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PC skills will take you nowhere: improve your digital competences

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‘PC skills desired’ was a phrase often seen in job vacancies not that long ago. It only entailed knowledge on how to use a computer and send emails. Today, even though applicants still highlight MS Office proficiency in their resume, computer are far surpassed.

 

To survive in this digitalized world, you need a confident and critical usage of a full range of digital technologies for information, communication and basic problem-solving. Not only at work; digital skills are also essential for learning and actively participating in society.

 

Digital competence is certainly in demand. But what exactly does it mean? The total list of competencies would be too long to compile, not to say pointless in this “digital everything” world. However, we can point out some examples of digital knowledge any employer might require.

 

Cloud skills. Many companies are migrating all their data to the cloud. Teams should be familiar with what their cloud infrastructure looks like and where all the data is supposed to go. They should also know the procedures for bringing new data into the cloud by heart.

 

Cybersecurity and privacy. Networks, systems, and software become more complex, and digital footprint expands. This creates a growing urgency to secure data. Knowledge in intrusions detection systems, secure software or cloud security is ever more desirable.

 

Data literacy. An increasing number of organizations demands some degree of data literacy from all employees. This includes knowing what data is appropriate to use for a particular purpose, interpreting data visualizations (graphs and charts) and understanding data analytics tools and methods.

 

Programming and Multi-platform UX design. You should understand the general aspects of technology that powers the products. Learn concepts of data structures and objects, how they work together and how they are built from other objects through inheritance and composition.

 

Digital competence has become a complex cultural skill. Should you want to be active in the digital ocean, start swimming your digital laps on a regular basis now. And remember: digital competence developmentas any kind of learning—is part of a lifelong learning process that never ends.