Shifting the Focus from Credentials to Knowledge – A Quick Guide to Learning for Federal Employees

There has been a surge in skills-based hiring lately. Most of us (if not all) know at least one person who got a great-paying job or a promotion purely based on their talent and skills and not on the credentials and degrees they hold. This reflects a massive shift in organizational policies.

The talent shortage initiated by retiring boomers, carried forward by the Great Recession, and then further enhanced, more recently, by the Great Resignation, is forcing employers to move away from the traditional degree requirements. An increasing number of employers are hiring people based on what they actually know and can do. This doesn’t mean that the value of educational credentials isn’t depreciating (as this makes many presume). But, is shifting from credentials to knowledge and skills.

What Does This Mean for Employees?

For the longest time, employees relied on their educational credentials and experience to advance their careers. They would often take additional degrees, enroll in certificate programs, and sign up for professional development courses to make their resumes more impactful and pave the way for professional growth. The credentials wouldn’t necessarily help them in work but would look on their CVs and nameplates. But things are changing now. With an increasing number of employers focusing more on what their workers actually know and are capable of doing, the irrelevant?credentials no longer benefit employees.

Whether you want to land your dream job or grow in your current organization, you must focus on strengthening your profile with degrees and courses relevant to your job. There’s no point in enrolling in a dozen courses just because they are the most ‘hyped-up’ programs, your friends are doing them, or you want to increase the credentials list on your resume. Instead, you must search for programs that are either relevant to the work you currently do or will help you take up the senior leadership role you aim??????for.

Simply put, you should only invest your time and money into things that actually benefit you personally or professionally. Instead of focusing on how good a degree, certification, or course will look on your resume, consider what you will learn from it and how that learning will transpire into your practical life.

What Benefits Does It Offer?

To help you put things in better perspective, let’s look at some of the ways this shifting focus will evolve the workspace and how it will benefit employees and organizations:

For Employees:

??More knowledge, better skills

??Improved performance

??Ability to take on more responsibilities

??Professional growth

For Employers:

??A more skilled workforce

??Employees who can??????do their jobs better

??Reduced need for active hiring, as there will be suitable candidates within the team

??Higher job satisfaction among employees

??Reduced turnover, as employees will have adequate growth opportunities internally and will continuously feel challenged, too

??Higher engagement and productivity

Pave the Path to Professional Growth with the Right Credentials

There is nothing more important than knowledge and skills. Thankfully, more and more employers are realizing this and also taking measures to reflect this change in their hiring policies. With this changing professional landscape, you no longer need to enroll in a particular Master’s program or a professional development course to get a job or promotion. Complete degrees and/or take courses that interest you or will help you increase knowledge and expand your skill set.