Needle, Meet Haystack

First off, I want to allay any suspicion or concern that this is turning into a fashion blog.  While I like suiting up as much as the next fella, I don’t think that I’m particularly inclined to start doling out advice on clothes.

No, this is about personal definitions.

For generations, jobs have been separated into that either-or category: either you’re a blue collar (manual/physical labor) or a white collar (office/mental labor).  Much like the white hats and the black hats of the Old West, there was no cause or reason for further delineation.  Either you worked with your head or you worked with your hands.  But then, a funny thing happened.  Industries started getting in on the act.

There were soon green collar jobs for alternative energy/agricultural/conservation positions.  I’ve heard of medical, volunteer and disaster relief work referred to as red collar positions.  And there might be some morticians or morgue operators who fancy their collars to be referred to as black.  The career wardrobe has begun to expand.  In fact, some people may have several different colors and types in their job closets.

Whereas careers might have been once defined by whether someone was working inside or outside (the simplest way of separating white and blue collars), now it’s a matter of specialization.  How are you using information?  Where are your skills applied?  In what way do your tasks fit in with the organizational hierarchy and operations?

It can all get so terribly confusing.

Pretty soon, we’ll have people defining their work with paisley collars, tartan collars, polka dot collars, popped collars and no collars.  Companies will make every effort to differentiate their work by giving their employees new collars.  But really, it’s indicative of a new trend in the working world.

The competencies and skills needed for many jobs continue to grow and expand to such a degree that they become overly specific.  Instead of becoming well-lopsided, people are becoming trained in specializations that ensure that finding a different career will become increasingly difficult for them.  In an age of high employee turnover, companies are fighting back by making their workers proficient in such small niches that they may not be employable anywhere else, even for competitors.

This specialized knowledge comes at a price, though.  If an employee does leave, they create a knowledge vacuum that can be difficult, if not impossible, to fill.  Or, to stretch back to the original metaphor, it’s like taking essential clothes out of one’s wardrobe.  Like socks.  Or underpants.

As much as we may strive for better definitions and comprehensions of our careers, there comes to be a point when things get too specialized and categorized.  Sometimes, it’s better to stick with the basics, for both employees and employers.  After all, it’s just a collar – not the whole shirt.