Should you spend several years earning a degree, complete professional certifications, or concentrate on practical skills?

For anyone beginning a career—or trying to change one—the question can become expensive very quickly. A degree requires significant time and financial commitment. Certifications can accumulate into an impressive list without necessarily improving employability. Practical learning sounds attractive, but simply claiming that you “have the skills” is not enough either.

In 2026, the most useful answer is not that one has replaced the others.

Employers increasingly care about what candidates can actually do, but degrees, certifications, skills and experience serve different purposes. The right combination depends on the role you want.

Skills-First Hiring Does Not Mean Credentials No Longer Matter

There is a genuine movement toward skills-based hiring.

LinkedIn’s 2026 Skills on the Rise research says employers are increasingly prioritizing capabilities over relying only on degrees, job titles or traditional career paths. The World Economic Forum also reports a strong employer emphasis on work experience and direct skills assessment.

But “skills-first” should not be interpreted as “credentials never matter.”

Some employers still use degrees as an entry requirement. Certain professional paths require substantial formal education. Certifications remain important in many technology roles because they can indicate familiarity with a particular technology, framework or professional body of knowledge.

The change is that a credential increasingly needs to sit alongside evidence that you can apply what you learned.

What Does a Degree Actually Prove?

A university degree can provide something valuable that shorter learning routes may struggle to reproduce: structured education across a broad subject area.

A good degree may develop theoretical foundations, research ability, analytical thinking, communication and exposure to subjects that extend beyond one tool or job.

It can also satisfy employers that explicitly require higher education.

However, possessing a degree does not automatically prove that you can perform every responsibility in a particular role.

A computer science graduate, for example, may understand programming and computing fundamentals but still require practical development before becoming effective in cloud security, penetration testing or security operations.

The degree provides a foundation. The job may require additional specialization.

When a Degree May Be Particularly Valuable

A degree deserves serious consideration when:

• the occupations you are targeting commonly require one;
• you want a broad academic foundation;
• the qualification supports your long-term progression;
• you are at an early educational stage and can reasonably make the investment;
• or your intended postgraduate or professional pathway depends on it.

The mistake is not obtaining a degree. The mistake is assuming the degree completes your professional development.

What Does a Certification Prove?

Professional certifications are more focused.

They may validate knowledge of a technology, security discipline, methodology or defined body of knowledge. In cybersecurity, for example, candidates encounter certifications covering foundational security, cloud platforms, networking, governance, penetration testing and many other specializations.

A well-chosen certification can help you:

• structure your learning;
• establish baseline knowledge;
• satisfy a requirement appearing in target vacancies;
• move toward a specialization;
• or signal continued professional development.

But certification value depends heavily on context.

If you collect five certifications that have little relationship with the role you want, the certificates may demonstrate activity without demonstrating direction.

Before paying for one, ask:

Which career gap will this certification help me close?

If the answer is unclear, research further before enrolling.

Skills Answer the Employer’s Most Important Question

Ultimately, an employer is hiring someone to perform work.

Can you analyse the problem? Can you configure the technology? Can you communicate with the stakeholder? Can you investigate the incident? Can you write the report? Can you make a sound decision?

Those are capability questions.

This helps explain why skills are receiving greater attention in hiring. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 found that 81% of surveyed businesses expected to continue relying on work experience in candidate assessment between 2025 and 2030, while 48% expected to use skills assessments. Degrees remained part of the picture, with 43% expecting to use university-degree requirements. These figures describe surveyed employer plans rather than a rule for every vacancy, but they demonstrate why candidates should not depend on credentials alone.

The same report expects technological skills such as AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy to grow in importance, alongside human capabilities including analytical thinking, resilience, leadership and collaboration.

The Missing Ingredient Is Evidence

There is another category candidates often overlook:

proof that you can use the skill.

Imagine two candidates both write “Python” on their CV.

One completed a course.

The other can explain a project in which they used Python to solve a problem, describe the decisions they made, show the result and answer follow-up technical questions.

Both may possess knowledge, but the second candidate has stronger evidence.

Evidence may come from:

• professional experience;
• projects;
• internships;
• laboratories;
• portfolios;
• volunteering;
• academic work;
• apprenticeships;
• practical assessments;
• or responsibilities you have taken on in your existing job.

This is why career development should move beyond asking, “What should I study?”

Ask:

How will I demonstrate what I have learned?

For Cybersecurity, Think in Layers

This is particularly useful for people trying to enter cybersecurity.

Suppose you want to become a SOC analyst.

A sensible development stack might include:

Foundation: Networking, operating systems, basic security concepts and understanding of common threats.

Focused learning: Relevant courses or a carefully chosen certification.

Practical capability: Working with logs, alerts, investigation processes and security tools in an appropriate lab or work environment.

Evidence: Projects, workplace responsibilities or other examples you can discuss clearly.

Professional positioning: A CV and LinkedIn profile that connect your previous experience and new capabilities with the target role.

The exact combination will differ between individuals. Someone coming from network engineering has a different starting point from a university student or an experienced governance professional.

That is why copying another person’s certification roadmap can be ineffective.

Do Not Study Without Reading Job Descriptions

Before deciding between a degree, certification or another training programme, examine the employment market you actually intend to enter.

Review multiple relevant vacancies and record:

• essential qualifications;
• preferred qualifications;
• recurring technical skills;
• expected experience;
• tools and technologies;
• communication requirements;
• and responsibilities.

Then identify patterns.

If a qualification repeatedly appears as mandatory, that matters.

If employers repeatedly emphasize experience with a particular capability but rarely mention the certification you are considering, that also matters.

Education decisions should begin with the destination rather than the course catalogue.

Build the Combination Your Target Career Requires

A useful way to think about professional development is:

Education gives you foundations.

Certifications can validate focused knowledge.

Skills allow you to perform.

Experience and projects provide evidence.

Communication allows you to demonstrate that value to an employer.

You may need all five at different stages of your career.

A graduate may need practical evidence more urgently than another academic qualification. An experienced IT professional moving into security may need targeted security learning rather than another degree. Someone pursuing a highly specialized position may benefit from an advanced certification after gaining relevant experience.

The answer is individual because the gap is individual.

Ask “What Am I Missing?” Instead of “Which Is Best?”

There is no universal winner between degrees, skills and certifications.

A better career decision starts with your target role, evaluates your existing profile and identifies what is genuinely missing.

If you already have education but lack evidence, build practical experience.

If you have experience but lack required foundational knowledge, study it.

If a certification is relevant to your intended specialization, evaluate it carefully.

If a degree is genuinely required or strategically valuable for the direction you want, consider it as a long-term investment rather than dismissing it because skills-first hiring is growing.

AnandShinde.com’s Career Counselling service includes certification and skill advice, personalized guidance, career roadmaps and job-market insights. The purpose of that guidance is not to recommend another qualification automatically. It is to determine which development step actually supports the career you are trying to build.

Do not collect credentials simply because they are available.

Build the knowledge, skills, evidence and qualifications that your destination genuinely requires.

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If your business needs cybersecurity services, AI security guidance, cloud security review, or protection against modern cyber threats, visit DevOM Consulting:
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