About two-thirds of local enterprises said the performance of employees with a college degree is similar or even better than those with a master’s degree, indicating that most bosses do not see a master’s degree as a threshold for employment, an online manpower agency’s survey showed yesterday.
The online survey by 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) and the Chinese-language Global Views Monthly magazine, which polled 706 local employers between Aug. 15 and Aug. 30, found that compared with those with a college degree, employees with a master’s degree showed similar abilities in 13 competency indicators, among a total of 20 indicators.
ON A PAR
For the four indicators that employers cared about most — crisis response, execution, problem solving, and ambition, enthusiasm and a positive attitude — college graduates performed as well as those with a master’s degree, the agency said in a statement.
“This provides more evidence that most jobseekers do not necessarily have to pursue a master’s degree before they enter the job market,” Regis Chen (陳力孓), 104 Job Bank’s marketing director, said at a media briefing.
Employers’ response supported Chen’s view, with 74.2 percent of respondents saying they would not give preferential enrollment to jobseekers with a master’s degree for future recruitment, the statement showed.
A separate survey conducted by the manpower agency and the magazine — which polled 2,107 local employees during the same period — also supported this perspective.
In the survey, jobseekers with a college degree spend an average of 2.66 months before receiving a job offer, only about 11 days more than those with a master’s degree, according to the statement.
HIGHER PAY
However, jobseekers with a master’s degree still receive higher salaries in all kinds of departments, with those in information engineering and computer departments topping the list by earning NT$12,978 (US$430) more in monthly wages than college graduates, data showed.
In addition, the necessity for a master’s degree would be different in different jobs and industries, Chen said, adding that jobseekers with a master’s degree in engineering and science-related fields showed the highest premium in the job market.
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