In the modern workplace, digital skills are highly sought after. Understanding the kinds of skills employers are looking for and working to develop them can make a big difference to your employability. In this guide, we outline some of the top digital skills in demand to help students boost their job prospects in the future.
8 Top Digital Skills for Employability
Using Social Media
Nearly all companies and organisations have some form of online presence including social media. Using social media sites are a cheap and easy way to reach your audience. Profiles are free to set up and they are relatively inexpensive to promote posts unlike running and managing a website, however that is becoming increasingly easier and cheaper to do.
Using Analytics
Online analytics are often a key driver for a business. Having skills in this area is a great way to stand out. Using data from social media engagement or clicks on a website is created to develop a business so having this as a skill is great.
Creating Content
There is so much content available online from videos to blogs to infographics to social media status updates. Having skills in developing a variety of content types can set you apart from other candidates.
Using Email
The use of emails are a successful communication method as a marketing tool, so being able to utilise this method to engage your audience is crucial. Articulating yourself well over email will not only help with job or university interviews, but will also help you better communicate with your colleagues and tutors. You may use emails to liaise with a business you may like to work for or know more about a university course. Being able to use different communication methods as ‘a way in’ to an organisation shouldn’t be underestimated and can be used to your advantage!
Utilising Mobile Devices
Using mobile communication keeps us connected to each other with smartphone connectivity taking over desktop as a way to access information. Having the skill set and understanding can enhance your employability by understanding how an organisation interacts with their audience through different devices.
Using Strategy & Planning
Successful business embed strategic planning through all of the work they do. For example, a charity will still have aims and key targets to meet. Thinking strategically about the way they do this is important to achieving this. Being able to analyse engagement data from events or activities and produce an action plan, will show future employers you are forward thinking and taking into consideration different factors that may affect their organisation.
Editing Photos
Photo and document creation or editing is a great skill to have. Being able to edit photos for different purposes such as social media posts, blog backgrounds, website icons shows a variety of skills and how you can adapt content for different purposes. You can develop these skills through free apps on a mobile or a tablets or use software that may be available through your school or college to expand your skills.
Creating Videos
Whether you are creating short videos for TikTok, vlogs for Instagram TV or a creating an opening scene of a film, you will need to have some video editing skills to be able to do this. Video editing software is much more widely accessible, particularly as there are lots of free apps on mobile phones that you can use. Why not try making a ‘day in the life of’ vlog or just filming snippets of your day to day life. Being able to create video content is a skill that despite many of us have access to, is still not widely used so enhance your employability and give it a go!
Activity 1
Now you’ve read about some different digital skills, we’ve created a case study for you to work through.
Case Study: An animal charity is wanting to increase their engagement through donations and adoptions of their household pets. Create a marketing strategy and highlight which skills you may need for each area of the strategy.
You may wish to use our example below as a guide.
We have also pulled together some handy links which you might want to use to help put together your marketing campaign.
Activity 2
After reading through the digital skills and applying them to a case study, it’s now time to think about your own digital skills.
You may not have tried or heard of some of these digital skills but think about how you can develop your skill set to make yourself the standout candidate for university or an apprenticeship interview.
- Which of these skills do you already use and when do you use them?
- Which would you like to develop and how can you do this in school/college or at home?
- Write down a 5-step action plan for how you could develop these skills. Think about the action you will take, how you will complete this action, by what date and the impact this can have on your skillset.