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Hiring an Employee Without a Degree? Questions You Need to Ask

By Mark Westin posted 06-08-2021 10:35 PM

  

How crucial is hiring someone with higher education for your business? Hard skills and job experience may be more important than formal education for many positions. 

When you don’t require candidates to have a college degree, this can increase your hiring pool. You may just find exceptional candidates with drive and vision who don’t have a formal education. Here are some questions to ask to help you find the right candidates. 

Do they have the right skills?

Top business executives have been questioning whether college degrees really prepare candidates for jobs. What they regard highly when hiring is that candidates have the right skills for the job. 

Spending years getting a degree will teach candidates about the theory behind the roles they’re applying for, but they may know how to apply what they have learned in the real world. 

eSkill, a talent assessment platform, offers skills tests that provide a standardized and objective way to evaluate candidates. This can not only reduce hire time by 60% but the cost of evaluations by as much as 70%. When candidates have the right skills, onboarding them is easier as they tend to get up to speed quickly. 

Do they have hands-on experience?

While a degree may be important, hands-on experience is very valuable. If a candidate has a degree but no internship or work experience and another candidate does not have a degree but has experience in the type of job being offered, the company may be more inclined to go for the latter. 

A college degree proves someone is capable of academic success but that does not necessarily translate into job performance. Someone with professional experience but no academic education may perform better. Of course, most employers and recruiters prefer a healthy balance between education and experience. 

Do they have soft skills?

When interviewing candidates, it is important to get an idea of their soft skills. These include communication skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, and time-management skills. A four-year college degree does not necessarily equip candidates with these skills. 

Individuals who don’t have a degree may have worked very hard to develop the kind of soft skills they need to be successful in the business world. There are many online courses they can take to help them develop these skills. You may miss out on real talent if you screen out people who learn best while working. 

Do they have the right attitude?

If you don’t limit your hires to college graduates, try to find out more about their long-term goals. Some candidates without a degree may be very eager to learn and make more progress than others. They may be more suitable than a “know-it-all” who is not prepared to accept constructive criticism. 

Some people thrive in an academic setting, whereas others learn better in different ways. Your office may be the perfect environment for someone with a determination to learn and grow. Candidates can have very successful careers despite not having a college degree if they have the right attitude. 

Do they have good references?

If you're looking to hire someone who did not attend college, talking to their previous employers and subordinates can give you a sense of what they're like to work with. There may be older candidates with vast experience who don’t have formal qualifications. 

Their wealth of experience could be of major benefit to your business and they could even help to mentor younger employees. By being open to hiring other candidates rather than graduates of degree programs, you can bring in new points of view, ideas, and talent from a wider spectrum. 

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