How the level of studies influences the search for employment

If you look at any job portal, you will see that most of the job offers require their candidates to have a certain academic background, either specific to the work to be carried out or simply a certain level of studies, such as baccalaureate or a university degree. Moreover, an increasing number of skilled jobs require specific knowledge or expertise in order to undertake them. In other words, finding a job is easier when you have a good level of education.

The statistics prove it. According to the latest data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), the unemployment rate among university graduates or those with similar qualifications is 8.8%, almost half that of the national average, which stands at 14.7% (data for the first quarter of 2019). Furthermore, as the level of qualifications falls, unemployment increases, reaching more than 20% among people who have only attended compulsory education.

The figures make sense, especially in an increasingly technological and globalised world, where specific computer, language or marketing abilities, as well as teamwork skills and multidisciplinary talent, are essential requirements for accessing a significant part of the labour market.

Qualified and specialised professionals are sought after

One of the most common recommendations when looking for a job is to try to adapt to what the companies are looking for. In this regard, and according to an Adecco report which is echoed by Expansión, among the most demanded employees within the market are engineers, analysts, project managers, cloud specialists, all of which require higher education and a high degree of specialisation.

If we take a look at one of the most frequented job boards, Infojobs, we also see that having a university degree or a higher diploma in Vocational Training is a requirement for working in the sectors that currently have the most job opportunities: IT, health and management.

Meanwhile, a LinkedIn report, the social network that connects companies and workers, pointed out at the beginning of the year that the most promising jobs in 2019, i.e. those that would generate the most demand and lead to higher salaries, were data scientist, accounts executive, UX designer (UX refers to the user experience of a particular product or environment), Machine Learning Engineer… and many others also related to technological innovation and communications.

In short, digital training, creativity, analytical skills and innovation, are some of the most sought-after qualities among companies nowadays. And everything points to the fact that, in the future, this trend will continue.

Study to find a job or to improve your job

Having the right training is the first step towards entering the labour market with a quality job, but also towards improving conditions in your career when you have been working for a longer period of time. The speed with which technological innovation advances and the new profiles that are emerging with it make it necessary to continue our training in order to keep up to date and not lose out on new job opportunities.

Nowadays, there are also ways to help with the economic cost of academic training, such as scholarships, or to build up capital to pay for our children's studies. Here you can find out about the savings policies to strengthen the relationship between education and employabilit