Episode: 257

Episode Title: Skills Are Everything

There are currently 3.3 million open jobs in the U.S. that don’t require a four-year degree. And this number is only going to grow. Here’s why, coming up next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 257 show:

Hello and welcome—you are now in The Perna Syndicate! I’m your host, Mark Perna, and this week we’re talking about the major shift taking place in the labor market. Traditionally, a wide range of desirable careers list a college degree as a prerequisite for applying. But with 9 million open jobs in America as of April, it’s clear that employers need to rethink what they’re demanding from potential employees. 

This is leading many companies toward a more skills-based hiring approach, where the degree is largely optional—but the skills are everything. This shift is going to open doors for many workers who were previously shut out of these types of positions. 

Yet for all this, the four-year degree isn’t going away. I recently talked to LinkedIn executive Jennifer Shappley on this topic, and she believes that college degrees will continue to play a role in signaling the skills and experience that job seekers possess. In some fields it’s absolutely necessary to complete your degree. 

But for many other roles, it’s time to move away from hiring solely based on titles, degrees, and schools, to more of a focus on skills and abilities. There are currently 3.3 million open jobs in the U.S. that don’t require a four-year degree. This is an increase of nearly 40% in 2020 compared to 2019. 

The college degree is no longer the sole gatekeeper of high-demand careers. Skills are everything—and this is good news for companies and candidates alike. 

So if the college degree is becoming just one of many different ways to prove your credentials, what are the others? Let’s talk about it on tomorrow’s episode of The Perna Syndicate. We’ll see you then!