Education vs Experience: What Do Employers in India Prefer More

After graduation, many are as clear as mud about the decision whether to pursue higher education or apply for a job to acquire field experience. In the debate of experience versus education, at times education tends to fall back in this competitive era. You should understand both education and experience have their pros and cons.

Let us check out the discussion on education vs experience, their differences, advantages and disadvantages, and whether one should choose education over experience here.

What is the Difference Between Education and Experience?

Here are some of the differences you can find when you compare education vs work experience.  

Education	Experience
Time-effective	Time-consuming
Expensive and makes you dependent on the family for a while	Earn and learn at the same time
Get a particular skill set and industrial training altogether	The specific skill set needed for the development of your career may not be acquired
Proof of training or education or skills acquired are provided	Makes you responsible and good decision-makers though proof of these may not be included when you leave the job
Helps you get promoted to higher positions in the future	Essential career skills like communication, leadership, and time management will be provided

What is the Importance of Education?

Education satisfies the urges of curiosity and helps in exploring the world, discoveries, and inventions of the world. With the world revolving around the internet, we have infinite information and data to process and share. Now, let us check out the importance of education here.

• Education is a human right and a fundamental right in India. Every human being deserves to have a basic knowledge and fundamental disciplines required to learn and grow in their life.
• To build a successful career, every student must have the right knowledge and skills they need in a particular field.
• Formal education not only provides help in learning concepts, but also provides many life skills starting from interpersonal communication to social skills.
• To enhance the capabilities and skills of the students, organisations across the world and top universities in India, are now implementing research-based and practice-focused programs.
• Education provides the proof of degree that a particular person is qualified with these skills which help employers in hiring.
• The projects, industrial training, and internship associated with the education program augment critical thinking abilities and decision-making skills.
• Education provides the right guidance one needs in building a successful career in the desired profession.

What is the Importance of Experience?

Careers have flourished with the concept of learning and doing for ages. Many built successful careers after experimenting with the knowledge and experience they gained. Experience without the right education may not lead you to higher positions, but it could if you have exceptional talent and motivation and make huge efforts.

People who start from scratch will be more responsible and tend to become great leaders. But, to survive and thrive in the highly competitive world, individuals need adequate training or skills. Education provides basic knowledge but the essential soft skills and technical skills required in a professional environment may not be provided.

Such skills will reflect on your personality and will be noticed by the authorities, which will leave a huge impact on your career growth. Experience is essential, but advanced technical knowledge in understanding equipment is also crucial for building and improving your career.

What is More Important - Experience or Education?

The debate of work experience vs degree poses another conflicting question - Is work experience more important than academic qualification?

Rather than putting them against each other, consider experience and education supplementary to each other. Be it graduating from high school or with a bachelor’s degree, you will need a certain basic education to start an entry-level job. 

So, you must understand you can move towards acquiring work experience only after getting a basic education. Later, you can decide whether to pursue higher educational qualifications or continue with the job after working in the industry.

What are the Advantages of Higher Education?

Here are some of the advantages of higher education.

• To thrive in your career, a higher educational qualification provides a particular skill set to polish the knowledge you already have.
• Higher education from the best universities in India will help you find the right career and professional exposure required to leverage your skills.
• A successful career gained through work experience will be considered more valuable in the real world and in your professional journey but a higher academic qualification will pave you a step closer to higher positions.

Be it experience or education, career growth depends on the person, personality, aptitude, and environment. Experience has its dominance, and education can never be looked down upon. Your decisions can lead to greater turns in your career. So, you may need an expert to guide you in the right direction. 

Sunstone is here to assist you through your journey to excellence. Sunstone is a leading higher education services provider that works with academic institutions in upskilling students for employability. We offer career-oriented training interventions for undergraduate and postgraduate students at 40+ institutions across 30+ cities.

Our training programs are industry-endorsed to enhance employability. These programs are designed for hybrid delivery with an unparalleled focus on soft skills and personality development. You can be future-ready with the upskilling modules of Sunstone. In addition to traditional higher education, explore your prospects with diverse career tracks while being part of a thriving digital community of students.

With over 1000+ major recruiters, 2000+ job opportunities and 50+ guaranteed interviews, Sunstone focuses on providing a holistic educational experience and lifelong placement support.

People Also Ask

What is the difference between education and experience?

Education is a human right and a fundamental right in India. Every human being deserves to have a basic knowledge and fundamental disciplines required to learn and grow in their life. To build a successful career, every student must have the right knowledge and skills they need in a particular field.

Careers have flourished with the concept of learning and doing for ages. Many built successful careers after experimenting with the knowledge and experience they gained. Experience without the right education may not lead you to higher positions, but it could if you have exceptional talent and motivation and make huge efforts.

Is experience better than knowledge?

Rather than putting work experience against education, consider experience and education supplementary to each other. Be it graduating from high school or with a bachelor’s degree, you will need a certain basic education to start an entry-level job. 

So, you must understand you can move towards acquiring work experience only after getting a basic education. Later, you can decide whether to pursue higher educational qualifications or continue with the job after working in the industry.

What is more important, experience or qualification?

Be it experience or education, career growth depends on the person, personality, aptitude, and environment. Experience has its dominance, and education can never be looked down upon. Your decisions can lead to greater turns in your career. So, you may need an expert to guide you in the right direction.