Digital skills every job seeker should learn

In today’s digital age, employers expect candidates to have digital literacy. Even if your job isn’t technically a ‘digital’ role, you still need a set of digital skills for most jobs. These aren’t necessarily skills for your CV. These are skills that help you navigate the day to day tasks in your job. Many employers will expect you to have these digital skills. So if you don’t have them yet, you could take a little course to upskill yourself.

8 digital skills for every job seeker

• Social media
• Content creation
• Excel/Google sheets
• Virtual conferences
• Troubleshooting
• Digital collaboration
• Word processing
• Touch typing

Social media

Social media is a part of the corporate world whether you like it or not. Social media is a place to network and stay up-to-date with industry news. And some roles, particularly in sales, even expect you to use social media to boost sales. So be sure to get to grips with platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram for professional use.

Content creation

Content creation goes hand in hand with social media. There’s no use in creating social media profiles if you don’t know how to create engaging content. This could be anything from videos to posts to status updates. Sometimes you need other applications like Canva to help create posts. There are tons of free courses online to help you upskill with content creation.

Excel / Google sheets

Most businesses will use Excel or Google Sheets to collate data. And sometimes they expect employees to use them too. But they won’t always provide training on how to use them. So make sure you know how to edit, save and share these documents. 

Virtual conferences

Ever since 2020, virtual conference calls have become the norm. Especially in this world of remote working. As a job seeker, most employers will expect you to know how to schedule and attend a video call. This could be on software like Zoom or Google Hangouts. So familiarise yourself with these platforms. They’re free to try!

Troubleshooting

Computers are temperamental. But you can’t run to your manager every time your computer crashes. You need to be able to troubleshoot your own computer for common problems. Here are some basic computer troubleshooting techniques you’ll need:

• Restarting
• Clearing cookies and cache
• Installing software updates
• Backing up work
• Freeing up online storage space
• Changing your browser

Digital collaboration

Companies use online platforms, like Asana, Slack and Trello, to collaborate between teams. This is really useful for project work, especially for remote teams. These platforms allow you to communicate as a group and track the progress of the project. So be sure to have a play around with these softwares so you can feel more confident at work.

Word processing 

Word processing is now seen as a basic employee skill. It shows you’re able to use a keyboard and format documents and emails. This will be a useful skill in most jobs. So make sure you’re confident with composing emails and typing letters.

Touch typing 

Back in the 90s, very few people could touch type. But in today’s world, younger generations grow up knowing how to touch type. So if you’re a bit slow on the old keyboard, try taking a touch-typing course to speed things up. If you’re too slow at typing, it could hinder your chances of doing your job efficiently.

The digital age

Whether you like it or not, we’re living in a digital age. And digital skills are now expected of most employees. If you’re a little rusty, don’t worry. You don’t need to be an expert. You just need to know the basics!

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