DIGITAL SKILLS
YOU need to upskill in digital if you want a job. Period.
It’s the biggest barrier you’ll have for keeping your existing role, landing a new one in the future or getting a pay rise or promotion.
I’m talking about gaining basic digital skills here, not specialist ones, and training yourself to be comfortable using them. These days, everyone needs to be a jack of all trades.
In an interview, if you can confidently say you can manage
Zoom meetings, send newsletters to databases, you are comfortable with Google docs and sheets and can design your own art to add to social media posts, you will be seen as an all-rounder that can get the job done. Combining experience and this suite of skills will make you highly employable.
There are plenty of free courses available or ask your manager if you can complete a paid course and if the company has a budget for that. Often you can negotiate for them to pay for the course if you do it in your own time.
For me, the top five skills all people need are:
1. Online meetings
This could be Zoom, Teams or Google hangouts, but you need to know how to book them, run them, how to record them – not just how to log in.
2. Email functions
Being able to manage your email and communications efficiently is important along with being able to send newsletters via marketing services such as Mailchimp.
3. Canva
You don’t have to be able to create art from scratch, but being confident using this graphic design platform to tweak a template is a must.
4. Social media
Don’t be scared of social media. You need to know the basics of how to post, boost your posts and how to analyse the results to ensure your campaigns are working. To start, think Facebook, Instagram and Linked In.
5. Diary management
Put your pen and paper away. You need to know how to run your digital diary online.