Nowadays, simply having a degree doesn’t guarantee a candidate an interview, so job seekers need to know what will make them stand out in the crowd. We’ll take a look at the infographic beneath the cut to see how job-specific training makes you the best hire.
(Photo Credit: Dennis Wong/Flickr)
The job market took a nasty hit with the downturn of the economy and the eventual recession that followed, and many well-qualified working professionals were either laid off, forced to take pay cuts, or backed into early retirement. This string of events caused the job market to become highly competitive due to the large number of experienced and skilled professionals who found themselves desperate for employment.
Fast-forward to today, employers are still operating very lean by working with minimal workforce and hiring candidates who are seasoned, not necessarily the ones with fancy degrees that demand higher salaries. According to CSInow.edu’s infographic, “7 in 10 employers would hire a candidate without a bachelor’s degree, so long as the candidate is a good fit or has great credentials.”
Having a degree is always a plus, but job seekers shouldn’t rely solely on that to land a job, let a lone a career. Obtaining additional job-specific training is like validation for a given skill or trade and it can help enhance a person’s candidacy in the following four ways, as stated in the infographic:
1. More Practical Skills Than the Average Grad
The infographic states that “9 out of 10 employees worldwide said colleges aren’t fully preparing grads for the workforce,” with 53 percent saying it’s difficult or very difficult to find qualified candidates to hire.
2. Less On-the-Job Training Needed
Employers want to hire candidates who are the best fit for a given job/team, and degrees don’t always verify a candidate’s qualifications, whereas experience does. If Candidate A is a recent grad with one year of on-the-job experience, and Candidate B has no degree with twenty years of on-the-job experience, it might be a wiser choice to hire Candidate B due to the cost-savings in training and the candidate’s proven track record.
3. More Career-Specific Experience
“Employers generally value experience more than academic record,” as the infographic points out, which suggests that companies want to hired trained candidates, and not ones that need to be trained.
4. More Equipped to Advance
As for compensation comparisons, the infographic points out that “43 percent of people with licenses or certifications earn more than people with associate degrees” and “27 percent earn more than bachelor’s degree holders.”
See the full infographic below for more insightful statistics on the benefits of job-specific training.
Tell Us What You Think
What certification(s) or training have helped boost your career? Share your thoughts on Twitter or in the comments section below.
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