MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint… These are common computer skills you need to excel and be productive as a professional. These skills are still relevant and useful today. But as the world of work evolves, the computer skills and technical know-how you need to excel in also rapidly evolving. So in today’s video, we share with you 10 high-demand computer technology tools you should consider learning how to use to excel in your career. Before we get to it, be sure to subscribe to After School Africa for more insightful videos like this.
1. Ad management tools
Advertising management has evolved into a lucrative, highly inclusive profession due to digital media technologies like search engines and social media. Now more than ever businesses of all sizes depend on advertising to reach and attract new customers. Skills in Advertising Management is one of the best options for candidates who aspire to get into media and marketing.
To work as a professional ad manager, there are important ad management tools you have to learn. Most of the important ones have certification programmes to qualify as certified ad manager. Facebook Blueprint Certification programs award credentials to individuals who demonstrate advanced-level proficiency in various aspects of digital marketing with Facebook products. Google Ad and Ad manager certificate and Microsoft advertising certificate are also helpful to help you stand out as a qualified ad manager.
2. Email Marketing Tools
For businesses, email is not just an electronic alternative to send and read letters, it is a powerful business building tool. I’m sure you get a lot of personalized bulk emails from businesses or online marketers or even your friend on social media. You started getting these emails after entering your name and email address on a website and subscribed to a newsletter to get a free downloadable materials. You may have received a series of auto-responder email delivered to your mail box over a period of seven days after subscribing.
All this is possible with email campaign management tools. Learning how to use these tools can help to grow your business or employers business. Some email management tools include Mailchimp, Aweber, and GetResponse.
3. Graphic Design tools
From photo editing to typography tools to stunning and imaginative design, the industry-standard graphic design tool gives creators of all kinds everything they need to create professional work fast—for literally any type of design project.
Whether it’s creating a logo design, book cover designs, designing social media graphics or putting together a brochure, you’re going to need graphic design software to create, design, edit, or enhance digital images. Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign are probably the best professional graphic design tools you need to learn. Even if graphic design is not your calling, you may find it helpful to your list of proficiency.
4. Video Design tools
Video content is taking over content-consumption on the internet. That shouldn’t come as a surprise since you are watching a video right now instead of reading an article. YouTube is currently the largest search engine in the world after Google search. Businesses are increasingly including video content into their marketing strategy. There is huge opportunity for those skilled in using industry-standard video design and editing tools. Some of the best video design and editing tools you can learn include Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Camtasia, Pinnacle Studio and many others. There are also animated video design tools like Maya, Adobe Animate, After Effect, Blender and many others.
5. Cloud Computing Services
Cloud computing jobs are on the rise because more and more companies are switching from the classical server infrastructure to cloud solutions. Amazon Web Services is one of these cloud platforms, featuring content delivery, database storage, networking, and over 50 services in total. AWS specialists are usually engineers, cloud architects, or system administrators. IT professionals who are cloud computing certified earn more than their non-certified counterparts. It’s one of the most profitable skills an IT employee can learn to level up their tech career, as cloud computing specialists earn the highest of all certifications in the United States and Canada. Google cloud computing certification, CCNA Cloud, MCSE are alternative cloud computing skills. You will find comprehensive cloud computing courses online.
Here is a side note: It’s one thing to have the right skills; it’s another thing to know how to mention them in your portfolio. Most people just copy and paste a list of computer skills on their CV.If you want your CV to make the hiring manager say “we’ve found our new employee”, show how you’ve used your computer skills to achieve significant result productively and efficiently.
6. Data Visualization Tools
In the field of data science, data visualization is undoubtedly the keyword today. No matter what data you want to analyze, performing data visualization seems to be a necessary step. Data visualization is a way to help people understand the significance of data by placing it in a visual context; for instance, by turning spreadsheets or reports into charts and graphs that can be easily understood. Think of this as a bridge between technical and non-technical roles. You’re taking the data collected by analysts and transforming it into a form anyone can understand. There are online courses on data visualization on platforms like Edx and Coursera. You can learn how to design interactive charts and customized maps using Google Sheets, Tableau, Highcharts, and Leaflet.
7. Data Analytics Tools
Two consistently in-demand tech jobs within Big Data include data science and data analytics. Revenue from Big Data applications and analytics is projected to grow from $5.3B in 2018 to $19.4B in 2026. Data analysis is the more entry-level skill, whereas data science gets more advanced, but the careers are still cousins. Industries needing data professionals span education, finance, health, software, and more. There are many data analytic tools out there. R and Python programming language, MS Excel, Microsoft and IBM Business Intelligence tool are skills you can start from.
8. Market Research tools
Keyword research and web analytics are lucrative marketing tools in demand today. If the eyes are the window to the soul, Keywords research tools, like Google Keyword Planner, are the window to the web. The Keywords tool acts as a window into the behavior of consumers when searching online for products or services.
Web Analytics, like Google Analytics, can provide feedback as to how visitors are behaving whilst on your website, where they are coming from, what social media channels bring the most engaging visitors, amongst many other insights. For beginners, you should start your market research skill learning Google analytics and Keyword Planner tools.
9. Content Management tools
These days, websites are so much more than words and pictures on a page. While design and content are still important, it’s becoming increasingly critical to put thought into the platform website is built on.
A content management system (CMS) is an application that is used to manage web content, allowing multiple contributors to create, edit and publish. Content in a CMS is typically stored in a database and displayed in a presentation layer based on a set of templates. The content manager is responsible for managing the creation, editing, publishing, and distribution process of content within an organization. And this requires skill in content management systems. Content Management is a lucrative career that is in demand today. WordPress is the most popular content management system you’ll want to learn how to use. Other options are Hubspot, Joomla, Drupal and Magento.
10. Programming Tools
Coding is language that allows computers to understand what you want them to do. There are thousands of programming languages out there that allow developers to create games, apps, software programs, and special effects. Code is what makes our computer programs function, from basic word processing, to building or running a website, to playing video games, to navigating airplanes. The software required to do all this is simply lines of code that are written by human beings.
To have a foundation of programming language skills can open doors in many different ways. You can offer help with security, web development, data analysis, or coding. When it comes to specific programming language skills, there are some notable trends:
- HTML and CSS are the easiest languages to start with if you’re new to coding
- Python is the fastest-growing language and second most popular on GitHub
- JavaScript is the most commonly used programming language
- Go is highly in demand, but low in supply; only 7% of developers work with it often
- Scala, Ruby, Typescript and Kotlin are also some top in-demand skills with comparatively low developer familiarity
Of course, the language that’s best for you to learn depends on your specific goals.
In summary, if you don’t have the basic computer skills you need to excel in your career and stand out from the crowd. There are lots of free and affordable online classes to beef up your computer tech skills. So start developing your IT skills today.
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