The primary objective of this blog is to enable you to plan your career wisely.
Primary takeaway is a part of what I call the Three Aces of Career, to effortlessly succeed in career, you need the following three: Degree from a Premier University, supporting Professional Certification, and relevant experience from Marquee Employer.
YouTube Video Link: https://youtu.be/-MCuAdqnRfU
To understand the concept, we need to first acknowledge the fundamental challenge: Information Asymmetry, situation in which one party is privy of critical information whereas the other deciding party has limited information and has to decide using judgement based on limited information.
For any candidate under consideration, the recruiter always has a mere snapshot of information while the candidate has complete information. Such limitation along with challenges in verifying the credibility of most information, leads to adverse selection, also known as the ‘lemon law’ – given its origins in the pre-owned car market, where the car seller possessing complete information is in a position of leverage and can sell a faulty car to an unsuspecting buyer.
Given the challenges with information symmetry, recruiter prefer a two step approach:
1. Refine Selection Set, using pre-requisites criteria such as qualifications that also serve as a proxy credibility for skillset. These criteria are proxies that provide strong signals that the candidate has the skill and/or competence to effectively perform the role.
2. Assessment, using interviews along with problem solving tests and case interviews. However, they can vet only upto an extent, as problem sets are never as elaborate as real-life job situations.
The topic of this blog is limited to the first step, which is refining!
Since ages the first filter has been Educational Background / Academic Qualifications. Although we live in a world flooded with information, given their nature – learn at your will – they are unable to replace the rigour and structured approach of Schools and Universities. Moreover, fundamentals taught at school and undergrad, though under appreciated, are unparalleled by other means.
Attending a university to graduate with a bachelors degree requires dedication, commitment, and investment. As we proceed with masters degrees and doctorate qualifications, those factors also escalate in terms of demand. It is difficult in your late twenties of early thirties to continue studying at a university to obtain a masters or doctorate as compared to earning money at a job.
Hence, qualifications will continue to be strong signal towards a candidate’s commitment to learn and perform as compared to wearing a suit to an interview. But this does not end here!
Furthermore, ranking of academic institutions also sets the bell-curve and percentile based pooling of candidate selection sets. In simple terms, a candidate with degree in oceanic or marine engineering from Ivy League in the USA or an IIT – NIT – BITs in India would be more sought after than a computer science graduate from a Tier 2 Engineering College. Although other factors such as faculty excellence, academic rigour, and peer competitiveness make top institutes premier, given the purpose of this blog we are focusing on the ultimate outcome – the value differential, also reflected on average pay scales of candidates.
Degrees also serve as means of risk mitigation in terms of verifying the ability, background, and competence of candidates. As universities also conduct thorough filtering starting with aptitude test including SAT, GATE, GMAT, CAT, etc.. amongst various other criteria, a pool of candidates from an reputed University is already a filtered consideration set.
On the other hand Professional Certifications such as PMPÂŽ – Project Management Professional, CFA – Chartered Financial Analyst, and others certify the knowledge and skillset of the candidate. However, there is another class of certifications that grant special powers and privileges. These are government accredited or recognised certifications such as CA – Chartered Accountant (CPA for USA), CS – Company Secretary, or Bar Council Qualification, registered Architect and others.
Professional certifications have narrow scope compared to that of any University Degree and hence best serve as complimentary agents to verify the skillset of the candidate. In simple terms, a professional certification for a critical skillset such as financial analysis can land you the job as long as you have a relevant undergrad degree, which may be a hygiene criteria for organisation. However, such professional certifications, disregard to their coverage, will never suffice as a substitute to a Masters Degree awarded by any accredited University.
And finally relevant experience, not just any employer but a marquee employer such as the Big4 or MBB for Finance, Audit, and Consulting Careers. Similarly all industries have their marquee names such as Schlumberger and Halliburton in Upstream Oil & Gas, or Siemens and ABB in Electronics and Instrumentation, Larsen & Tubro and Black & Veatch in Construction EPC, and so on. Such employers are known for their effectiveness in training talent and fostering performance. Hence, once candidates spend few years in such working environment their skills are deemed to have been further refined and thus appreciated in market value.
Such experience not only serves as an assurance for recruiters regarding competence but also suggests steeper learning curve resulting in shorter timeline between onboarding and optimal performance. Hence, many leading firms have been trying to get their employer branding correct to attract candidates. Furthermore, this also result in Halo effect, a cognitive bias that makes the recipient of the information make mental jumps and link certain additional qualities based on the stereotype associated with the primary characteristic. Having a marquee brand on your resume helps trigger the cognitive bias in your favour.
Hope that this enables you to better plan your career trajectory.
PS: If you are well prepared, you need not wear a suit to an interview; however, try this at your own risk – as certain interviewers or cultures might consider such behaviour insulting or interpret as lack of significance or importance shown by candidate. As it will not convey ‘this is the most important day of my life’ or ‘this is everything that I ever wanted’ type vibes.
Feature Image Photo by Priscilla Du Preez đ¨đŚ on Unsplash
Savvy Munshi 