I am the first to admit that I am a total laggard when it comes to the digital world. I recently overheard one of my colleagues in the office on the phone talking about wireframes and information architecture, so when she hung up I casually asked "are you renovating your place?"! I won't even begin to explain the strange look she gave me. It turns out she was simply briefing one of her candidates on a potential job opportunity!
OK so I clearly have a lot to learn ...
But I then started to question my colleague on what the role was that she had been briefing the candidate about, and the conversation took on a entirely new direction as we started to discuss how candidates who want to be taken seriously in the digital world really need to up their skills.
It appears that there are far too many people (both employers and candidates alike) who are simply placing the word "digital" in front of a job title in an attempt to keep up with the times. Who would have thought a Digital Production Manager could simply be a glorified term to describe an Office Manager? Apparently it's quite the trend!
Whilst it may seem like I am stating the obvious, if you are a talent in the digital space looking for a new role, you can't expect to find a job (or even make it through the interview process) without having an online portfolio clearing demonstrating your web skills - or at least having urls listed in your CV with links to your work that highlight your hands-on digital experience.
If you want to stand out as a digital specialist, you will need to keep up with all the advances in technology by reading industry newsletters or perhaps even signing up for some courses - the content of which are always being updated.
There's a great deal of information out there, and as I think of some more career tips or pointers for the digital space, I will share them with you ...
Just as an aside ... as I walked away from her desk, my colleague suggested that I check out webopedia if I really wanted to get my head around some of the terms being thrown around in the interactive space. All I can say is that I then became even more confused when I came across supposedly the latest buzz words including sockstress and Longhorn!
I have a long way to go!
Image courtesy of: urbanbicyclist
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