What Level of Education Do Startup Companies Look For When Hiring? It Depends.

1. The data says experience matters more

Google, which is perhaps the world's most data-driven HR organization, has concluded that GPAs are not correlated with on-the-job success. While there are exceptions for highly technical roles (finance, law, engineering, medicine), in general, early-stage companies need a core team with a lot of grit, determination and a positive get-stuff-done attitude. This is what will help them overcome the many obstacles and moments of despair that are inevitable in building any organization.

2. Experience is education enough

Formal education looks great on a resume, but we will hire experience over education 100% of the time for our core team. Someone with experience can already relate to the position, and can bring in past experience or knowledge, which adds to their value. Usually someone with just formal education needs to shadow someone with experience to acclimate. However, formal education is an excellent complement to experience and makes for an ideal hire if an applicant is well versed in both.

3. Love of learning matters more than specialization

I care that my people are educated, not necessarily that they are specialized. I want smart people who love learning. Some of our best core staff are Philosophy majors, English majors or Drama majors.

4. Experience over education every time

The importance of formal education varies by industry, but for my business — an entertainment marketing company — formal education is nowhere near as important as real-world experience. When given the choice between two qualified candidates, I would take the one with the career experience every time. I have a Masters degree in Marketing, and although I learned a lot of great theory, I learned more applicable lessons in a year at my first marketing position than in my undergraduate and graduate courses combined.

5. Formal education is an investment — in yourself

I hear arguments all the time about the value of a college education. I could go either way on that for entrepreneurs. But when we're talking about the staff that we hire in our firm we always look for college graduates. It is not that they are any more educated then those that didn't attend; it is that they have more discipline and can execute better. They've spent four years on their own working towards a goal (graduation) so they understand deadlines, attendance and have some element of professionalism. We hire college graduates because they've invested the time to become worth hiring.

6. Character is more important

Education is important, but I was always a creative type and never even finished my degree. My college was real-life experience. So it's best, in my opinion, to find out if a potential hire is wired for the position. History proves that many great minds do great things without a formal education: Learning and growing is not a one-type-fits-all scenario. Always have an open mind.

7. Education plus curiosity is the best combination

I’m a big believer in education. I don’t necessarily need a potential employee to have gone to college to learn a specific skill. Often times, I look for curious people who are capable of doing a variety of tasks. I do think people with a good solid education, some previous experience and who have had some personal projects tend to hit the ground running consistently pretty well.