TMS – hand-on experience a hands-down winner over education?

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Travel industry employers have begun placing more emphasis on job experience rather than having to wait to find a perfectly qualified candidate able to tick all the educational boxes.

In what TMS Asia-Pacific says appears to be an ever-growing trend, travel industry employers have begun placing more emphasis on job experience and a new employee’s ability to hit the ground running rather than having to wait to find a perfectly qualified candidate able to tick all the educational boxes.
 
TMS CEO, Andrew Chan said the recruitment company was seeing ever more scenarios where candidates’ hands-on work experience, skill set, network of contacts and expertise were proving deciding factors in the final hire.
 
“Whereas in the past education has always provided a firm foundation and basis for the hire, we are seeing more and more hiring managers tending to evaluate the immediate needs of their organisation first and just as importantly, how quickly the candidate is able to contribute to such needs while slotting quickly into the culture of the team,“ he said.
 
Mr Chan said it was interesting to note that while employers were taking a different view, overall the company had seen an increasing trend in candidates pursuing further education with many expressing a genuine interest in wanting to better themselves,
 
Others, he said, had indicated a more vested interest in wanting to ensure that they gain a competitive edge in the job market via additional qualifications.
 
“The fact of the matter is that we are finding an ever decreasing percentage of hiring managers actually being particular about candidates’ educational background and looking more towards someone who is able to perform up to their expectation without a need for hand holding.
 
“This is extremely symptomatic of the ongoing job heavy/candidate light environment we find ourselves in,” he said.
 
Mr Chan’s comments are borne out by recent research conducted in Australia which show 86 per cent of   Australian employees believe that experience is more important to career development than formal education.
 
The research, the findings of the Kelly Global Workforce Index showed that just 12 per cent of respondents agreed that formal education had been the main factor behind their career development.
 
Despite this finding, 95 per cent agreed that upgrading qualifications and skills would be an important step to progress their career.
 
Mr Chan said the sentiments expressed in the Kelly report were pretty accurate and depicted the hiring philosophy across the travel and hospitality industry across the Asia region and particularly China where great emphasis has always been placed on solid experience.