Although it is not an essential requirement, it is a differentiating element with respect to other resumes

Postgraduate qualifications open up a number of opportunities for employees in the labour market. In some cases, they even act as a springboard for young people looking for a first chance. For experienced employees, postgraduate courses guarantee employability and enable them to move up the employment ladder. However, only 1.4 per cent of job vacancies require a degree as a requirement.

Even so, there are offers aimed at university graduates in which 35.2 per cent of them require a postgraduate degree to access employment or at least serve as a differentiating feature. And in many cases, having higher qualifications has a great effect on the salary. For example, a worker with a master’s degree earns 12,114 euros a year more than a worker without studies. This shows that higher qualifications result in higher salaries.

 

Average salary based on qualifications
Qualifications                                                                               Gross salary (year)
Master’s or postgraduate degree                                                          29.706,60 euros
Doctorate                                                                                                   23.386,29 euros
Undergraduate/Diploma/University Degree                                     25.445,43 euros
Higher Vocational Training or equivalent                                          21.496,19 euros
Medium Level Vocational Training or equivalent                             18.703,51 euros
Baccalaureate or equivalent                                                                   18.583,07 euros
No qualifications                                                                                      17.562,50 euros
Compulsory Secondary Education or equivalent                              16.523,78 euros

*Employment Report Infoempleo Adecco 2018. Supply and demand of jobs in Spain

Demand and professional category

Among the sectors that most appreciate qualifications we have: Education and training (20.8%), Quality and Environment (14.9%), Legal advice (14.5%), IT (9.3%), Research (7.9%), Telecommunications (7.2%) and General Consultancy (6%). And those that value qualifications the least are Sports (1.9%), Audiovisual Productions (1.7%), Cosmetics and Beauty (1.4%), Transport Equipment (1.4%).

There are also certain types of postgraduate studies that some sectors prefer. For example, more than half of the offers related to Information and Advice (56%) and Audiovisual (55.1%) sectors prefer people with MBAs (Master of Business Administration). While the Audit sector specifies that candidates must have a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Management.

Another aspect that requires higher qualifications is the professional category one aspires to achieve. Vacancies with a high responsibility component, such as managers and middle managers require further studies in management. In the case of technical profiles, specialised programmes are required depending on the tasks to be performed. Regarding employees, other professional values are preferred that do not require postgraduate studies.