Do you need a college degree to get a good job?

Dropping degree requirements from job postings is all the hype right now. Mounting evidence suggests people need skills – not degrees – to succeed at work and that bias, favoritism, and inefficiency plague degree-based hiring. 

Many employers claim to have changed their ways, but few actually have.

So, do you need a college degree to get a good job? Unfortunately, you still do. But you shouldn’t.

In this piece, we expose how employers are paying lip service to dropping degree requirements. We also discuss why employers might be hung up on credentials and why they must ditch these requirements to enable candidates to show what they can actually do. 

Why do you need a college degree to get a good job? 

Many employers believe that degrees demonstrate a certain level of skill and dedication. The belief goes like this: a degree is proof of a candidate's ability to commit to challenging tasks, learn new concepts, and demonstrate discipline and responsibility.

What’s wrong with degree-based hiring?

Today, you need a degree to practice legally for a handful of jobs in medicine, engineering, architecture, social work, and more. Some degrees can be considered justifiable, as they’ve provided the degree-holders with the specialized education they need to practice in fields where safety, health, and public welfare are at stake. Beyond this, though, college degrees shouldn’t have a place in modern hiring. 

Here’s why. 

Don’t correlate with job performance

The Strada Institute for the Future of Work analyzed the career histories of tens of millions of graduates. They found that 52% of recent college graduates weren’t using their college degrees in their day jobs. 

An article published in the Harvard Business Review also showed that the correlation between college degrees and job performance is weak. 

Restricts talent pools 

The current tight labor market has more open jobs than skilled labor to fill them. Adding unnecessary college degree requirements can further restrict access to top talent, especially since about 62% of Americans don’t have college degrees.

Limits diversity 

Jobs that need college degrees tend to attract fewer diverse candidates who don’t always have the same access to education as their non-diverse peers. 

The Harvard Business Review explained that affluent families and those with higher income levels are more likely to afford college educations than others. A recent study also found that only 34% of Black adults have associate degrees compared to 50% of White adults.  College degree requirements widen the barriers to social mobility and create further inequality. 

Leads to mis-hires

Employers’ preference for college graduates have led them to reject non-degreed candidates who could’ve been better for the job. 

Imagine an employer rejecting a highly skilled digital marketing specialist for a less experienced marketing graduate who isn’t a good fit for their company. 

Doesn’t save much time in the overall hiring process

Contrary to popular belief, degree-based hiring doesn’t save much time. 

Forbes showed that 70% of people lie on their resumes. When using college degrees to shortlist candidates, recruiters must conduct time-consuming background checks or verify degrees through transcripts. 

Declining in relevance 

The World Economic Forum predicts that over 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years – and about 60% will need to be trained in new hard and soft skills. With the rapid rise of tech and AI, future employees will need continuous upskilling and re-skilling. Today’s college degrees won’t matter much in the future of work. 

Driving reform – The case for skills-based hiring

The evidence is clear. Requiring degrees for jobs can lead to poor candidate selections and put companies on the back foot in the war for talent. 

This is where skills-based hiring comes in. 

What is skills-based hiring? 

Simply put, skills-based hiring means finding and selecting candidates based on their skills rather than their backgrounds or educational qualifications. This includes any process that assesses skills – from tests and case studies to simulations and hackathons. 

Why is skills-based hiring better than degree-based hiring? 

Here’s why skills-based hiring outshines degree-based hiring in every way. 

It’s data-driven 

Shiny credentials on a candidate’s resume don’t reveal how well-suited they are for a particular job or company. 

For instance, a business or marketing degree won’t equate to success in sales if the candidate lacks great communication and negotiation skills. 

When employers assess skills instead of degrees, they can make decisions rooted in facts – not assumptions. 

It opens the door to diverse talent 

Skills-based hiring also tears down the paper ceiling by opening the doors to skilled talent who didn’t have access to college education. 

Legal writer Kate Stacey summed this up really nicely:

There are plenty of experienced, skilled candidates out there who can’t tick the college degree box – people from refugee backgrounds, with criminal histories, from countries where higher education opportunities are limited, workers skilled through alternative routes (STARs), older workers, minority groups. 

When employers look beyond formal qualifications, these people often have exactly what’s needed for the role – the right skills. 

It’s backed by evidence

We recently surveyed 1,500 employers on their recruitment practices. Among those who switched to skills-based hiring: 

• 92% found it more effective in identifying talent compared to resumes  

• 88% said it reduced instances of mis-hiring

• 82% found that it reduced their time-to-hire and streamlined the hiring process

• 84% stated that it helped them hire diverse candidates

Exposing the facade – what employers are saying vs. doing 

An article in the New York Times correctly said, “Too many Americans see our society and economy as profoundly unfair, set up to serve the needs of well-connected elites and providing more benefits to people who went to college or know how to work the system”.

The growing association of degree-based hiring with pretension and unfair hiring practices has led to many employers moving away from the practice – or rather, claiming to. 

What employers are saying… 

Recent data suggests many employers and some state governments have openly discussed removing bachelor's degree requirements from their job listings and focusing more on candidates’ skills instead. 

In fact, in a survey by recruitment firm Hays, nearly half of 15,000 employers said that college degrees aren’t important in recruiting. 

Another survey by ZipRecruiter also found that 45% of its 2,000 respondents claimed their companies had removed degree requirements from some roles, and 72% said they were now practicing skills-based hiring. 

All this data seems promising. But when you dig beneath the surface, the reality is… underwhelming. 

What employers are doing…

A new report by the Burning Glass Institute and Harvard Business School found that 45% of employers removed degree requirements from their job postings but made no real change in how they hired. More astonishing – only one in 700 candidates genuinely benefited from the opportunities that skills-based hiring should bring to the table. 

Additionally, only 3.5% more non-degreed workers got jobs explicitly classified as not needing a degree. Overall, the data showed that college graduates were still bagging the top jobs – including those that didn’t require formal qualifications. 

Our take on all this? 

Employers who merely pay lip service and have no real intent to ditch degree requirements will likely lose the best talent in the long run.  Other employers might have good intentions – but barriers are preventing them from fully transitioning to skills-based hiring. 

5 reasons why employers are still obsessed with college degrees

These factors could be fueling the continuing need for college degrees and blocking the transition to skills-based hiring.  

1. Perceived status and connections 

An article in People Management found that despite the shift in focus from degrees to skills, attitude, and culture fit, about 21% of employers in London said they wouldn’t even consider candidates without degrees. 

Degree requirements are deeply ingrained in traditional hiring practices – making it challenging to get buy-in from decision-makers. 

HR expert Yashna Wahal explained this. “While it’s only human to resist change, some stakeholders have deeper agendas that prevent them from dropping degree requirements.” 

Here are some examples. 

• Impressions. Some companies’ senior stakeholders may believe that hiring candidates from “prestigious” universities reflects a high standard of excellence and ambition, enhancing image and credibility among clients, investors, and their existing workforces. 

• Partnerships. Existing research, development, and recruitment partnerships with universities make hiring graduates directly from these pipelines convenient. Moreover, dropping degree requirements might complicate these relationships or prompt a re-evaluation of internships and campus recruitment efforts. 

• Networks. Hiring college graduates gives companies access to their alumni networks and other connections they made at university. Relying on these for recruiting or other business purposes can make moving away from degree-based hiring challenging. 

• Effort. Many recruiters rely on degrees as a straightforward screening tool to manage large volumes of applicants. Moving away from this creates fears of time-consuming or difficult alternatives. 

2. Deep-rooted biases

At TestGorilla, we believe that certain unconscious biases contribute to the obsession with college degrees. 

• Confirmation bias: Favoring information or evidence that confirms one’s existing values or beliefs 

Example: Believing college degrees are a key indicator of candidates’ competencies, overvaluing them, looking for evidence of previous high-performing graduates, and disregarding contradictory information 

• Halo effect: Letting one’s overall impression of a person influence their perception of the person’s abilities 

Example: Assuming that candidates with degrees from Ivy League universities are suitable for jobs simply because they graduated from a prestigious university 

• In-group bias: Tending to prioritize people who belong to the same social group as oneself 

Example: Preferring candidates with educational backgrounds similar to one’s own, such as candidates with the same degree or from the same college 

• Anchoring bias: Relying too much on the first thing one learns about a situation – the “anchor” 

Example: Seeing a candidate’s resume with their college degree first and then viewing everything else – for instance, their interview performance – with pre-existing ideas 

3. Narrow view of skills development

Many employers forget that college degrees aren’t the only way to master technical skills. Gartner, a consulting firm, found that 43% of applicants teach themselves one or more of the skills required for their jobs.  

Workers skilled through alternative routes (STARs) rather than college degrees – for example, training, hands-on experience, military service, apprenticeships, professional certifications, online courses – make up 50% of the US workforce.

Some employers believe that those who’ve completed four-year degrees are more driven and hardworking than those who haven’t. Some studies do show an association between higher education institutions and work ethics, attributing this to students joining clubs, taking leadership positions, attending training, etc. However, there’s also evidence suggesting that today’s college students are unprepared to enter the workplace and lack professionalism. 

Whatever the case may be – one thing is for certain: college experiences aren’t the only route to developing commitment and a strong work ethic. Our argument? People who beat all odds to skill themselves through alternative routes are likely highly committed to learning and doing a good job. 

4. Perceived risks and fear of the unknown   

Many recruiters don’t know how to assess the quality and potential of candidates without degrees. 

HR expert Yashna Wahal shared her own experience with us: 

I knew skills-based hiring was the next big thing – and for good reason. But I didn’t know how to implement it in practice. What skills should I look for? Am I in a position to judge these skills? How can I change my application process to accommodate a skills-based approach? 

On top of all that, I was worried that ignoring college degrees might lead to hiring employees who aren’t adequately prepared for the job, putting my reputation on the line.

5. Improper use of skills-based hiring 

Some employers have removed degree requirements from job posts – but aren’t making full use of skills-based hiring. Here’s where they might be going wrong. 

• They’re still reviewing resumes. Resume screening is a degree-based selection method. Since resumes show candidates’ college degrees – or lack thereof – reviewing them makes employers prone to the biases we discussed above.

• Their technology is working against them. Tech and AI tools that screen applications and resumes rely on algorithms that check boxes and match keywords. If these tools look for phrasing like “dean’s list,” “thesis,” and “publications,” they’ll be screening for degrees even if employers have removed degree requirements. 

• Not everyone is on the same page. Say an employer has removed the need for a finance or economics degree from their stock trader job description. If a hiring manager progresses an applicant because they’re from the same alma mater, the employer hasn't escaped degree-based hiring. 

Skills-based hiring doesn’t stop at removing degree requirements from a job description. It must continue through the hiring process, and every decision-maker must adopt it. 

How to move away from degree requirements

Here’s how employers can say goodbye to degree requirements and hello to skills-based hiring. 

Engage in a mindset reset

To change long-standing norms like degree requirements, employers need a mindset change. Here’s how.

Ask if it’s needed

At TestGorilla, we believe most roles don’t need degrees – including some that might surprise you. Candidates can often gain the knowledge and skills they need for positions through other means.

For example, in Virginia, Washington, Vermont, and California, candidates can even become lawyers without college degrees if they’ve trained through other routes such as on-the-job training or apprenticeships – so long as they’ve passed the bar exam. 

Look for “graduate caliber” rather than graduates

We spoke to HR expert Medi Jones, who explained that there’s been a shift towards asking candidates to be “graduate-caliber” rather than demanding a degree. Graduate-caliber candidates possess qualities like critical thinking, problem-solving, and good communication. 

“Being graduate-caliber means the person has the potential to attend college, regardless of whether they’re able to or want to. Let’s not forget that formal education isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, irrespective of their intelligence, skills, or ability,” Jones said. 

Consider overall job fit

Knowledge and technical abilities aren’t all that define job fit. Personality traits matter, and they’re not products of college degrees. People without university degrees are as likely to mesh with a company’s culture and working practices as those with them. 

Turn to constructive means of impressing stakeholders 

Finally, employers who hire college graduates to impress stakeholders should consider better ways to build strong reputations. For instance, focusing on skills, offering equal opportunities, and improving DEI can garner appreciation and trust from clients, investors, and employees. 

Implement skills-based hiring – the proper way

Skills should be center stage in every aspect of the hiring process. 

Create skills-based job descriptions

Employers must drop degree requirements and focus on writing skills-based job descriptions. For instance, instead of naming a marketing degree, they should name specific skills such as SEO skills, digital marketing expertise, and understanding of social media campaigns. 

Consider skills-based challenges instead of campus hiring 

Campus hiring offers opportunities only to candidates with college degrees from particular universities. Employers should consider instead running hackathons, case-study competitions, simulations, and other events that enable candidates from all backgrounds to showcase their skills. 

Swap resumes for talent assessments 

Resumes list candidates’ qualifications and credentials but don’t reveal anything about the actual skills they possess for a job. 

So, employers should leave resumes out altogether – or, at the very least, review them only after they’ve conducted skills-based assessments. After all, actions speak louder than resumes.

Talent assessments are a much better way to use technology for quick and objective candidate screening. These can include online tests that measure candidates on multiple dimensions, including:  

• Job-relevant technical skills 

• Cognitive abilities 

• Situational judgment 

• Personality traits and motivations 

• Culture add

This way, everyone has an equal opportunity to showcase their skills – graduates and STARs alike. And, employers get a holistic picture of candidates’ suitability for a job. 

Use in-house learning and development  

Finally, with the rise of technology, AI, and the overall evolution of the work landscape, today’s degrees – and skills – won’t hold the same value tomorrow. Employers must invest in providing their existing and prospective hires with continuous learning and development.  

They must consider supporting candidates and employees through training programs, apprenticeships, internships, or on-the-job learning – or by sponsoring online courses and certifications. 

When learning becomes a core part of a company’s work culture, that company no longer needs to hire candidates with specific credentials and can instead prioritize critical thinking, problem-solving skills, a willingness to learn, and adaptability. 

Employers can end paper-thin hiring with TestGorilla

Selecting candidates for their qualifications on paper rather than real-life skills is pointless, unfair, and can lead to costly mis-hires. 

Yet, many employers struggle to replace degree requirements with a skills-based hiring approach – including those who claim they’ve already done so. Unconscious biases, narrow-mindedness, and the continuing use of resumes are some of the biggest barriers to making the switch. 

The key to hiring for skills rather than degrees is to cultivate a skills-based approach throughout the recruitment process. In addition to dropping degree requirements from job descriptions, employers must roll out talent assessments with platforms like TestGorilla to evaluate candidates’ skills accurately and objectively – instead of screening resumes. 

This will make opportunities available to all who are capable and eliminate biases, giving every candidate – degreed or non-degreed – a fair chance at proving their worth.

Want to learn more? See for yourself with our guide on skills-based hiring.