New study: the role of educational credentials and skills in the hiring process
The project investigates for the German-speaking part of Switzerland for which jobs graduates with different educational qualifications (e.g. VET, professional education, university diplomas) are preferred within an occupational field. Of particular interest are the competencies and skills that employers associate with different educational qualifications.
Occupation-specific educational certificates play a key role in the Swiss labour market. They serve as a guide for graduates in the job search process and as the most important criterion for companies when selecting job applicants. However, there are often several educational qualifications at different levels of education within the occupational fields that are relevant to a position. A typical example is the occupation of IT technician which can be studied for on a VET programme, at a college of higher education, at a university of applied sciences or at a traditional university. The project explores which candidates with educational qualifications at different levels are preferred by employers for particular positions and looks at what influence characteristics of the job profile, the company and recruiters themselves have. The results will provide new findings on the context-specific value of educational credentials and employer preferences.