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The difference a Masters really makes: the employers’ view
As the world’s top graduate schools continue to attract more international applicants every year, QS, the team behind the QS World Grad School Tour, explores the employers point of view to find out exactly what they think about a Masters degree and the candidates who have them.
Despite the downturn in the world economy seen in the first few months of this year, 2008 promises to be a successful one for those graduating with a Masters degree. According to CollegeGrad.com, the popular entry-level online job resource, employment opportunities for those with a Masters degree have never looked better and are expected to increase by 22 per cent over the course of the year. Employers seeking the advanced knowledge and skills a Masters degree reflects come from all sectors of the economy - high tech to services, finance to government. More than 20 companies, many based in the USA but with international subsidiaries, will seek to employ more than 100 Masters graduates this year, with AmeriCorps, one of the US’s largest voluntary and services organizations, intent on hiring a thousand. Other eager recruiters include Microsoft, Intel, BP and Ernst and Young.
Among those companies responding to the CollegeGrad.com survey, 59 per cent anticipate hiring more Masters graduates in 2008 than in 2007.
Among those companies responding to the CollegeGrad.com survey, 59 per cent anticipate hiring more Masters graduates in 2008 than in 2007, 28 per cent will hire the same and only 13 per cent will hire fewer than in 2007. Heidi Hanisko from CollegeGrad.com believes the increasing interest in hiring candidates with Masters degrees has obvious advantages for employers: “Those with Masters degrees offer a far higher level of education that can be the equivalent to as much as two or three years of experience in the field. Added to that, employers also find that Masters candidates have a greater level of technical and field expertise that can bolster a company’s growth and competitive stance in the industry.”
Specific recruitment policies
Where Masters degrees are in particular demand is in specific areas tied to their academic content, such as the more technical and scientific fields. Valeo, one of the top automotive suppliers to many of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers, has adopted a specific recruitment policy for those with Masters qualifications. Patrick Benammar from Valeo’s Management Services Department, in Paris, explains: “We have vacancies open for Masters graduates and we hire between 20 and 30 graduates per year. We are looking for their capacity to innovate and by their willingness to prove that we can convince our customers to use new technologies. Their international exposure and their ability to work in international projects and organizations is also considered and highly appreciated by Valeo. Most of these graduates have been involved in research activities with partners such as universities or engineers schools and wish to stay in an industrial context rather than a research and development laboratory.”
With the competition for skilled positions increasing, Valeo’s hiring policy has a welcome reward for those graduates motivated by the more financial aspects of their career – those with a Masters degree secure a higher starting salary. Benammar confirms: “Those Masters candidates who we select begin at Valeo with a salary level which is usually 10 per cent higher than classic ‘engineers schools’.”
Other employers adopt a slightly different approach in their selection and hiring policy. Lilly, regarded as one of the most innovative of the large pharmaceutical companies in the world today, employs Masters graduates in a range of areas, not least research, development, sales and management. Current vacancies across Europe specific to Masters graduates include research and development project management, clinical research, management and production, regulatory affairs and scientific relations. Known particularly for their investment in treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and depression, Lilly has enjoyed a reputation for offering opportunities to those most appropriately qualified. Erika Sjöström, Human Resources Associate at Lilly Europe, describes their approach: “Across Europe we have a more targeted approach when it comes to Masters graduates. We are constantly on the look out for talent and where a position calls for advanced skills then it means we will hire candidates with Masters – where this is not the case, then we will look for others.”
