What recruiters say about postgraduate qualifications

For

• ‘Masters graduates generally hit the ground running more quickly and are hence more in demand.’ 
• ‘We acknowledge the levels of education and further learning.’ 
• Postgraduates tend to have higher salary expectations and a higher level of experience/skills.’ 
• ‘Education is something we encourage and if a candidate has this, we reward it.’ 
• ‘A higher salary is paid for specialist PhDs only as these people have knowledge directly relevant to some of our core technologies.’ 
• ‘We have a separate recruitment campaign for PhD students – they are expected to come into the organisation at a higher level and take on greater responsibilities.’ 
• ‘If it is a specialised area, it may warrant higher remuneration.’

Against

• ‘It would only have an effect if the research was on a technology very specific to the role in question.’
• ‘Masters and PhD students are not necessarily better at programming than a graduate.’
• ‘We review each candidate on their commercial experience as well as academic.’
• ‘A postgraduate degree is not viewed as additional relevant experience.’
• 'Although educational requirements are extremely important, salary relies more on what experience the candidate has and what they can bring to the table as opposed to how many years they spent studying.’
• ‘Academic experience may not be necessarily better than work experience.’

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