For years, students and job seekers were told that earning a university degree was one of the safest ways to build a successful career.

The traditional formula was simple:

Get a degree → get a job → build a career.

But the hiring process is changing.

Employers are increasingly interested in what candidates can actually do, not simply what they studied. Skills-based hiring is becoming more common, practical experience matters, and portfolios, certifications, projects, and professional visibility can all help candidates demonstrate their abilities.

That does not mean degrees have become worthless.

In fact, the strongest candidates in 2026 may be those who understand how to combine education, practical skills, experience, and evidence of what they can actually accomplish.

A 2026 career analysis based on hiring trends argues that the real choice is not necessarily between a degree and skills. Instead, candidates can use their degree as a foundation while building practical capabilities and evidence alongside it.

So, what matters more to employers in 2026?

Skills Are Playing a Bigger Role in Hiring

One of the biggest changes in recruitment is the growing emphasis on skills-based hiring.

The source article cites NACE’s 2026 Job Outlook survey as reporting that 70% of employers use skills-based hiring for entry-level roles, with many applying the approach during screening and interviews.

This means employers may increasingly look beyond the name of your university or your degree classification and ask a more practical question:

Can this candidate actually perform the work?

For example, a company hiring a junior data analyst may want to know whether you can:

Work with SQL
Analyze data
Use spreadsheets
Create dashboards
Explain findings
Solve practical problems

Simply holding a degree may not demonstrate all of those abilities.

A degree can show that you completed a structured programme of study. Your skills and projects can show how you apply what you know.

Does That Mean Degrees No Longer Matter?

No.

It is important not to take the skills-based hiring trend too far.

Some professions require formal qualifications by law or regulation. Medicine, law, pharmacy, architecture, and certain engineering professions are examples where formal education and professional credentials remain fundamental.

Degrees can also remain important in areas such as:

Academic research
Government
Policy
Certain consulting roles
Professional fields
Some international labor markets

A degree can provide foundational knowledge, demonstrate commitment, and create access to professional networks.

The bigger issue is that a degree may no longer be enough on its own.

Think of your degree as the foundation of your professional profile rather than the finished product.

Your Degree Is a Foundation, Not a Destination

Graduating from university is an achievement.

But employers are not necessarily hiring you because you successfully completed your final exams.

They are hiring you because they believe you can contribute to the organization.

That means you need to translate your education into practical capability.

For example, instead of simply writing:

Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration

your application becomes stronger when you can also show:

A business project you completed
A marketing campaign you helped develop
A financial analysis you conducted
A student organization you helped manage
An internship
A relevant certification
A portfolio
A freelance project

The degree tells employers what you studied.

The evidence shows them what you can do.

Which Skills Matter Most in 2026?

Simply being told to “build your skills” is not very useful unless you know which skills to prioritize.

The source highlights several technical and human capabilities that can strengthen a candidate’s profile.

AI and Digital Skills

AI literacy is becoming increasingly relevant across industries.

Employers are looking for candidates who can use AI tools effectively and understand how to integrate them into real workflows.

Depending on your profession, this could involve:

AI-assisted research
Content generation
Data analysis
Automation
AI productivity tools
Coding assistants
Workflow optimization

The important point is that knowing that AI exists is not enough.

You should understand how it can improve the work you actually want to perform.

Data Skills

Data is no longer limited to data scientists.

Professionals in marketing, finance, operations, healthcare, sales, and other fields may increasingly encounter data in their daily work.

Useful skills can include:

Excel
SQL
Data visualization
Basic Python
Reporting
Analytical thinking

Communication

Technical ability can get you noticed, but your ability to explain your work can influence whether an employer trusts you with responsibility.

Strong communication includes:

Clear writing
Verbal communication
Presentation skills
Listening
Explaining technical concepts
Communicating with different audiences

Problem-Solving

Employers want people who can identify problems and work toward solutions.

Instead of simply saying that you are a “problem solver,” prepare examples that demonstrate how you solved an actual problem.

Adaptability

Technology and workplaces continue to change.

Employers therefore benefit from people who can learn new tools, adjust to new processes, and remain productive when circumstances change.

Initiative

Companies value people who can identify what needs to be done without constantly waiting for instructions.

Taking initiative could mean:

Improving a process
Starting a useful project
Learning a new tool
Volunteering for responsibility
Identifying an opportunity

The source emphasizes problem-solving, communication, adaptability, and initiative alongside technical skills.

Your Portfolio Can Matter More Than Your GPA

Your grades can demonstrate academic performance.

A portfolio can demonstrate practical ability.

That distinction matters.

Consider two graduates applying for the same software development position.

Candidate A has excellent grades but has never built anything outside university assignments.

Candidate B has slightly lower grades but has:

Built several applications
Published code on GitHub
Documented projects
Contributed to an open-source project
Completed a freelance assignment

The second candidate may have more practical evidence to discuss during the hiring process.

The source argues that a portfolio can provide stronger evidence of practical ability and gives examples including GitHub projects, case studies, published content, dashboards, marketing campaigns, and design portfolios.

Your Portfolio Does Not Have to Be Impressive

You don’t need to build the next major startup.

Start small.

A portfolio could contain:

A data dashboard
A website
A research project
A marketing campaign
A mobile app
A business case study
A collection of written work
A design project
An automation workflow

The important thing is that it demonstrates your ability to apply knowledge.

Certifications Can Strengthen Your Profile

Certifications can also help demonstrate focused learning.

The source highlights certifications from platforms and organizations such as Google, Microsoft, HubSpot, AWS, and Coursera as examples of credentials that can signal relevant knowledge and initiative.

However, don’t collect certificates simply to make your CV longer.

Choose credentials that are directly connected to the career you want.

For example:

Target career: Data Analyst

A relevant certification in analytics may be more useful than five unrelated certificates.

Target career: Digital Marketing

A recognized certification in digital marketing, analytics, or advertising may better support your application.

The strongest combination is:

Certification + practical project + relevant experience

That gives employers more than proof that you completed a course.

Real-World Experience Can Beat Classroom Theory

Experience does not always mean having a full-time job.

You can gain useful experience through:

Internships
Freelancing
Volunteering
Student organizations
Personal projects
Research
Community work
Part-time work
Contract assignments

The source emphasizes that even relatively small projects can provide useful interview stories and evidence of initiative.

For example, volunteering to manage social media for a community organization could demonstrate:

Content creation
Communication
Marketing
Analytics
Responsibility

A small freelance project could demonstrate:

Client communication
Time management
Problem-solving
Professional delivery

A personal data project could demonstrate:

Data cleaning
Analysis
Visualization
Technical skills
Presentation

The scale of the experience matters less than what you learned and what you accomplished.

Knowing Your Skills Is Not Enough — You Need to Explain Them

This is one of the most important parts of a modern job search.

Many candidates possess valuable skills but struggle to communicate them.

Compare these two statements.

Weak:

“I am good at data.”

Stronger:

“I built a sales dashboard in Excel that helped identify purchasing trends and supported inventory planning.”

The second statement is specific.

It tells the employer:

What you did
What tool you used
What problem you addressed
What impact your work had

The source recommends using specific, results-oriented examples and applying the STAR framework — Situation, Task, Action, Result — when answering behavioral interview questions.

Build Your Interview Story Bank

Before an interview, prepare examples involving:

A problem you solved
A project you completed
A difficult situation
A teamwork experience
A leadership experience
A mistake you learned from
A time you adapted
A time you took initiative

These examples give you evidence to support your claims.

Your Online Presence Can Reinforce Your Skills

Your CV is no longer the only place where employers may discover your professional background.

Depending on your field, your digital presence could include:

LinkedIn
GitHub
Personal website
Online portfolio
Medium
Behance
Professional communities

The source argues that employers increasingly encounter candidates online before interviews and recommends building a visible professional presence through projects, certifications, and useful content.

You don’t need thousands of followers.

You need to be findable, credible, and relevant.

For example, a software developer could publish projects on GitHub.

A designer could showcase work on an online portfolio.

A writer could publish articles.

A data analyst could showcase dashboards and case studies.

A graduate could share lessons from projects and certifications on LinkedIn.

So, What Matters More — Skills or Degrees?

The answer depends on the career.

For some professions, a degree and professional qualification are essential.

For many other roles, practical skills and demonstrable experience may increasingly influence hiring decisions.

That is why the strongest approach is not:

Degree vs Skills

It is:

Degree + Skills + Experience + Proof

A degree can provide:

Foundational knowledge
Structure
Credibility
Professional networks
Access to certain careers

Skills can provide:

Practical capability
Career flexibility
Job readiness
Evidence of what you can do

Experience can provide:

Real-world examples
Confidence
Professional judgment
Results you can discuss

A portfolio can provide:

Visible proof
Demonstrable ability
A stronger interview story

Together, these elements can create a much stronger professional profile than relying on any one of them alone.

The source describes this combination as “credential plus proof” — using education as a foundation while building skills, portfolios, certifications, experience, and professional visibility alongside it.

What Students Should Do Before Graduation

Don’t wait until your final semester to start building practical skills.

While studying, consider:

Choose a career direction.

Identify the roles and industries that interest you.

Study job descriptions.

Find out what skills employers actually request.

Build one project.

Create something relevant to your target career.

Earn one targeted certification.

Choose one that supports your career direction.

Get practical experience.

Look for internships, volunteering, freelancing, or project opportunities.

Build your online presence.

Create or improve your LinkedIn profile and showcase relevant work.

Practice explaining your skills.

Learn how to describe your experience using specific examples and results.

This means that when graduation arrives, you are not simply saying:

“I have a degree.”

You can say:

“I have a degree, I have developed these skills, I have applied them in these projects, and here is the evidence.”

What Employers Can See When They Look at Your Profile

Imagine a recruiter sees two graduate candidates.

The first candidate’s profile shows:

Bachelor’s Degree

GPA

No portfolio

No projects

No practical experience

The second shows:

Bachelor’s Degree

Relevant certification

Three practical projects

Internship experience

LinkedIn activity

Online portfolio

The second profile gives the recruiter much more information about what the candidate can actually do.

That is the real shift taking place.

It is not necessarily that degrees have become irrelevant.

It is that degrees are becoming less powerful as a standalone signal.

Final Takeaway

The debate over whether skills or degrees matter more is probably asking the wrong question.

For many careers, the strongest candidate is not the person who chooses one over the other.

It is the person who combines education with practical ability.

Your degree can give you knowledge, structure, credibility, and access.

Your skills can show that you can perform the work.

Your experience can prove that you have applied those skills in real situations.

Your portfolio can make that evidence visible.

And your professional presence can help employers discover it.

So don’t throw away the value of your education. Build on it.

Learn the tools employers are asking for. Complete projects. Gain practical experience. Earn targeted certifications. Improve your communication and problem-solving abilities. Build a professional portfolio.

In 2026, the strongest career profile is increasingly not simply credentialed.

It is credentialed, capable, experienced, and able to prove it.

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Skills vs Degrees — What Matters More to Employers in 2026?

Skills Are Playing a Bigger Role in Hiring

Does That Mean Degrees No Longer Matter?

Your Degree Is a Foundation, Not a Destination