You may no longer need a four-year college degree to land a job at some of the largest technology companies in the world, according to a new report.
Apple, Google and IBM are just three of 15 companies that have nixed their college degree requirements for new hires, according to a list compiled by Glassdoor (via CNBC). These aren’t necessarily just entry-level positions, either. Apple and Google both have several open technical positions with no degree requirements.
Other companies that have eased their formal education requirements include Nordstrom, Hilton, Penguin Random House, Bank of America, and Ernst and Young.
At Apple, open positions with no degree requirements include design and verification engineer, engineering project manager, Apple Technical Specialist, and Business Traveler Specialist.
Google positions with no four-year degree required include software engineer, product marketing manager, research scientist, mechanical engineer, and UX engineer.
As Axios points out, many positions have historically required college degrees even if those degrees weren’t relevant to or necessarily needed for the job.
The change signals increased efforts to boost diversity and make it easier for prospects who have pursued non-traditional paths — such as coding boot camps or other vocational training programs, the publication added.
IBM’s Vice President of Talent, Joanna Daley, told CNBC back in 2017 that around 15 percent of new company hires don’t have a traditional four-year degree.
Instead of looking at candidates who followed the four-year college path, Daley said that IBM looks at candidates who have hands-on experience through boot camps and training programs.
A Google executive told a similar story back in 2014.
“When you look at people who don’t go to school and make their way in the world, these are exceptional human beings. And we should do everything we can to find those people,” Laszlo Bock, Google’s senior vice president of People Operations, told The New York Times.
No comments: