White collar worker is a term used for an employee in a business type setting. Blue collar workers refer to those in more industrial types of work. While these terms have been able to describe most jobs in the workforce, there’s a new hot phrase popping up: new collar workers.

New collar worker describes a tech-savvy professional who is likely to be drawn to work in Silicon Valley. Their skills can include programming and coding, and while their talent is essential to most companies these days, they may not necessarily have a degree. Here’s what HR needs to know about finding and hiring them.

Educational Background

Many new collar employees do come from traditional university backgrounds and hold degrees in computer science or similar majors. As technology grows, however, the fields within technology are expanding. The types of jobs within technology are increasing and some aspiring new collar workers aren’t confident a degree will cover what they want to learn specifically. Therefore, it’s becoming more and more common for students to enter their technology career through data science and web development boot camps or online classes.

Many experts also get their start and experience through freelancing. It’s important for recruiters to keep this in mind when conducting interviews for tech workers. If the candidate doesn’t have a typical four-year degree, do not count their experience and knowledge out. Instead, ask:

  1. When did you start this career path?
  2. How long have you been working in your field?
  3. What projects have you worked on? What clients have you had?
  4. Do you have a portfolio?
  5. What systems and software are you an expert in?

Make Recruiting Easy

Recruiting tech talent doesn’t have to be difficult. With HR recruitment software with Refered, your employees will have the incentive to find your company quality workers. Contact us today to learn more about how our software can help your business find the perfect candidates.

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