All of the time you have spent on online and on social media can be used to demonstrate your digital literacy. Digital literacy can be defined as:
The capabilities which fit someone for living, learning and working in a digital society
The skills are important to potential employers. For some careers you can translate your 'digital literacy' into important employability skills. This is because many small businesses, marketers and media companies are looking for graduates who are competent with social media and online technologies as these are important platforms for business and commerce. It is also essential for many customer services roles with an increasing number of businesses turning to Twitter and Facebook as their primary contact mechanism with customers. Competencies with social media can enable you to demonstrate that you know what makes a good tweet to a marketing firm or help you show that you can take a small business forward by creating their social media presence.
How can you find out what digital capabilities you have? Get started by identifying and developing your digital capabilities by creating your personalised report. University of Hull staff and students can access this by logging on to the Jisc Discovery Tool.
Identifying your experience
If you have managed the social media presence or website for a club, society, sports team or other organisation this is a great way to demonstrate your skills. It could be something your potential employer is really looking for. Even if you don’t have such experience, managing your own profile will have enable you to demonstrate you have the skills to take this further.
Remember. Social media is a great way to connect with friends, but it also helps businesses connect with customers. Social media engagement is a great way to generate leads, provide customer service and gain exposure. If you show you understand this, it can be a real advantage in customer service and marketing roles.
While social media is useful, don’t forget to tick the boxes of more traditional communication tools. Writing professional emails and demonstrating competency with making and answering telephone calls is still essential for many roles. Make sure you over these basics and demonstrate your additional competencies with social media to secure go beyond!
Digital literacy is not just about your social media abilities and online skills. It encompasses all forms of technology. JISC (2015) have identified 6 core elements to digital literacy. ICT proficiency sits at the heart of this model as confidence with different devices is central to all aspects of digital literacy. Digital identity and wellbeing surrounds all aspects of digital literacy as it requires you to be aware of your digital footprint across all of your activities. Check out the other sections of this website for more information on how to develop skills across all these areas.
It is useful to consider what different skills you have in these areas and how they are useful for potential employers.
Careers and Employability Service:
These pages were developed in collaboration with the Careers and Employability Service. The Careers and Employability Service supports all University of Hull students and graduates with all aspects of their career from finding out what you can do with your degree to practical support with interviews, psychometric tests and assessment centres. For more information, check out their website: www.hull.ac.uk/careers