Hiring Non-Graduates as IT Managers

Researchers have explored the implications of hiring non-graduates as IT managers. Academic qualifications are still integral and remain a crucial consideration when evaluating candidates (Johnson et al., 2014). Nonetheless, academic qualifications do not come out as an obstacle to pursuing interests in IT management, particularly in organizations that have a high interest in innovation. This is based on the studies conducted that reveal some HR managers believe in the IT segment as a more flexible segment with room for improvisation and creativity non-characteristic of previous academic prowess (Tomlinson, 2017). These HR managers believe that people who fail to go to college and find their way in life are exceptional and with talents worth trying (Tomlinson, 2017). According to Weligamage (2019), approximately 69% of certified IT job candidates do not have a college degree. The author notes significant differences in individual performance at an academic level. This is supported by Liz (2017), who notes that individuals who do not perform well at school may learn well by being practical in their careers. 

Researchers note that IT-related jobs have more room for improvisation than other areas. Being an IT manager is a practical job in which a vast talent population may be drawn from certified non-college graduates (Johnson et al., 2014). These individuals perform better compared with their counterparts, having college qualifications because they already feel the need to improve and prove their worth (Johnson et al., 2014). Moreover, as students graduate from school, the certified non-graduates have already earned more job experiences than them (Liz, 2017). Brown and Scase (2015) note that hiring certified non-graduates comes with the benefit of experience. Additionally, that there is a reduction of costs that come along with training inexperienced graduates (Brown & Scase, 2015). Certified non-graduate managers tend to be loyal since they fear losing their jobs and begin a search for a new one in an environment where graduates are accorded a preference in job selection (Johnson et al., 2014).

Loyalty, turnover, and efficiency concerns remain substantial challenges in management (Johennesse & Chou, 2017). As such, these are instrumental issues in management. Employee turnover implies loss of talent within the organization due to personal or externally instigated decision by an employee to quit working with the organization (Jaworski et al., 2018). Non-graduates significantly reduce the costs that come along with staff turnover since they are more settled than their graduate counterparts (Brown & Scase, 2015). Furthermore, some certified non-college graduates tend to be more innovative since they are not confined to fixed book procedures as college graduates are (Johnson et al., 2014). According to Hantea et al. (2016), the existing job insecurities among non-graduate employees implies is that the certified non-college graduates will depend on innovation to have an edge over the graduate counterparts. Additionally, IT managers who are certified non-college graduates are compensated less when compared with their counterparts, the college graduates (Brown & Scales, 2015).  Firms can save considerable costs of operations by employing certified non-graduate IT managers. 

Nonetheless, researchers note that hiring certified non-graduates as IT managers has its shortcomings too. College graduates will perform more than the non-graduates. Graduates are enthusiastic regarding learning fresh things and are normally attentive to tasks since they are starting their jobs (Dusek et al., 2021). Additionally, graduates are very skilled in operating contemporary technologies as well as social networks (Dusek et al. 2021). He adds that the performance of graduates tends to be higher as far as IT is concerned. Certified non-college graduates, on the other hand, lack some skills acquired at school. In this vein, they may perform poorly compared with the graduates (Johennesse & Chou, 2017). Moreover, the knowledge that graduates receive at school significantly implies that they are ready to perform intricate tasks at the organization (Johennesse & Chou, 2017). On the other hand, non-graduates may require more training to keep up with the emerging technologies in the modern businesses (Johennesse & Chou, 2017). 

Since non-graduates receive less salaries compared with the graduates, they are bound to less innovative (Paoli et al., 2018). These individuals will less likely to be aggressive in a manner that adds innovation to the existing organization IT system (Paoli et al., 2018). In this regard, the company may be exposed to malicious attacks from cyberbullies. The costs that come along with malicious attacks are numerous. In businesses, the harm of cyber-crime entails its reputation, privacy, and functional integrity (Paoli, Visschers, & Verstraete, 2018). Moreover, the costs of neutralizing a cyber-attack incident increases the costs of business operations. 

Multiple HR managers prefer hiring graduates as IT managers because these individuals come along with multiple benefits to the company. Graduates portray enthusiasm in learning fresh things (Dusek et al., 2021). In this regard, graduates are normally attentive to tasks since they are commencing their career. As such, they will perform better when compared with the certified non-college graduates. Additionally, graduates strive to impress their employees because the contemporary world demands the best (Lizzi, 2020).

 College graduates strive constantly to be the best in their endeavour. Furthermore, human capital entails skills and knowledge acquired by graduates and acts as a basis of the outcomes of the labour market (Tomlinson, 2017). The skills of graduates are essential in any labour market because they accord the employer required specialists (Jaworski et al., 2018). There is also a benefit of graduates accepting a lower salary and climbing up their career ladder slowly (Ismail et al., 2011). The reason is because graduates perceive experience as a crucial thing in their quest to be the best in their respective fields (Dusek et al., 2021).

Moreover, college graduates tend to have a fresh perspective and thus, remain more innovative compared with the non-graduates. In this regard, graduate IT managers will always question how things are run and try to come up with better ways to make the system efficient and innovative (Dusek et al., 2021). Additionally, graduate IT managers can multi-task at ease (Liz, 2017). The reason is because social media, as well as other communication channels utilized by graduates in the course of their schooling implies that they can multi-task (Johnson et al., 2014). Multi-tasking implies that graduates can perform better than the certified non-graduates (Paoli et al., 2018). Moreover, they could execute several tasks at once. 

The future trend of hiring IT managers will be comprehensive and flexible to accommodate both certified non-college graduates and college graduates (Johnson et al., 2014).  The method utilized in hiring will be fair and based on the competency of specific individuals. The future hiring trend of IT managers will incorporate both education and skills as demonstrated by the arguments above (Paoli et al., 2017). Proficiency, especially in writing and communication is integral for a manager (Johnson et al., 2014). In Malaysia for example, employers opt for graduates that have communication and interpersonal skills, academic credentials, and work experience (Ismail et al., 2011). 

These skills will be crucial in the future, especially when hiring IT managers (Ismail et al., 2011). While graduates have the academic credentials and communication skills, certified non-college graduates bring along their experience. In this regard, both candidates will have an edge (Johnson et al., 2014). Nonetheless, those who demonstrate an extra capacity of critical thinking as well as the skills pointed out will be accorded a chance to serve an organization. Weligamage (2009) stresses the significance of critical thinking in employability. College graduates have an edge over their counterparts since they have academic credentials (Ismail et al., 2011). However, it will never accord them an advantage over the non-certified graduates if they do not demonstrate a capacity to think rationally, have self-motivation, communication, and social skills (Shivoro et al., 2018). The hiring will be open. Graduates will have an edge. 

However, college graduates will have to demonstrate the skills mentioned above since the business world is complex and faced with daily challenges that have to be solved completely (Ismail et al., 2011). The IT world, in particular, is flooded with challenges that come along with hackers who pose malicious damages. Critical thinking, communication skills, and flexibility in dealing with issues will determine the future IT managers. Shivoro et al. (2018) posit that the decision to employ a graduate remains grounded on the capabilities and quality of a graduate in addition to the specific skills and knowledge of a discipline (2018). The position of Shivoro et al. (2018) will be instrumental to the future hiring trend of IT managers.