I would say yes, definitely work experience is more important than a degree. That's not to say the degree is worthless, however you don't need to look far to see the many discussions on here with people surprised that they can't walk into a job despite having HR degrees, masters etc. Learning what the textbook tells you doesn't often make for relevant dynamic HR advice.

I do appreciate people feeling they struggle to get experience, but I, like you, got into HR and then studied alongside that. Without that work, I would have struggled with my studies as I would have nothing to relate to. I got a role by highlighting my admin skills, being willing to start as an HR Administrator, and showing a genuine interest and understanding of HR, that is, not using the phrase "I like helping people"!

Equally I recently hired someone for a similar entry level role, who had no HR experience, but had good transferable skills, and clear enthusiasm.

I don't expect this to be popular :-) but I think broadly HR should aim to be a graduate level profession recognising the analytical, problem solving, thinking, research etc skills that a properly structure and well taught graduate program brings. (and we think Finance, Teaching, Nursing etc are all graduate professions so its not that radical - I believe even the police service is as part of it apprentice strategy). And its best not to be drawn on subjective debates about the quality of degrees now versus whenever then was ....

That doesn't mean that every body coming into the profession should automatically be a graduate as there will always be multiple routes but that (for me) is the professional standard. But that its probably an 80:20 thing for me.

However I am less concerned personally with the degree subject and believe that many (although not necessarily every) courses equips people with the skills necessary to learn and develop as good HR professionals. Indeed there are other courses that possibly give more long term advantages over a purely HR degree. Its a bit like politicians only ever doing politics - they lack the real world experience.

I am also not a huge fan to put it mildly of master level qualifications gained without experience - I think thats simply missing the real opportunity of masters level studying and setting most candidates up for disappointment and frustration.

Finally and I really am not that elitist I do think that even with a degree you need to gain a good grounding of the basics of HR in entry level roles. A degree isn't the ticket (and never was) to fast forwarding but for some routes should simply be the ticket to play.

In reply to Keith:

Hear, hear.

In reply to Keith:

Agree strongly with Keith.

Unlike doctors and lawyers HR is not a profession that is solely accessible by specific degrees and certified experience, therefore expecting a first level degree to be a job ticket without also having developed operational competence is unrealistic.

On a different level, the professional MBA programmes (one year, full time) in international HR on which I teach in Paris typically target people with 5-10 years experience seeking to expand or consolidate their technical knowledge, but also includes a 6 month industrial placement. Every couple of years younger people fresh from initial degrees join the programme, but often struggle to project the concepts tought into the real world, simply because they have not "lived" the HR experience - hence the importance of the 6 months placement, plus field trips to Rio, New York and Indonesia. In the later part of the programme they are better placed to see how these concepts are applied, and generally "catch up" with understanding how to apply these ideas in practice. More than 80% of students have a job within 6 months of completing, so the job ticket aspect is present here - but at the cost of a year's sabbatical and high course fees.....

Thanks all - seems its not just me then which is always handy to know.

Interesting points raised - the challenging thing is that the graduates I am mentoring are not securing anything beyond a pre-screen call because they lack practicible experience, so although their degree is getting them a call, its not doing anymore than that so the concept of being 'the ticket to play' isn't reflected from the hiring managers.

Its been a shock to some of them, because they've been encouraged to think that their investment in their HR related studies will pay off (in terms of a role, not high salary) pretty quickly. Seems a mismatch with the long-tail education process so given me some things to think about in terms of solutions to suggest to future college leavers.

In reply to Laura Fazackarley:

But arguably it is a ticket to play because they are getting the screening call,,,,,they then aren't converting this ticket into an opportunity because of how they perform.

they could have been rejected based on their CV (when their lack of experience was clear) but they get beyond that stage. Often hiring managers give an easy answer to why someone isn't progressed rather than a more detailed and complete answer.

So I would get them to focus on how they perform on the screening call.

In reply to Keith:

Hi Keith,

Respectfully disagree to a degree - they are providing the examples on the screening call that they can - e.g. all course based, not work based. Yes, some get nervous and need to refine answers but would say that applies to most who are new the recruitment process.

The CV probably ticks enough requirements on an applicant tracking system list, because the skills you mentioned are demontrated [through the degree], likewise all the HR terminology is there because of their courses.

Kind regards,
Laura

In reply to Laura Fazackarley:

Thats not my experience. If anyone is doing screening calls then eliminating people because they don't have experience that was clearly missing on their CV then they aren't doing their job properly and wasting theirs and the candidates time.

I really would be spending my time coaching them on getting through the stage they are failing (ie the screening call)

I was able to achieve Level 7 whilst working as an Administrator, but that was pretty much exclusively based on academic research - I feel I would have found it far more beneficial completing it and using experience after I had progressed to an Advisor. However the dilemma is whether I would have progressed without studying, as my progression was based on a requirement for Level 5 / 7.

When in university I worked in office roles (one general office, two in HR) during the summer months via an agency and I found that far more beneficial when attending my first HR Administrator interview than my degree, which was pretty much glossed over.

My advice would be to gain experience wherever possible, which can be done alongside study.