potential culture add.
• Specialized knowledge. Consider the technical and specialized knowledge a successful employee needs to perform the job. If that knowledge is best gained through a degree, you might choose to include education as a nice-to-have.

Education vs. experience can be a role-specific decision. Evaluate each position you’re hiring for to decide where you should place the most emphasis.

Other considerations

While education and experience are two key requirement areas for job vacancies, they aren’t the only ones. For many jobs, specific skills are essential. Candidates can pick up those skills in several ways, including learning on their own and volunteering.

Looking at each candidate as a whole can help you hire someone who can succeed in the position. You might need to compromise on your wish list to find a candidate who can fulfill the role well and you may find that they contribute to your company in ways you didn’t expect