Think You Need A Degree To Secure A High-Pay Job In 2023? Think Again

In today’s world of work, soft and hard skills are becoming increasingly prominent in job adverts for roles with salaries above $200,000 per annum. New research from job search engine Adzuna reveals that surprisingly, logistics and warehouse, and travel—two primarily deskless industries – are the sectors with the highest number of job vacancies advertising high-paying salaries over $200,000.

The data also found that “energetic” and “invoicing” are the top soft and hard skills referenced in job ads with salaries over $200k. Adzuna’s findings emphasize that skills are continuing to become more of a priority than degrees when it comes to securing a top pay-check. In fact, the research uncovered that there are a variety of jobs offering salaries over $200K to jobseekers, and these high paying jobs don’t require a degree.

Based on the data, the legal sector had the highest proportion of jobs (4.3%) with salaries over $200K, advertising 165 vacancies in this salary range. This was followed by IT (3.2%) with 503 vacancies in this salary range. Logistics and warehouse (3%) and travel (1.9%) are the sectors that have the highest number of job vacancies advertising salaries over $200K, with 5,849 vacancies 2,017 within this salary range respectively. The data shows that in these industries, there is more demand for employees to fill higher paying roles compared to PR, advertising and marketing, healthcare and nursing, and engineering. This uncovers doors of opportunity for those seeking to advance their careers and pivot to higher salaried roles.

Skills are in, degrees are out

Recent LinkedIn research reveals that recruiters using LinkedIn’s recruiting function, are five times more likely to search and filter candidates based on skills and competencies listed within the job description, than to search based on degrees. In fact, the share of job postings on LinkedIn requiring a degree has reduced significantly—the figure has jumped from 21 percent in 2019 to just under 20 percent in 2023.

In addition, nearly 90 percent of Adzuna’s analyzed job ads do not state any degree requirements, whereas only 9.5 percent make any mention of applicants needing to have a degree. While of course, certain jobs won’t state a degree requirement because it is assumed, the data shows that for certain industries employers are now more often valuing years of experience and skills equally to formal college education.

For instance, there is a higher proportion of roles advertising salaries over $200,000 in travel (1.9%), PR, advertising and marketing (1.4%), and HR (1.2%) compared to healthcare and nursing (1%) and engineering (0.5%)—two sectors that normally require years of schooling and credentials and that are commonly assumed to offer high-paying salaries. This can be attributed to the fact that in the past year alone, we’ve witnessed how fast-emerging technologies are evolving and transforming, making a degree of less value than hands-on experience and knowledge. In addition, there is greater push on employers to pivot to skills-based hiring, thus diversifying their talent pool and reducing their labor shortages.

Considering the top 10 soft skills cited within job ads offering over $200K according to the Adzuna report, “Energetic” is the most cited soft skill, accounting for 23.5% of job ads for roles with high paying salaries. This is followed by “Communication” (12.2%), “Planning” (6.4%), and “Leadership” (6.3%). Looking at hard skills, “Invoicing” takes the lead and is cited in 26.9% of ads with high paying salaries, followed by “Operations” (4.1%), “Dispatching” (4.1%), “Research” (3.8%), and “Budgets” (3.2%), and not to forget, “Project Management” (2%).

There has been a major decline in engagement and increase in burnout in recent years, causing employees to ultimately “quiet” quit. Consequently, employers are focusing their attention on hiring candidates that display high engagement and possess strong communication skills, so they can help drive higher involvement and productivity amongst their teams. This presents an opportunity for potential candidates to focus on developing and refining their new unique selling point—their soft and hard skills, which will open the door to more collaboration, confidence, and creativity that will produce a fulfilling work experience and allow them to thrive within the organization.

How do you land a skills-first job?

Discovering these opportunities is just one part of the process. The next obvious question is, how can you stand out and maintain a competitive edge as a professional, and as a candidate?

Take advantage of upskilling and reskilling opportunities

James Neave, head of data science at job search engine Adzuna, comments: “Businesses are shifting their priorities when it comes to hiring talent and placing greater value on the years of experience, technical knowledge and soft skills workers have – whether or not they went to college. As skills continue to stand out as competitive differentiators, job seekers need to take advantage of upskilling and reskilling opportunities so they can set themselves apart and be considered for these types of roles.”

There is a plethora of paid, cheap, and free upskilling opportunities available online and via your employer if you are still employed. You can take advantage of popular sites such as Udemy, Coursera, Allison, LinkedIn Learning, and even find niche, industry-specific sites and enrol on their training courses. Also, many universities that traditionally offer professional degrees, also provide short courses, certificates, and diplomas that sometimes count towards a degree, and are quite convenient for upskilling in a short time and with a lower budget than a traditional degree.

Ensure LinkedIn profile highlights these skills

Since, as mentioned above, recruiters headhunting and filtering candidates on LinkedIn are more likely to search based on skills criteria than degrees, your top priority should be to ensure you include these core skills, also known as “keywords,” in your LinkedIn headline and throughout your “about” and “experience” sections. This applied whether you are working or not, as it is important to keep your profile current in line with your professional experience, so that you are well-positioned for any opportunities that may come and won’t need to panic at the last minute should you lose or be laid off from your job. Failure to do this could result in potentially being excluded from opportunities, not because you didn’t possess the skills, but simply because you neglected to make any mention of them.

Provide evidence of skills

At the time of writing, LinkedIn has multiple functions that allow you to demonstrate your skills in creative ways, including a “demonstrate your skills” section, the ability to assign skills to your experiences, and endorsements from your colleagues and people you’ve worked with. Beyond LinkedIn, however, Neave, Adzuna’s head of data science points out that he recommends “candidates highlight these in-demand skills at the very top of their resume and share examples during interviews of how they used these skills in their everyday work to achieve results, both from a project and team building perspective.”

Skills are steadily proving, over the past few years, to be the new ticket towards securing eye-watering salaries. This new normal presents an exciting opportunity for you as a professional as you develop throughout your career journey. Maximize opportunities to exploit your existing skill set, leverage the training opportunities afforded you, and showcase evidence of these throughout your employment portfolio and in interviews. This will ensure you are well-positioned to secure your dream salary.