Getting your player ready...
The value of certification and/or advanced degrees, such as an MBA, often comes into question in the wake of economic downturns. There are two camps on the issue. On the one side you have those who spent time and money earning these achievements and now may be questioning the value in light of job loss or, at least, job insecurity. The other camp consists of those who don’t have the advanced education and wonder if obtaining it would help their job search efforts or career aspirations.
This is indeed a competitive job market and many job seekers are desperate for anything that will give them an edge. The economy has only recently begun to show signs of recovery. Employers are beginning to ramp up hiring, but the process is slow. At the end of the first quarter, there were still more than 13.5 million unemployed Americans and another 6.5 million who had given up on their job search but still wanted a job. The median duration of unemployment stood at nearly 22 weeks, with more than 6 million Americans out of work for 27 weeks or longer.
Make no mistake; the economy and the job market are definitely on the mend. But despite the positive trends, the job search has not become any easier. Where credentials will help the most is in the initial weeding-out phase of the hiring process. For example, a company planning to hire 10 information technology workers may receive hundreds of applicants. To narrow down the field, the employer may first select only those with master’s degrees, and then those with up-to-date certification.
The further along in the hiring process one gets, the less these credentials will impact one’s fate. At some point, the emphasis moves toward relevant skills and experience and then, once you are in the face-to-face interview phase of the process, it really comes down to the interpersonal interaction between the interviewer and interviewee.
Holding an advanced degree can definitely increase one’s earning potential. In 2010, weekly earnings for workers with a master’s degree averaged $1,579, compared to average weekly earnings of $1,344 among those with only a bachelor’s degree, according to the latest available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those with a professional degree earned an average $2,376 per week in 2010.
Certification can also lead to a salary boost. The most recent annual salary survey conducted by Quality Progress, the monthly publication of the American Society for Quality, managers with ASQ certification earned nearly $8,000 per year more on average than their counterparts without certification. The annual salary for certified auditors was an average of $15,451 more than for auditors who were not certified.
Not only does having an advanced degree help increase earnings, but it can lead to improved job security. In 2009, when the employment situation was near rock bottom for most of the economy, those with bachelor’s degrees and above remained relatively employable. Census Bureau data reveals that unemployment for those with bachelor’s degrees reached 5.5 percent, considerably better than the 9.8 percent unemployment among those with some college but no degree or the 12.2 percent unemployment among those with only a high school degree and no college.
As low as the unemployment rate was for those with bachelor’s degrees, it was even lower for those with master’s degrees and professional degrees. In 2009, just 4 percent of those with a master’s degree were unemployed. For those with professional degrees, the unemployment rate was 2.2 percent.
Does having certification or an advanced degree guarantee you a job or even a job interview? Definitely not. But could the absence of certification or advanced degree eliminate you from the hiring process? Absolutely.
Again, there is no easy answer to the question how important certification and/or advanced degrees are in today’s job market.
