From Campus to Career: Adapting Higher Education to Modern Hiring Trends
Over the past ten years, and increasingly since COVID, we have seen a shift in hiring practices. In 2023, The Burning Glass Institute conducted a study that evaluated 51 million job postings dating back to 2014. The study confirmed that employers were removing or reevaluating educational requirements from job listings across diverse industries and roles. While some maintained their post-secondary education requirements, it was usually less than a four-year requirement (Fuller et al., 2023). In 2023, LinkedIn confirmed that one-fifth of U.S. postings do not require a four-year degree. That is a 30% increase within six months. Today, recruiters are 50% more likely to search by skills rather than years of experience (Borden, 2023). The hiring reset, as it has been referred to, does not appear to be slowing down as more and more state and government jobs are adopting private industry hiring practices. Alaska is one of the top states evaluating degree requirements for state and government positions and is reducing required degrees when possible (National Governors Association, 2023).
Takeaways
- Learn how shifts in hiring practices are changing employers’ demands on higher education.
- Microcredentials are tools that can help bridge the gap between educators and employers
- The UAF Troth Yeddha’ and Community and Technical College have seen great success with digital badges across the liberal arts, business, and sciences. Learn about the implementation process at UAF.
What do employers want from new graduates?
As employers shift away from only factoring in traditional degrees and associated metrics for hiring, what qualities can an applicant bring to the table that hold the most value? Employers are not devaluing higher education as a whole. Eight out of ten employers agree that earning a college degree is worth the time and money. A broad educational experience that prepares students for more than one specific job or role is highly desirable as they are better equipped to have the adaptability skills required for the workforce (Finley and American Association of Colleges and Universities, 2023).
The American Association of Colleges and Universities
“It’s not just the provision of skills that makes a college degree valuable for workforce success. Employers also think higher education’s approach to teaching and learning matters.”
Despite there being a strong consensus across employers regarding the value of higher education, skills, regardless of industry, remain the most desirable on a candidate’s resume. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Job Outlook 2024 report, problem-solving, communication, and teamwork skills are in most demand.
What is a microcredential?
A microcredential is a verifiable skill, area of expertise, or competency displayed through the use of a digital badge. A student can share a badge on an online resume, professional networking site such as LinkedIn, social media platforms, within their email signature, and more.
Microcredentials is a broad term. They come in several forms, some of which you may be familiar with. A credential could be associated with a UAF course or student program, and a digital badge could be awarded. Professionals in the workforce looking to boost their skills may choose to look to MOOCS or platforms such as edX for verified credentials. Even the newly trending mesocredentials connect a MOOC learning experience to college credit that may be applied to a traditional degree program (Moore, 2022).
On UAF’s Troth Yeddha’ and Community and Technical College, we have partnered with Credly to bring digital badges to our students. The Center for Teaching and Learning also supports AlaskaX courses, which connect learners worldwide to the UAF community.
Digital badges bridge the gap between education and employment
In a 2021 employability survey conducted by Edalex, only 33% of learners felt confident when talking about their skills, expertise, and educational experiences (McFadyen et al., 2021b). I have found that students find it challenging to translate years of learning into meaningful resume-worthy experiences, let alone accurately measure their proficiency.
Crafting a cover letter, resume, and references that tell the same cohesive story is a skill. However, even the best storyteller still leaves some portion of their application up to interpretation. How did an applicant exercise team-building skills? The applicant says they have strong communication skills. Does this mean they have strong oral or written communication skills? Can they speak in front of a large crowd? How were these skills demonstrated and measured?
Credentials can provide specific answers to these questions. When someone clicks on a student’s digital badge, they will see a description of the badge that explains what the student can do because of this experience, how they were evaluated, the time it took to earn the badge, industry standards they were held to (if any), and more. The badge supports all other application materials, but its strength is that it verifies the rest of the application’s narrative.
Do employers care about credentials?
Promoting student success through the use of credentials is a powerful tool, but only if employers see the value in them, too. According to The American Association of Colleges and Universities’ report on graduate career preparedness, nearly 70% of employers would prefer an applicant with a college degree with microcredentials (Finley & American Association of Colleges and Universities, 2023). This shows that while higher education has value within the marketplace, microcredentials make an applicant even more desirable.
While college degrees paired with microcredentials make candidates more appealing to employers, there are several categories in which applicants can fall into. The figure below displays employer preferences regarding educational backgrounds factoring in credentials. Rank 1 refers to the preferred candidate, while Rank 4 is the lowest-ranked candidate.
Development at UAF
While microcredentials are still relatively new to the UAF community, we have already seen great success across the liberal arts, technical college, and sciences. Once students learn of credentials, they often want to know when their entire program will have associated badges. The excitement is only continuing to grow.
Dr. Victoria McDermott
Foundational Communication Course Director for UAF’s Department of Communication
“Microcredentials have been great for helping students connect what they have learned in class directly to the skills employers are looking for!”
The development process is highly customizable to your department and student’s needs. Microcredentials can be implemented across degree programs, single courses, and student programs. However, during most instructor’s first development, I will meet with all the stakeholders, ask a series of questions, and follow up with a preview of what their digital badge could look like. From there, we make adjustments as needed and begin marketing to students. There is no blackout period within the academic year where developments cannot occur. You can also award credentials within the same semester in which they were developed. The options are endless. If you would like to learn more about developments, schedule a meeting with me, and I would be happy to create a personalized plan for you.
The world of microcredentials is complex. During the month of October, I will be hosting Credential Connection, a weekly one-hour faculty development event that will dive further into the world of credentials and digital badging. You are welcome to attend the topics that are most applicable to you or the entire event (there may be opportunities to earn your own badges, too)! View the schedule and reserve your seat today!
References
Borden, T. (2023, April 21). Skills-based hiring on the rise. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/skills-based-hiring-on-the-rise-6258394
Credly, S. M. E. D. O. C. E. (2023, February 22). The macro impact of microcredentials. eCampus News. https://www.ecampusnews.com/teaching-learning/2022/06/06/the-macro-impact-of-microcredentials/
Finley, A. P. and American Association of Colleges and Universities. (2023). The Career-Ready Graduate: What Employers Say about the Difference College Makes. https://dgmg81phhvh63.cloudfront.net/content/user-photos/Research/PDFs/AACU-2023-Employer-Report.pdf
Flaherty, C. (2021, April 6). AAC&U survey finds employers want candidates with liberal arts skills but cite “preparedness gap.” Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/04/06/aacu-survey-finds-employers-want-candidates-liberal-arts-skills-cite-preparedness#
Fuller, J., Langer, C., Nitschke, J., O’Kane, L., Sigelman, M., and Taska, B. (2023). The Emerging Degree Reset. The Burning Glass Institute. Retrieved September 9, 2024, from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6197797102be715f55c0e0a1/t/6202bda7f1ceee7b0e9b7e2f/1644346798760/The+Emerging+Degree+Reset+%2822.02%29Final.pdf
Gray, K. (2024, January 16). The key attributes employers are looking for on graduates’ resumes. https://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/candidate-selection/the-key-attributes-employers-are-looking-for-on-graduates-resumes
McFadyen, D., Griffith, M., Lambert, T., Chompff, K., Edalex, Chompff, K., Lambert, T., and Gri, M. (2021). 2021 Employability Outcomes Survey [Whitepaper]. https://www.edalex.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Edalex-Whitepaper-2021-Employability-Outcomes-Survey-10-Aug-2021.pdf
Moore, R. L. (2022). Introducing mesocredentials: Connecting MOOC achievement with academic credit. Distance Education, 43(2), 271–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2022.2064823
National Governors Association. (2023, June 1). Governors leading on Skills-Based hiring to open opportunity pathways. https://www.nga.org/news/commentary/governors-leading-on-skills-based-hiring-to-open-opportunity-pathways/
