Give your CV a digital makeover? –
You may be more savvy than you think
Our lives operate online — study, shopping, our social time — so it makes sense that our working world is likely to operate online too. Whether it is about creating and storing information; using technology to make sense of things; or communicating effectively with customers or colleagues online, working life will usually operate online too. When we look for jobs, it follows that our prospective employers will be interested to see our digital capabilities, whatever the particular roles we go into. From big commercial organisations to the health service, local schools or government bodies, they will be interested to know what you can do and be able to see this clearly on your job applications. For some roles, including marketing, consumer insights, user X, for example, it will be more of a priority.
Does your digital know-how come across well on your applications and do your skillset justice?
“Many of us are just not sure what digital capabilities we are meant to have, or be talking about!”
Not sure what you have to offer?
Although students are typically thought of as a digital native, expected to operate seamlessly in the online space, there are many of us who are just not feeling it. Yes, you have a good few social media accounts and your Whats app speed could win medals, but will this cut it when competing for jobs? Many of us are just not sure what digital capabilities we are meant to have, or be talking about?
Your digital makeover
“When it comes to marketing our skillset effectively it makes a difference if we can use the right terminology and be clear about our level of expertise”
You probably won’t have all the skills you need yet, that is to be expected, but if you can highlight what you do have, and demonstrate an enthusiasm for digital proficiency, this will count. When it comes to marketing our skillset effectively it makes a difference if we can use the right terminology and be clear about our level of expertise too. Here are a few digital terms to get you started.
1. Digital communication & collaboration
Put simply this refers to being comfortable with, and able to effectively use a range of online communication tools. Many of you will be proficient with email and social media, but you could also talk about your ability to write blog posts, use video conferencing software, participate in online forums, deliver webinars or use online tools for working in groups such as Trello for file sharing and project management. Anything relevant to the work you are applying to do, or simply work in general, could be useful.
Tip: you can also talk about what you understand to be important and not just what you have done. Don’t undersell yourself, it can all count.
Sample CV entries: Digital communication
-Used blog posting and personal stories to engage 20% more students than in 2018.
-Proficient using Wordpress and Medium blogging software including tag clouds, polls to build a user community.”
2. Digital marketing
What about your ability to get your message out or influence others? Do you tailor your message to reach different audiences, or for different effects? If you have created and used social media to get something out, this is all relevant, whether for a student society, as a peer mentor or a volunteer for a charity. You may have made Facebook pages, blog posts, run a Twitter account or something different.
Tip: focus on the impact you had and how you did it! How many people did you reach, and what did you achieve, what techniques did you use to attract readers or subscribers? Did you use search engine optimisation (SEO) to get your message out, or analytics to track your success?
Sample CV entries: Digital marketing
– Used event pages successfully on social media platforms to effectively market the Psychology Christmas Ball and generated a 50% increase in attendance. Used effective tagging and SEO to reach a 20% wider audience.
-Developed webpages for the society using Tumblr and Udemy and developed a successful content strategy and calendar.
3. Digital Creation
Maybe you have created your own digital materials. Have you written web pages, made a podcast, a video or even an infographic? Being able to create and share new materials and talk about how you adapted it for the audience, builds on your marketing skills further.
Tip: Want to stand out? Talk about your experience with editing too. What editing packages did you and are you able to use? If you understand some of the technical or professional aspects of digital media production this can help to showcase what you know — such as copyright issues and plagiarism.
Sample CV entries: Digital Creation
— Produced and edited 5 videos to share stories with clients. Used YouTube Editor effectively to combine and produce engaging footage for maximum impact”.
4. Data Analysis & Research
Can you solve problems or gather data based on digital evidence? For example, can you design and administer online surveys, access online data sets, or use online digital tools or techniques such as SPSS to interpret findings? Are you competent running queries, doing statistical tests and generating reports with digital data?
Tip: Your degree can be a great area to demonstrate your data analysis skills and show employers what you can do. Talk about the types of research you have been involved in (quantitative, qualitative, surveys, focus groups etc) what techniques and tools you used and if these are online.
Sample CV entries: Research & Data Analysis
– Experienced with a range of qualitative and quantitative research techniques including online surveys (Lime Surveys, SurveyMonkey), focus groups (using audio recording) and informational interviewing.
-Extensive use of Excel and SPSS for analysis including creating formula and ensuring data quality assessment.
-Used Power BI and Tableau to present data effectively to internal clients at Powerhouse.
5. ICT Proficiency
You will already be competent using a range of digital systems and know how to adapt to new devices, technologies or apps. Some of you may even understand some of the basic concepts in coding or software and app development.
Tip: If you have any additional insights, it could show you as someone with an enthusiasm and motivation to know more.
Sample CV entries: IT skills
– Competent using a range of digital systems and technologies including Windows, Mac
- Currently learning basic coding languages Python and Html through Codingacademy.
-Maintained the company’s content management system at Halteck
Where to put all this on your CV? …
“The priority, however, is always what the employer says they are looking for”
I would recommend a combined approach. Your “Skills” section of your CV is a good place to start, and you could use some of the terms above as sub-headers, like Digital Marketing, Data Analysis, Research. If you want to talk about these skills under a specific experience, like a job or your degree studies, that is also fine, but again, a sub-header in there could help it get noticed.
The priority, however, is always what the employer says they are looking for. If the vacancy doesn’t mention any digital skills, it can be worth still adding them in, but not at the expense of demonstrating the employer’s priority skills first.
One more to explore for that extra polish!
Last one to consider — your digital professionalism. Is your online profile suitable for the work you want to go into and will it do you justice if your prospective employer has a look? It is always worth giving your digital reputation a once-over — what will a google search of your name bring up?
Tip: If you are using professional networking sites like LinkedIn, your profile should aim to be as up to date and maintained as the CV that you would submit for a job? For your other social media accounts, have a good look at your privacy settings, so that what goes on out of work, stays out of work!
Want to find out more:
Using LinkedIn Effectively — www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/findjobs/networking/linkedin/
Building your digital skills — debut.careers/insight/digital-skills-cv/
Digital media skills that employers value — www.thebalancecareers.com/digital-media-skills-2062387 [KB5]
