The constant development and advancement in technology have changed the landscape and operational activities in many fields and industries. Coupled with the fact that the internet is now easily accessible to almost everyone. You can now communicate with someone on the other side of the world effortlessly, and computers can now connect at an unprecedented speed.
This has paved the way for more job opportunities that involve using the internet to implement and execute. The nature of many jobs is also changing rapidly with advances in technology, as more and more people adopt it. It gives rise to the evolution of digital skills that people can develop. In this article, we’ll tell you about the top digital skills you can learn, but before we go into the details, what exactly is a digital skill?
Digital skills refer to the proficiency and knowledge individuals possess in using digital technologies and tools to perform tasks, solve problems, and communicate in the digital world.
In recent years, there has been a rise in the advocacy for learning a digital skill. There’s also an abundance of job opportunities for whichever one you choose to develop. Let’s talk about the different digital skills you can learn.
1. Data analysis: Data, they say, is life. Many companies now know how important data is to their operations and improvement. Data analysis involves monitoring, cleaning, and transforming data, with the aim of getting useful information and insights from them. These insights can help the company make intelligent decisions based on past occurrences and behaviours.
You can help a client or employer mitigate risk, gain competitive advantage, or make efficient use of resources with this skill. Data analysis is one of the most in-demand skills in the world, with a projection of 28% annual job growth by 2026.
2. Cybersecurity: As more people get tech savvy and with the constant improvement in technological tools, there’s also an increase in confidential (digital) information being stolen or systems that are hacked. This is where cybersecurity comes in.
Cybersecurity is the protection of systems connected to the internet like hardware, software, and data from cyber threats and risks. It involves employing various methods to protect sensitive information from cyber attacks. Many companies have data that must be protected from hackers or information that must be recovered when hacked, hence why there has been an increase in demand for cybersecurity experts in recent times.
3. Digital marketing: Digital marketing is the process of promoting and selling a product or service on the Internet. Mobile devices, websites, social media channels, and search engines are some of the most common channels used by digital marketers to sell goods and services.
There’s almost no company that doesn’t need digital marketing to promote what they do, and this is why digital marketing is one of the digital skills in high demand. Social media management, copywriting, Search Engine Optimization, Email marketing, etc, are all a subsection of digital marketing. You can also pick more than one to offer as a service and increase your hiring chances among many competitors.
4. Video editing: In recent times, there has been a rapid rise in the demand for video editors due to the high appeal of visual content. This cuts across different industries and most companies and clients now require video editing to create engaging video content that their target can easily consume.
Video editing is the process of cutting, trimming, arranging, and manipulating video shots with video editing tools and software to make a new body of work.
5. Graphic design: Similar to video editing, the increase in the demand for visually appealing content has paved the way for graphic designers to thrive. It involves the use of static designs to create content that consumers can see and easily understand.
Brand identity design, UI/UX design, and product design are some aspects of graphic design you can pick, depending on your area of interest or client demands.
6. Project management: In organizations where they have many teams working together to achieve a particular aim or goal, there’s usually a lead that guides and sees that everyone does their job how it should be done, and when it should be done. This is where project managers come in.
Project management is the process of directing the work of a team to achieve a target goal within a particular period. Project management ensures efficiency and prompt delivery of work by every member of the team. Getting a job done on time is crucial for any company and this is why project management is one of the digital skills in high demand.
7. Web development: If you look around, there’s hardly any company without a website. These websites are built by web developers. Web development involves the design, building, and maintaining a website. There are 3 types of web development you can choose from. front-end, back-end, and full-stack.
Front-end developers are responsible for the parts of a website that users see and interact with. Back-end developers are responsible for the part that powers a website and data storage. Full-stack developers are those who can build both the front-end and back-end of a website.
There's almost no disadvantage to learning a digital skill. The opportunities and benefits are immense and limitless.
1. Career advancement: With a digital skill, you can choose to seek employment opportunities and offer your skill as a service in exchange for money. You can also learn a digital skill to complement a skill you already have, as a means of improvement in your field. This will allow you to offer better and more inclusive services, and also charge your prospective clients higher, or request a salary raise depending on your purpose for acquiring the skill.
2. Remote work option: Most digital skills allow you the luxury of working from anywhere in the world. As long as you can access the internet and deliver jobs to your employer or client, a digital skill can be done remotely, from your comfort.
3. Lifelong learning: Digital skills also challenge you to seek knowledge and improve your skills. There will always be innovations, systems, methods, tips, and tricks that can help you in your career. So, learning a digital skill ensures you stay sharp and ready to improve.
4. Critical thinking and problem-solving skills: You’ll be challenged to think critically to tackle most of the problems you’ll be solving. Digital skills require you to solve different problems that are unique to your target audience, clients, or employers. This ensures that you develop critical thinking skills and problem-solving ability to compete.
Conclusion
There are many digital skills you can pick from and we have mentioned some that are in high demand in this article. It’s the digital age and you can pick one of these skills and find resources online to learn from.
