You have heard of blue and white-collar jobs, but do you know the ins and outs of the latest workplace buzzword, new-collar careers?
The modern-day workplace is under constant transformation in that every setback or advancement, regardless of the industry, leaves a mark and alters what was there before.
Take for example the addition of millennials and far more recently Gen Z to the workplace, which has brought significant social change and seemingly necessitated the need for an entirely new vocabulary and the corresponding dictionary. There are new ways of speaking, of communicating online and of defining how we describe workplace structures.
Such as recent buzzword new-collar jobs, which many people are now using to describe a different form of working, but what is new-collar?
New routes
Simply put, new-collar jobs are careers associated with people who, instead of taking the more linear route of higher education and eventual full-time employment, chose to explore alternative, non-traditional educational paths. For example, smaller colleges, technical institutions, internships, bootcamps and certification programmes.
Contrary to what you might assume, new-collar roles are often in highly technical fields, a benefit in the modern era, as more and more companies focus on skills-based hiring, over more formal or standardised qualifications. Often new-collar roles require a blend of technical ability and soft skills.
While you can undertake a new-collar job in a number of fields, research shows that the main categories under which this kind of role falls are the healthcare, engineering, technology and software industries. So, why might a career-goer opt for a new-collar profession?
Changing times
There are many reasons as to why the traditional route towards a career would not suit everyone. The first being that it can be an incredibly expensive process and may be too far outside of what is possible financially. Alternative routes that are more flexible and less pricey, such as part-time courses, online tutorials or smaller institutions, can give students the chance to work, save money and attend lectures, all at the same time.
Research also shows that underrepresented groups, who may not have the preferred education or financial stability, have more opportunities to embrace learning and career progression, improving workplace diversity and overcoming instances of inequality.
More to the point, it could simply be the case that a person doesn’t have any interest in committing however many years of full-time education it would take to emerge with a degree for a career that you could enter essentially via the backdoor.
Where can it take you?
So, now that you have some context, what kinds of jobs are actually open to someone with a new-collar background? Research shows, reflecting recent technological and societal shifts, there are opportunities in areas such as the cybersecurity sector, for those with skills in navigating a complex and vulnerable space.
There are also roles open to new-collar experts in healthcare, particularly for medical coding specialists, people skilled in robotics work, as pharmacy technicians and medical data analysts, among others.
In technology, there is a demand for professionals with a diverse skillset that can be applied to jobs like cloud computing, IT support, web development, UX design, field service engineering and a range of related administration roles.
Really the world is your oyster if you have the skill to back up your claims that you are a good fit for a role, so if you see a job description that fits your skillset and you want it, go for it. After that it is up to you to convince an employer that the route you took to become as skilled as you are is no different to the one a recent third-level graduate took.
How to sell it
Like I said, the world is changing and what employers want now is vastly different from the expectations of a decade ago. In 10 years time they will be different again.
The point is, you need to know how to put yourself forward and show that your educational background, while important, isn’t as important as the skills you currently possess, or your ability to put them into action.
If you have an interview, well done, that is the first step, step number two may well be answering awkward questions probing at your background, so it is important that you have an answer ready to go.
The employer may try to compare you to someone who has followed a more traditional path and the best way to sidestep that kind of questioning is to showcase your skills, provide examples of how you have previously used them and indicate how they would benefit the organisation you want to be a part of.
It is 2025 and having a new-collar career is a significant feather in the cap of the wearer, because it shows that, rather than following a set out linear plan, you have committed to a learning journey based on genuine interest and skill. Your job now is to make sure an employer sees that.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
