Employers have been encouraged to look at a candidate’s skills rather than their qualifications.

Responding to the Universities, Science and Skills Committee Select Committee’s Re-skilling for recovery: after Leitch, implementing skills and training policiesreport published last week, Chris Ball, chief executive at The Age and Employment Network (TAEN), says that not having the right qualifications is proving a barrier to employment for mature workers.

Ball says: “When it comes to looking for a new job, not having the right piece of paper, even though the individual may have been a top performer with years of practical experience in senior roles, is a barrier that is often almost impossible to overcome.  
 
“The government’s skills policy has helped fuel this problem - to the detriment of older workers in particular.  The Committee is right in questioning it.  After all, you cannot assume that just because an individual doesn’t have a 50 metre swimming certificate, they can’t swim. They may swim faster, with more style and be able to swim further than someone who does have one.”