No Degree, No Worries?

When it comes to employer branding, it has almost become fashionable for job ads not to include a degree. Canva, CultureAmp, and many others have made headlines for relaxing or eliminating the need for a degree - is that enough???

The cost of tertiary education is astronomical; post-pandemic high school attendance is trending down, with rates of total school refusal increasing. While more people in Australia have a degree than ever before, it's not surprising that since March 2023, that number has started to trend down.?

When we consider the transformational opportunities and threats of Generative AI across most industries, we are likely at the beginning of a seismic shift away from many formal societal structures impacting education and employment.?

As someone who didn’t get a degree until much later in life, and is now at decision-making end of many interview processes, I have witnessed many barriers to implementing a “no degree necessary” job description. With the best intentions, these policies are only as good as the internal bias training for decision makers, and the governance over an (at times) subjective process. Particularly when recruiting or job hunting at the more junior end. What can we do to assess capability outside of a degree, and if you don’t have a degree, can you get your foot in the door?

Employee

1. Get good at telling your story - Who are you, what characters make you capable, and what experiences buit this? You might need to lean into vulnerability, helping people understand how you became, resilient, structured, dogmatic, etc….. Describing value while building emotional connections with hiring teams is essential.?
2. Emotional Intelligence, or lack thereof—If you can, demonstrate strong EQ (with examples, not lip service) This may include being perceptive in certain situations, and how this perspective led to a great outcome. But don’t fake it. If you struggle in this regard, perhaps you are more clinical and great at pattern recognition but miss nuance. This can be of equal value in the right role and organisation.?
3. Problem-solving (particularly if you can handle ambiguity): For many people, not knowing where to start is more than half the battle, particularly if a problem lacks boundaries or clarity. Demonstrating your ability to navigate this situations and solve these challenges is paramount.

Employer

1. Be Self Aware - Step back and think about your biases when it comes to education. Be really honest with yourself. If you think you have them, you probably do. Now take education off the table, and look at the inherent attributes of the person, capabilities and skills.
2. Get curious - Ask someone how they developed skills, and why they have certain interests. The path someone takes is important.
3. Problem solving - Assess someone's ability to think through complexity. Do they have good reasoning skills, are they logical, do they go down rabbit holes that lack importance to the problem etc?
4. Creativity and lateral thinking - When needed, can the candidate think outside the square to get the job done? - They don’t need to be right, but can they bring a different perspective.

At the end of the day, attitude and aptitude will go a long way to determine success, neither of which are born from a degree, and skills can be learnt on the job.?