lionel barzon iii: four digital skills for your career

TO FURTHERYOUR CAREER

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FOUR DIGITAL SKILLS

BY LIONEL BARZON III

Whether we like it or not, the world isgoing digital.

We’re making the switch fromnewspapers and magazines to digital

journals, news websites and e-magazines. Our books are being

scanned and uploaded to the internet asebooks, as some prefer a lightweight

electronic alternative to the feel offlipping a page with your fingers.

The skills that were useful–or evencompletely necessary–just a decade or

so ago are now outdated and rarelyused. Penmanship was important wheneverything was done on paper, but with

the takeover of digitalization, yourhandwriting has taken a backseat to

computer skills.

GOING DIGITAL

WEB DESIGN/ WORDPRESS

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I.

Learning how to code and build awebsite from scratch is somethingthat will come in handy long term,

but not everyone has the time or theresources to learn how to code to alevel of proficiency that would help

land them a job in IT.

Taking the time to learn some basicsof web design–even simply creatinga Wordpress blog and fiddling withthe design–can be beneficial. From

there, purchasing domains andhosting your website is not only a

great way to learn more about the insand outs of web design and

Wordpress, but a great branding playfor future employers to find.

WEB / WORDPRESS

SOCIAL MEDIA PROFICIENCY

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II.

No longer is Twitter limited to the 140character musings of you and yourfriends; no longer is Facebook onlyfor posting vacation photos, and no

longer is SnapChat for sendingpictures of you making strange faces

to your friends to procrastinatestudying.

Businesses use social media asadvertising, customer service,

promotional and news-breakingservices. Knowing the ins and outs of

social media platforms from top tobottom is a valuable skill to have right

now.

SOCIAL MEDIA

PHOTOSHOP/ GIMP

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III.

It may not be able to replace a degreein graphic design, but knowing yourway around a Photoshop toolbar can

come in handy in a wealth ofpositions open right now.

Some people will understandablybalk at the price of Photoshop, so

Gimp, a free photo-editing tool, is agood alternative.

Taking a quick tour through the toolsavailable, coupled with online

tutorials available, can open up careeropportunities you might otherwisehave been unable to attain without

photo manipulation skills.

PHOTOSHOP /GIMP

MICROSOFT EXCEL

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IV.

Microsoft Office Suite is no longersomething you need to highlight on

resumes–most employers expect thatthose seeking employment will have a

sound understanding of Word,Powerpoint, etc. These are no longeradditions to a resume, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t

have that skill set.

Microsoft Excel, however, remains animportant facet of most businesses.

Going beyond a basic understanding,using internet tutorials to learn the

depth of possibilities associated withExcel can exponentially increase yourpotential contributions to a business.

MICROSOFT EXCEL

DIGITALSKILLS

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WRAP UP

THESE ARE THE BROADER, OVERARCHING SUGGESTIONS AREJUST THAT–GENERAL AND BROAD. DEPENDING ON THE FIELD

YOU INTEND TO GO INTO AFTER GRADUATION, A DIFFERENT SETOF SKILLS IS MORE THAN LIKELY NECESSARY.