Employers believe experience, not a degree, is better at showing data literacy

Dive Brief:

Companies are accepting job seekers' practical data experience instead of data science degrees, data and analytics firm Qlik found in a survey it conducted on behalf of the Data Literacy Project. Almost 60% of respondents ranked previous job experience or a skills test as a key barometer of a job seeker's data literacy, compared to just 18% who said a college degree in STEM or data science is their major consideration in hiring.
Most (63%) of the 604 global decision makers polled want candidates who show that they have the skills to work with, use and analyze data. However, the hardest jobs to fill in the market have been in the data science and analytics fields, including positions for data scientists, data analysts, business analysts and data-equipped marketing managers, said Qlik, citing 2017 IBM research.
Qlik said, based on its Data Literacy Index, that large organizations with greater data literacy had a higher total market value. Although survey respondents recognized the value of data certification and on-the-job training, half said they don't offer their workers data literacy training, and only 34% have these training programs in place — even though 78% of employees said they are willing to improve their data skills.

Dive Insight:

A growing number of employers appear to be relaxing their hiring requirements, pressured in large part by the ongoing struggle to find skilled candidates. As an example, Adecco released survey results in July showing that 37% of employers have loosened hiring restrictions for temporary hires, with 72% of this group having done so within the past year. Employers may continue to relax hiring requirements as they consider whether or not degrees are the only indicator of a candidate's potential given a competitive talent market.

Employers may need to invest in skills training to have the quality workforce needed to help them grow and compete. That achievement should be easier, given the high rate of workers who want to upgrade their skills through learning and development (L&D). A recent report from the learning platform O'Reilly found, for example, that users are accessing more learning content on AI- and data-related topics. Employers are more likely to see participation in L&D programs at a time when some workers want training badly enough to invest their own time into it — and recruiters should note that many are prepared to leave their current job to find L&D opportunities elsewhere.

Not only are employers relaxing hiring requirements for candidates, but many have also already concluded that traditional recruiting methods no longer work. Experts previously shared with HR Dive four steps for sourcing talent, which include: 1) "nailing" the message in the job ad; 2) going to the right sources, including social media, university programs, online job boards and internal referrals; 3) interviewing with the candidate in mind by personalizing the experience; and 4) focusing on the organization's future needs in selecting talent.