Soft skills and employability signalling across degree qualifications

What the paper says

Purpose This study investigates UK hiring managers' perceptions of employability and soft skills across curriculum vitae (CVs) signalled through a degree apprenticeship (DA), a traditional undergraduate degree or a relevant undergraduate degree but not listing specifics of it at all. It investigates whether there are differences in how hiring managers perceive the skills and employability of the same candidate depending on the degree details disclosed. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 97 hiring managers participated in the study. Through a within-subject design, they were asked to score six mock CVs based on employability and skills, which differed by educational background (DA, traditional (non-DA) and non-specified but “relevant” degree qualifications). Findings The findings show that CVs with DA university qualifications received comparable ratings regarding employability and skills to those with traditional degree qualifications. However, CVs lacking specific qualification details (i.e. non-specified degree) were rated lower on both scales, indicating the importance of providing the details of a degree qualification. Practical implications This study provides insights into how hiring managers perceive various degree qualifications. Importantly, it suggests that DAs are viewed as equivalent to traditional degrees despite perceptions from students that they may not be as competitive in the job market. It also suggests that not providing specific degree details, even when the degree is known to be relevant, is related to hiring managers scoring CVs lower in skills and employability. This suggests that higher education providers should support students in sharing programme details on their CVs to bring salience to their employability and skills. Originality/value These results advance understanding of how degrees function as a signal to hiring managers. It suggests that when details of the degree are not disclosed, due to the increase in asymmetrical information, the overall signal strength of the degree is reduced. This adds to what we know about degree signalling in recruitment, specifically how asymmetrical information quality impacts signal strength.