Experience vs. diploma: What works best for your company?
When hiring, every employer is faced with the difficult task of deciding between experience and academic papers. In most cases, the decision is made a lot easier by having applicants that have papers and experience. But in a world where the talent pool is growing increasingly, dry, employers will soon have to make the difficult decision on whether experience or diplomas are more important when making the hiring choices.
Advantages of work experience
Work experience guarantees that the employee being hired can actually handle the pressure of an actual work place and that they have excelled and shown excellence in their work. It is even more helpful when the employee can provide contacts of companies where they have worked at in the past for verification
Some students are unable to prosper in academics end up doing exceptionally well in the workforce and with lots of satisfaction. The work environment allows them to succeed and many successful entrepreneurs are accomplished with no more than a high school diploma which means that as an employer, you cannot entirely rule out the essential role of experience.
Benefits of a diploma
With more specific career opportunities, the entry-level positions become very complicated and require a lot of academic know-how to execute the job. This is common in technical and trade fields where academic qualifications are compulsory before you can apply. The case is the same in other areas like business and health.
For most employers a diploma is a paradigm shifting document which greatly impacts the final decision that the employer is going to make. In some areas of business and in the luxury sector, it is almost impossible to get hired without the right paperwork. The employer needs to be sure that the potential employee has actually been trained for the position they are hiring for a diploma does a good job of showing that.
In the eyes of an employer, a diploma puts the employee at an advantage compared to other potential employees who might be riding on experience only. Employers and recruiting agencies are thorough and don’t leave anything chance.
The best of both worlds
There is no question that an employee with both experience and a diploma is very attractive in the eyes of employers. However, in most cases, building the necessary experience can be difficult and time consuming which reduces the chances of employers being able to tap into the talent pipeline when it is still young.
But, there are ways that employers can help to build talent and offer them a chance to build some experience with some actual work. Here are some of the ways that employers can improve their impact and improve the quality of talent they bring to their companies.
- Internship – classroom work is only part of understanding a new career but, internships can help you get some hands-on work and experience which makes you very pleasing in the job market. There is a rising number of organizations and industries that are opening up internship programs so, with time, this is going to be much easier.
- Co-operative work placement – in areas like technology and nursing, employers are ready to take as much help as possible. As a result, the employer has cooperative work placements with the universities and colleges that help students get experience and get paid while they complete their studies.
It is difficult to definitively pick between experience and a diploma when making new hires and reviewing resumes. Sometimes, experience might be more essential based on the task at hand and for more technical positions, you might want to consider the papers given that more theoretical knowledge might be required in such applications.
