Publisher removes degree requirements in recruiting for all roles

Nick Elvin

Penguin Random House UK has removed any requirement for a university degree for all new jobs. The publisher says it hopes to open up opportunities in publishing and attract a more varied candidate pool and future workforce, saying there was “increasing evidence that there is no simple correlation between having a degree and ongoing performance in work”.

The firm has removed the degree filter from all job advertisements, job descriptions and recruitment processes in the UK with immediate effect, and instead says it is focussing on giving every applicant the opportunity to demonstrate their potential, creativity, strengths and ideas, regardless of their background.

While graduates remain welcome to apply for jobs, not having been through higher education will no longer preclude anyone from joining the company, and there are no requirements for A-levels or UCAS points. Only certain professional qualifications would still be required in some cases.

Neil Morrison, group HR director, UK and international, said: “We want to attract the best people to help grow and shape the future of our company, regardless of their background – and that means that we need to think and act differently. This is the starting point for our concerted action to make publishing far, far more inclusive than it has been to date. Now, we need to be more visible to talented people across the UK.”

The announcement follows the launch of entry-level programme The Scheme last year in which Penguin Random House UK moved away from traditional recruitment and CVs – asking for only an email address and responses to seven strength-based questions via Tumblr – to attract people who might never have thought to apply for a role in publishing. Those without a degree performed as well as those with a degree and half of the successful candidates who went on to join the company had not been through higher education.