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I need to say that, for doing a specific task (such as "calling a customer on the phone") there is a minimum level of education. Currently I say "minimum education" or an "ideal" level.

However, "ideal" is not the word i am looking for, because you might think that "ideal" means the highest possible education.

e.g.

Boss speaking to employee): "Yes, you have the minimum education level but i'd say that for this task the XXXXXX education level is a high school education.

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Could it be "Optimal", according to english.stackexchange.com/questions/41079/optimal-vs-ideal?rq=1 ??? – PimPumPunk Dec 6 '12 at 11:40
1  
Downvotes with no comment are useless, I am italian so I don't speak perfect english, I guess i made many mistakes in my question, is this a good reason to downvote? (in stackoverflow.com where i am an active member there is the hidden rule of always commenting when downvoting, if not it is like throwing stones at random: no use) – PimPumPunk Dec 6 '12 at 11:42
Perhaps "the preferred education level is..." – Autoresponder Dec 6 '12 at 11:43

3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

How about using:

required

e.g. "For this task the required education level is a college degree."

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1  
+1_Required_ is a good choice because it's more specific than "minimum" and not ambiguous like "preferred" (which implies that even if you don't have the minimum or preferred level of education, I might hire you if you're pretty enough or if you put out). – Bill Franke Dec 6 '12 at 12:28
Required makes me think of minimum too, or not? Anyway I trust Bill Franke! – PimPumPunk Dec 6 '12 at 13:37
If a particular level of education is what you require, then surely you should call it "required". – Urbycoz Dec 6 '12 at 13:40
up vote 5 down vote

If you have a specific educational standard that all applicants must meet, it's called a "prerequisite."

prerequisite (adj): 1. required beforehand

The prerequisite education for this job is a High School diploma.

A google books search shows that this expression is commonly used in expressing the specific requirements for employees. Such as this passage...

The training process cannot proceed effectively unless learners have the prerequisite education.

Or this...

Mandatory prerequisite education and training would provide consistency of knowledge among vessel operators.

To be clear, a prerequisite is a requirement for a specific educational standard which is not necessarily synonymous with a minimum standard. So, a minimum standard would be a High School education with a prerequisite educational requirement of fluency in Spanish.

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up vote 2 down vote

Consider using "desired".

Although you meet the minimum level of education, the desired level of education for this job is YYYY.

or maybe "preferred".

Although you meet the minimum level of education, the preferred level of education for this job is YYYY.

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