It's against federal law for an employer to discriminate on the basis of non-work related factors such as race, color, creed, sex, national origin, disability, and religion. Many states are also considering legislation to make it illegal to discriminate based on physical characteristics such as height and weight. And, Congress just passed legislation making it illegal to discriminate based on a person's genetics.
Even though federal laws make such employment discrimination illegal, most companies still discriminate based on unrelated factors, but it's rare for it to be overtly visible. When applicants ask why they did not get the positions they sought, employers cover up discriminatory practices behind such phrases as "we found a stronger candidate" and "we don't think you'd be a good fit." Having been a corporate recruiter for many years I can say with certainty that employment discrimination is widespread in the U.S.
One of my hot buttons is misuse of educational qualifications. I've delivered corporate interviewer training throughout the world to Fortune 50 and startup companies. Hiring managers list educational qualifications for a job opening and almost always require a bachelor's degree. And employers often eliminate a potential top performer because he or she doesn't have one.
These companies harm qualified applicants and themselves by disqualifying applicants based on educational criteria that are unrelated to job performance. Just last week, I discussed this issue with a colleague about another company that required a BS or BA degree for a low-level customer service position.
Many of the most successful entrepreneurs in history are non-degreed and, hence, not qualified for even the low-level customer service position. Here's a sample list of them:
- Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Computer;
- Richard Branson, English entrepreneur best known for his "Virgin" brand of over 360 companies including Virgin Airlines;
- Bill Gates, founder and former CEO of Microsoft;
- Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp.;
- Harry Truman, 33rd president of the United States;
- Christopher Gardner, highest-producing stock broker in Dean Witter history who was portrayed in the 2006 movie The Pursuit of Happiness; and
- Dean Karman, world famous contemporary inventor best known for creating the Segway, an electric, self-balancing two-wheeled human transporter.
Even Albert Einstein, who revolutionized theoretical physics, flunked a college physics course and had great difficulty finding a job out of college.
When employers use non-essential educational requirements to discriminate against qualified applicants, the candidates and employers lose. The candidate misses out on a good opportunity while the employer discards an opportunity to hire a top performer.
The reason many interviewers and internal recruiters use education to discriminate is fear of making a bad hire. They basically try to make a safe hiring decision rather than the best hiring decision.
To overcome this bias, you must be prepared to highlight your past performance and offer examples of other people (like those listed above) who have delivered high performance even though they didn't have formal education. You have to make a compelling argument why you'll make a great hire. For research to support your argument you can check out more data on this topic at Scientific Selection.
How many people do you know who are working in a field unrelated to their college degree? Are you an applicant facing this type of discrimination? Or, are you a hiring manager using education to miss the chance to hire a top performer? Share your thoughts here.
This topic is fantastically relevant to me and my situation!
I also believe the issue is compounded by the fact that more and more frequently, hiring departments direct candidates solely to their websites and away from applying in person. I can imagine this makes their search for the "right hire" increasingly difficult as they receive an overwhelming number of resumes because anyone in their pajamas can click "apply now". It doesn't reflect who is actively looking versus some mildly unhappy employee who is just browsing to see if the grass is greener. That de-values the candidates who are willing to make the time and effort to put their best suit, and foot forward to shake someone's hand and put their application personally.
As an applicant forced to use the web, you lose out on "face-time" which is an opportunity to build rapport which can sometimes win you the interview despite a lack of pre-qualifiying education. In my personal case, if you meet me, you'll realize the depth of my extensive experience, my work ethic, and my magnitude of professional training courses. As a hiring manager, you'll probably overlook the degree I'm working hard to finish. There is no place to indicate this on a web-application.
Additionly, the more often that hiring departments employ keyword searches rather than insisting that resumes are read and comprehended by a hiring manager, the more they de-value their well paid hiring staff and the eductated decisions they can make.
I've done fair amount of professional interviewing and hiring. My company always listed a bachelors degree (although we never specified a discipline) as a requirement so that we could use that to "not hire" candidates who were clearly not a fit. We did not avoid candidates without a degree when they displayed the work ethic and attitude we wanted. You can teach anyone with the right attitude anything. You will have a hard time teaching someone with the wrong attitude but all the eductation in the world anything.
Sorry to ramble, it's just a sore spot for me. Jessee
I am with you Jessee. During my search I have really avoided applying online and have made numerous calls to friends and family and to the companies I wanted to apply to so I could send my resume to a REAL person and have them READ my information. I have to say that I have been successful and in 3 weeks have had 6 interviews and 4 second interviews. I use online to find out information but not to give my information. It is not easy as so much gets lost in the technology. I love technology but....
I work in a highly technical capacity and I have no college education. Every position in my current field that I've ever applied for over the past 15 years has required some sort of degree. But I've always been fortunate in that most jobs I've applied for more often than not also list "or equivelent experience" along with the need for a degree.
Jessee is right - you can teach anything to anyone who has the willingness to learn and a strong work ethic regardless of them having a degree or not.
Most of the "hiring managers" or whatever they're called these days don't know much about the position they're trying to fill anyway. I've always found it to be a joke when the position being filled is technical in nature and the person doing the interview is someone in the HR department who knows nothing about the position being filled.
But I guess having that degree in Human Resources means you can go anywhere and do anything. That HR degree gives you the lease to be Superman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, and maybe even George W. Bush. Ouch.
Duh. Someone's got to reel those HR people in before they take over the entire world and make everyone follow the business casual dress code. They have too much power at every company and really, it's THEIR degree that doesn't mean anything.
I guess you can tell that I don't like Human Resources people...