Qualifications: Why they are important

Tertiary qualifications are not the only way to increase your salary expectations and work opportunities. Photo / Thinkstock

Getting good qualifications is the best way to find a job and earn a good salary or wage. A qualification, or more than one, opens all kinds of doors.

Sure, there are some amazing stories out there about entrepreneurs who dropped out of high school and retired multi-millionaires by the time they were 30. This does happen, but the chances are very slim.

The best way to ensure you have a career that you enjoy and one that pays the bills is to gain qualifications. The more qualified you are, the easier it is to move into the more challenging jobs that pay the most and give the most job satisfaction.

Formal qualifications are important as they inform potential employers that you are capable of studying at a known pace and absorbing vast amounts of information and being tested on it.

A qualification ensures that you have covered certain materials and have the same frame of reference as other people in your field.

However, tertiary qualifications are not the only way to increase your salary expectations and work opportunities. Not every job requires a tertiary qualification. Often, trade-based jobs pay a great starting wage. As you upskill, you move up the salary chain.

Furthermore, a qualification from an ITO or private training provider might be appropriate for the job you are seeking.

Polytechnics, ITOs and private training providers offer vocation-based education and training. This means their courses of study are focused on getting you a job. On-the-job training and work placement as part of your course means you'll be seeing employers and potential employers all the time -- what better way is there to line up a great job?

The facts
*If you have a tertiary qualification, you are likely to earn 30 per cent more than those without a qualification.
*If you have a Bachelor's degree or higher, you are likely to earn at least double that of a school leaver with no qualifications.
*If you finish a degree, you are likely to earn 25 per cent more than if you drop out partway through.
*You are more likely to be employed if you have a tertiary qualification.
- JetMagazine

NCEA in the real world

Are you sick to death of NCEA and considering leaving school early this year? Before you do ... The staff at the Careers New Zealand advice line say they get calls from people wanting to go back to study as an adult. These people weren't too interested in school and left early. Later on, they found their dream course or career -- but didn't have the NCEA credits needed to get into that awesome course or career.

Once people leave school, they lose a lot of the knowledge and context to easily complete NCEA subjects (compared to students still in school). It's not hard to pick up NCEA subjects as an adult but sometimes the learning isn't easy, either.
Here are the NCEA credits people say they regret not doing:

NCEA Level 1 Maths, English, and literacy and numeracy credits
*Want to be a soldier but no Level 1? Forget it. The army is choosy about who they give guns to, and rightly so.
*Most trades. You need a certificate to work in most trades now, so you need to be able to read and write.
*Most jobs. Employers do ask.
*This is usually needed to get into a fees-free course or fees-free Youth Guarantee trade course.

NCEA Level 2 Maths, English, and literacy and numeracy credits
*Want to get into the Air Force, Navy or specialised roles in the Army? You need this.
*You will find the police entrance exam too hard without this.
*Most polytechnic courses, such as early childhood teaching, ask for this.
*Employers like to see you have this.

NCEA Level 2 Biology
*You need this to get into nursing, midwifery, or health-related courses.

NCEA Level 2 Physics
*You will find the first year of pre-medicine study difficult if you don't have this.
*Engineering and vet studies may require this.

NCEA Level 2, 3 Sciences
*Without this, you won't be able to get into medical school.

NCEA Level 3
*You cannot enter most university courses without NCEA Level 3.

- Source: Careers New Zealand