Is a college degree necessary in the 21st century? A degree is still critical to build a career in many fields, such as law, medicine, academia and other professional roles. However, there are shifting perspectives on education and what skills you need to be career-ready. In today’s climate, a college degree isn’t the only path to landing in-demand jobs.
Many employers are evolving their hiring practices to be more skills-based, with many dropping degrees as a requirement. These jobs also come with competitive compensation and the opportunity to learn on the job and advance.
These attractive roles require someone to have hard and soft skills. Those that didn’t have the option to or chose not to pursue higher education can still be a great candidate when using a skills-matching platform.
Education can be formal or informal; developing and honing specific skill sets is just as important as graduating from college. This evolved perspective is especially true for Gen Z.
A new study found that 65% of students in this demographic believe education beyond high school is necessary. The rest are seeking alternatives to a four-year degree as they worry about taking on debt and investing the time. Their idea of education includes on-the-job learning experience and skill development. They value education but no longer ascribe to the philosophy that college is the only place to learn.
This shift echoes what’s happening in the workforce, with many jobs not requiring a degree.
Many in-demand jobs aren’t dependent on someone possessing a college degree. Earning one doesn’t mean you’ll use it. Those with degrees often don’t even practice in their field. One survey found that only 46% of college graduates work in a field that aligns with their college major.
The modern way to become qualified for a job involves real-world experience, developing specific skills and earning certificates. Companies are also putting more emphasis on this.
There are many drivers behind this change. It’s worker-driven, which is demonstrated by Gen Z’s attitudes and candidates’ desire to find more meaningful work that began with the Great Resignation. Other influences include a tight labor market, the creation of new jobs and the elimination of others, and a realization that degrees don’t always equate to being qualified.
Some companies are walking back from degree inflation in their job requirements. For example, only 29% of IBM IT jobs have such a requirement. Positions in this industry depend much more on technical abilities demonstrated by certifications and experience rather than a college degree. IBM, Boeing and Walmart have all embraced this and aligned themselves with programs to facilitate this change.
The Society for Human Resource Management recognizes the trend in shifting to skills-based hiring, noting that employers assess candidates' abilities and potential rather than degrees or job history.
Other research supports the transition to skills-based hiring as good for companies and job seekers. Businesses benefit from a larger talent pool and the ability to keep their candidate pipeline full.
New jobs, such as those the CHIPS and Science Act created, also focus on skills, with more than 60% of the positions associated with semiconductor manufacturing not requiring a degree.
Then, there are other specialized jobs that have traditionally listed a degree as a requirement, such as those in digital marketing. Companies trying to fill these roles will pass up people with valuable abilities, such as experts in SEO or digital advertising. Those are skills someone learns over time and builds knowledge in; they’re not necessarily something you come out of college with.
Many in-demand jobs — which are those fields that are growing and have lots of vacancies — are appealing.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics monitors this employment metric. Many current in-demand jobs may not have a degree qualification, including wind turbine service technicians, motion picture projectionists, information security analysts and web developers.
LinkedIn also tracks in-demand jobs, and again, many aren’t degree-restrictive, including home health licensed practical nurses, marketing associates, beauty advisors, customer service representatives, assembly specialists and photographers.
There are many other high-paying, stable careers that you can obtain by improving your skills, earning a certification or license or doing an apprenticeship. Those showing growth include air traffic controllers, dental hygienists, diagnostic medical technologists, aerospace technicians, police officers and sales representatives.
If any of these careers are areas of interest for you, how do you land them?
If your work-life goal involves any skills-based jobs, you’ll want to:
Get more tips on getting in-demand jobs by watching the video below.
The most important thing to do to find and land in-demand jobs is to join a skills-matching platform such as pepelwerk, which offers an alternative to resumes and applications.
On our platform, you don’t need either. Instead, you develop a profile that highlights your abilities, attributes and attitudes. Based on this data and those within job profiles, machine learning algorithms match candidates with employers. This type of matching enables hiring managers to look at you as a complete person and see your potential. They can even request that you develop a specific skill to be ready for a position.
After the match, you’ll move to the interview process, and the platform manages this experience for you, ensuring transparency. Properly preparing for your interview will help you stand out even more.
pepelwerk is an innovative way for you to identify and contend for in-demand jobs. It’s people-centered technology that creates opportunities that aren’t available through traditional methods. This unique approach doesn’t discount you because you don’t have a degree. Rather, it helps you discover and improve the skills that matter.
Attend one of our events to experience this better way. View the events calendar today.