Which digital literacy skills are employers seeking

Once, the “ideal employee” was an individual who could check off all the right boxes. At least three years of relevant experience: check. Proficiency on such-and-such software platform: check. Graduated from X tier university: check. At the time, such qualifications seemed like enough to predict who would succeed in the job, and who wouldn’t. But in the fast-changing digital workplace, you need employees with an entirely Let go of your outdated recruiting methods Digital transformation calls for new talent requirements HR leaders are increasingly realizing that employees who seem great on paper might still lack the skills necessary to thrive during periods of major change, such as The skills gap is widening According to research from skills. Demand for high-level Know what you’re looking for Digital literacy is critical for employees during technology-driven change and to succeed in a digital business landscape in general. But being digitally literate requires learning — very few candidates will come to you with expertise on all software platforms used throughout the business. A high volume of software, combined with complex and Soft skills are in high demand Tech skills aside, the most progressive HR leaders are increasingly shifting their focus toward qualifications such as intelligence, aptitude, and attitude. The ideal candidate today is creative, adaptable, self-driven, and good at problem-solving. Having people with these traits helps you support an agile, Let go of ...

After months of studying, you’ll be excited to embark on your new career path with a degree in hand. But there’s still one more hurdle to clear before you can proudly say you love your work: landing a job. You’re confident your education will eventually give you the technical skills you’ll need, but the interview process still concerns you. Positions at the best companies can be competitive, even in growing industries—so what can you do to make yourself stand out as a qualified job candidate? While some fields are more technically-demanding than others, like 7 Soft skills employers look for when hiring When it comes to what employers look for when trying to fill a vacancy, it's about more than just the technical skills. Those abilities are expected in order to fulfill the job duties. But it's often the soft skills that separate an average employee from a great employee. Soft skills are traits like teamwork, listening and communication, which may not seem as important as technical skills, but they make a big impact in the workplace. No matter what your ideal career path looks like you’ll use soft skills—whether that’s communicating with patients as a “Companies can train employees in technical skills, but soft skills are much harder to teach,” says Sophie Miles, cofounder of Take a look at these soft skills so you’re prepared when you embark on the job hunt. You might even discover you already have many of these top skills employers look for when hiring. 1. Communication Yo...

Photo: Philipp Katzenberger via unsplash.com As the world of work continues to evolve, driven by technology and the need to understand different technological platforms when securing new roles within the job market, many of today’s workforce are seeking ways to level up professionally. Many are driven to improve data literacy in hopes that it leads to a promotion or raise. It also stands that with more sensitive information being contained within a company’s data system, the need for data literacy has also seen a rise in demand. Looking at the career path aspects, The survey comes from Unsupervised, based on a poll of employees and business managers who were asked about their data literacy skills and expectations. The types of • Cyber and data security. • Software as a service (SAAS) often known as ‘cloud software’. • Storage and management of data. • Communication and collaborative digital tools. • Presentation of data. • Mobile devices. • Social media for business. • Digital problem solving. In terms of business growth and productivity, the same survey found that almost 1 in 3 hiring managers attributed increased revenue to managers offering increased data training to employees. When this does not happen, the business is sub-optimal and too many employees are left to learn how to interpret data by themselves. With this, only about 1 in 5 employers was found to be offering data training to their employees. Many workers have been forced to go down the self-learning path in...

If you’re in the process of looking for a new job, you’ve probably seen skills like attention to detail, customer service and collaboration listed in job postings. These skills, like digital literacy, fall into a broad category of abilities that are fundamentally important yet sometimes easy to overlook. “Digital literacy is everywhere, and everyone possesses some level of it,” says Karin Cross-Smith, president of Have you ever seen a child pick up a smartphone and start using it intuitively? Fixed your buggy internet connection to set up a smart TV? Or have you ever watched a video tutorial to teach yourself to use a new app? Cross-Smith explains that all of these examples stem from digital literacy. “It's the ability to navigate an environment that's fully integrated with diverse technologies.” These days, most careers and work environments utilize a myriad of technologies, and employers want to know that their job candidates will be able to keep up. Digital literacy is commonly defined as a soft skill since it’s less about one specific technology (the likes of which are changing daily) and more about the ability to learn and adapt to technology. That said, being digitally literate is not the same thing as being a good learner. To shed some light on this in-demand skill, we asked hiring managers to explain what they mean when they ask for digital literacy in their fields. What is digital literacy, specifically? Digital literacy involves four major pillars, according to J...

Note: NSC hosted a webinar exploring findings from this report on June 3, 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought home the importance of digital skills for workers in virtually every industry and occupation. Throughout the United States, people are scrambling to adapt to a new reality in which Overall, nearly one in three workers lack foundational digital skills, according to the report, How are digital skills being defined? For this report, National Skills Coalition defined four levels of foundational digital skills: • No digital skills: People with no digital skills failed to meet one or more of the three baseline criteria to even take the full digital skills assessment: 1) prior computer use, 2) willingness to take the computer-based assessment, or 3) ability to complete four out of six very basic computer tasks, such as using a mouse or highlighting text on screen. • Limited digital skills: People with limited digital skills can complete only very simple digital tasks that have a generic interface and just a few steps. As an example, people at this level would have a difficult time sorting email responses to an event invitation into pre-existing folders to keep track of who can and cannot attend an event. • Proficient digital skills: People at this level would typically struggle with tasks that require the use of both generic and specific technology applications. For example, a person might not be able to complete a task involving with the use of a new type of online f...

Management thinker Peter Drucker is famously quoted as saying, "You can't manage what you can't measure." Drucker’s axiom embodies the recent spike in efforts to define, measure and assess digital skills — steps essential toward building and managing a digitally skilled workforce. As the pace of digital transformation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) speeds up, workers and entrepreneurs increasingly need digital skills to succeed in an evolving marketplace. A common starting point for most policy makers is to identify frameworks that can be used to measure these skills. In our The competency landscape has proliferated with frameworks. These, in turn, are being used to develop training materials to: • Find new ideas for working with — or thinking critically about — digital technologies • Conduct self-assessments by workers • And find language to describe those skills to different audiences, including future employers. Multiple competency frameworks have surfaced in public and private sector organizations. Some are employee-oriented, while others focus on K–12 students, and may see increased uptake due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Emphasis is rising on remote learning anyway. IT industry-oriented frameworks and their certifications could also see more takers because of the need for remote working, and for more digital jobs, during the pandemic response. Common to most frameworks are the basic digital literacy skills needed by a general audience. These skills include k...

How Digital Literacy Affects the Modern Workforce As technology becomes more and more commonplace in everyday lives, nowhere does it have more changing impact than on the workforce and individual job requirements. Employers need digitally literate employees because modern jobs require digital producers, and computer use is only the beginning. Addressing that skill set gap, Modern jobs require digital producers “The ability to create digital content, consume it, act on it, communicate it, share it, find it — all that is tied to patient care,” Students in culinary school, for example, need to know more than food. Dante Pozzi, a production supervisor for food and nutrition services at Christiana Care, manages software that helps adjust recipes to serve up thousands of meal orders a day. Predictive Because the workforce is becoming more and more digitized, employers now are looking for new hires to be digitally literate with the soft skills like collaboration, persuasive communication, critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving, and are offering benefits like the flexibility to accommodate this type of valuable employee. Academic leadership needs to consider improving their students’ digital literacy in order to develop graduates who are competitive in a modern workforce. Jan Rune Holmevik, associate professor in the Department of English and co-director of Clemson University’s Center of Excellence, knows there is “We’ve recognized that consumption and production of di...

The labor market is constantly evolving in today’s fast-paced world, and the skills employers value most are shifting in response. This fluidity in professional requirements demands that job seekers continually reassess and refine their skill sets to remain competitive. Let’s explore the top professional skills employers are currently seeking in 2023. 1. Digital Literacy 2. Data Literacy In our data-driven society, 3. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving These skills are particularly valued in our fast-paced, complex world. 4. Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to understand and manage your emotions and those of others. High EQ translates to better teamwork, leadership, and 5. Adaptability and Flexibility Change is a constant in the professional world, and employers value individuals who can adapt to new situations and challenges. This includes learning new skills, adjusting to new roles or environments, and managing change effectively. Flexibility also involves being open-minded and receptive to new ideas, which is crucial for innovation. 6. Communication Skills 7. Leadership Skills 8. Time Management In today’s multitasking environment, 9. Collaboration and Teamwork Despite the rise of remote work, 10. Continuous Learning With the rapid pace of technological change, the Tomorrow’s blog entry will talk about how to develop these in-demand skills and show your employer that you are ready for the promotion. Post navigation