What really matters in the age of skills

This article is authored by Ketan Deshpande, founder and chairman, FUEL.

In the recent past, there was only one solution to this problem: Obtain a degree and get a job.

Skills (File)

However, this formula does not hold anymore.

Employers across all industries are caught in a paradox. They have an increasingly well-educated entry-level talent pool, but they experience skills shortages at the same time. Meanwhile, younger people are wondering whether all those years spent studying a degree course qualify them for the jobs of the future, which move much faster than the education system.

This has led to increased discussions about certificates vs degrees. However, the debate itself may have ignored the larger context. Because while certificates vs degrees might not capture the whole picture, changing notions of employability certainly do.

The trend towards skills-based recruitment is a product of this development. There has been an increasing trend amongst organisations where they are becoming less interested in formal qualifications and more focused on whether the candidate can perform in the real world. Portfolio, project-based recruitment, internships, practical testing, and competency-based hiring have become more significant than ever before, and the new catchphrase is ‘What can you do?’

The need to recruit candidates who actually meet the changing needs of organisations is especially true of industries that experience fast innovation. Industries such as digital marketing, artificial intelligence, data analytics, content writing, and technology evolve much faster compared to academic curriculum designs. Therefore, recruiters become more accommodating and ready to employ people who have relevant skills, regardless of where they acquired them.

In contrast to lengthy educational programmes, certifications provide a more timely and specific route for acquiring skills required in a certain industry. They enable learners to become competent in a new area.

Certification has become the means by which many new professionals have been able to link their studies and work. For instance, an individual who has studied for a business management degree can gain an edge by earning certifications in digital marketing, social media, and data analysis. These credentials signal initiative and provide evidence of skills that employers are actively seeking.

But to say that the degree should be considered obsolete would certainly be premature and erroneous.

There are some aspects of education that no certification can ever cover. Universities help students not only understand how things work, but why. They promote skills like thinking critically, solving problems, communicating, researching and analysing complex concepts – the skills that will still be relevant despite changes in other kinds of knowledge and skills.

Indeed, some of the most desired skills today have nothing to do with technology at all. As AI is getting smarter, its potential for performing basic functions becomes higher. The qualities that make a person human, such as judgement, creativity, ethical values and flexibility, become more important.

In other words, there is no question of choosing between a college degree and professional certification since one without the other renders graduates unable to use their knowledge or remain relevant with outdated certificates. Those who will succeed in the future will definitely be the ones having both a college degree and certification, because while remaining academically sound, they will still update themselves through developing their skills.

This poses a valuable challenge for learning institutions. The future might well belong to learning institutions that merge academic education with industry experience, projects, certifications, and lifelong learning initiatives. At the same time, businesses must continue honing their talent-spotting abilities by going beyond conventional yardsticks.

The choice of certificates versus degrees tends to assume that one of the two is going to win out sooner or later. However, the future of work will look quite different. Individuals will be expected to have long careers, industries will develop at a more rapid pace, and people will engage in constant learning.

In this type of environment, a degree cannot be the endpoint anymore, while a certificate cannot be considered a substitute for a degree either. These are both merely means to an end, namely, developing the right set of skills, being flexible enough, and adding value in the changing world of work.

(The views expressed are personal)

This article is authored by Ketan Deshpande, founder and chairman, FUEL.