Overcoming Obstacles in the Job Application Process: Skills vs Credentials

In recent years, it has become more apparent that we need to switch to a skill-based employment paradigm. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are only 5.8 million unemployed people in the country compared to the 9.9 million job vacancies. To stay ahead of the labour shortage, employers should evaluate applicants exclusively on their performance rather than following rigorous education and experience requirements, according to Gartner's workplace forecasts for 2023.

They have conducted a survey with more than 1,000 job seekers to better understand the relative importance of abilities versus credentials in the job application process. The conclusions? Even though they have valuable skills to contribute, qualified people are frequently passed over because they lack academic qualifications like a college degree. 

"Degree inflation" started in the early 2000s, when "a sizable number of employers started adding degrees to the descriptions of jobs that hadn't previously required degrees, even though the jobs themselves hadn't changed," according to Harvard Business Review. Job seekers are still experiencing the effects 20 years later.

According to the HBR report, if there were a shortage of workers compared to demand, there would be a structural shift, and businesses would "de-emphasize degrees." By most measures, that's where we ought to be right now. An article in the Wall Street Journal from November 2022 stated that firms needed to relax schooling standards to secure employees due to the tight labour market, predating Gartner's predictions for the workplace in 2023. Most job seekers say they have yet to notice any changes so far.

• Three-quarters still see the exact educational requirements of respondents. Over the past 12 months, the frequency of job advertisements mentioning college degree requirements has remained the same, according to 76% of respondents.

• Education requirements continue to screen out people who are otherwise eligible. Because they lacked the college degree specified in the job description, 64% of respondents felt they had been passed over for a position they would otherwise have been qualified for.

• The emphasis on school requirements could lead to discrimination at work. 50% of respondents believed their skill set is valued at work less than their peers with more advanced degrees because they need a degree.

Most job seekers are discouraged from applying if they don't match the standards.

The majority of respondents (96%) say that if the open job description had not specified college as a condition and if they had the necessary abilities and experience for the position, they would not have decided not to apply. This is particularly alarming because gender has long been linked to application inclinations.

Men apply for jobs when they meet only 60% of the requirements, but women only do so if they meet 100%, according to a commonly cited 2014 statistic. According to more recent LinkedIn research, the disparity may improve, but women still seek 20% fewer jobs than men.

Many people may believe that applying for a job where they don't qualify is a waste of time, and not without good reason: 57% of applicants who failed to meet the job's experience or college degree requirements did not receive an interview.