Do applicants need a degree for the IT positions in your company? If so, is this requirement necessary? It is important for your financial future to know the answer. Consider whether your employees need years of schooling to perform their jobs properly or whether someone with on-the-job experience only might serve you better. With a renewed interest in skilled trades, the traditional college degree may not carry the weight it once did. On the other hand, IT is an increasingly challenging and specialized field. Each company needs to make its own determination about these requirements.
It is no secret that not all high-level jobs require degrees. Some jobs actually pay quite well without requiring one. Nevertheless, applicants must possess a skill set that matches the job for which they apply. How they acquired those skills is another matter.
Business Insider lists tech jobs, like web developers and computer network support specialists, which generally require only a two-year associate's degree. But some who work in those fields claim even that is unnecessary.
TheBestSchools.com lists IT Jobs such as software application developers, computer network architects, and system software developers, among those for which employers require at least a bachelor’s. The products created by such employees carry more weight. You might trust your website to an individual who shows talent. However, you will want formally educated people to create the systems that service large numbers of clients.
Who’s asking their applicants for those degrees? When the type of work requires a specific education, you should count on it. On the list mentioned above, you will chiefly find two brackets of jobs; managers and engineers. While the skill sets vary greatly, the list reveals that most employers looking for managers ask for college degrees. So, if you want to build your leadership pipeline, you might consider your tech employee’s future potential. Are they capable of one day moving into management… and do they want to?
A marketable skill set can overcome any deficiency in formal education. That goes for management jobs as well. If you see management experience on applications, you might actually hire the individual over a college graduate with a qualifying education. When it comes to hiring the right people, securing a person who can get the job done efficiently ranks highest.
A report by U.S. News suggested that technical jobs and support jobs might accept more applicants without degrees. Conversely, it related that management positions did, indeed, require the backdrop of education to support the on-job requirements.
Deciding what jobs on your roster absolutely require a degree is the first step. A certain amount of skill and experience will tip the scales eventually, in many cases. Before you arrive there, however, you might want to consider your options when creating a job posting. You might receive thousands of applications for a single opening. How do you trim down those numbers? One solution is to require a college degree. That’s right, many employers asking for college degrees don’t actually need one. Will you take that route? Analyze the responsibilities the person will need to carry. Decide how much skill they actually need. Sometimes a college degree is necessary and other times it isn’t.
A well-rounded understanding of the job you are offering will determine what experience you should ask applicants to have. Tech jobs like computer hardware engineer or computer systems manager, for example, demand a higher level of control and understanding. With such a wide range of skills needed in the IT industry, the responsibility falls to you to understand the job you are offering.
Startups most often need people qualified to lead. Not every college graduate fits in that description. A certain amount of life experience lends well to management. A startup company might consider hiring a combination of experienced and college educated people, one set to manage and the other to fill the technical posts. Established companies, on the other hand, will usually have their management posts already filled. For them, college graduates are a great choice to post on jobs that require specific technical skills.
Should you require IT employees to have college degrees? The answer is that it depends on the job and how experienced the applicant is. As we covered in an earlier post, human resources departments have a responsibility to employ people who will enhance their companies. Opt for or against college graduates based on your needs. Do you need managers? Are you offering high tech jobs? Will a respectful skill set serve you better? The answer lies in understanding the job you are offering. Take the time to understand the post. Afterward, you can make your decision whether or not to require a college degree for your IT position more efficiently.