30 Digital Skills to Learn Before You’re 30
1. Advertising skills
If a client wanted to advertise a product or service online, would you be up for the challenge? Setting up accounts to place ads is difficult. Managing advertising campaigns is even more difficult. That said, if you become proficient at managing a client’s online marketing, then could become invaluable to that client.
2. Email marketing skills
Email marketing services don’t just get customers to click and buy. They also can be used to motivate people to take social and political action. While learning how to use a newsletter service such as VerticalResponse or MailChimp, also learn the basics about writing e-newsletters, such as having a compelling subject line and giving people a reward for reading.
3. Personal branding skills
If you don’t already think of yourself as a brand, maybe today’s a great day to start doing so. Your digital presence — or absence — can mean the difference between getting — or not getting — a job.
4. Digital publishing skills
Do you have a collection of essays or photos that you think would be better in a book than, say, a website or a blog? If so, consider looking into e-book self-publishing and distribution services.
5. User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) skills
If you can have a meaningful conversation with a UX or UI designer, you’ll be one step ahead of most of your colleagues and competitors. To start with, consider learning about the basics, such as general ways to improve the usability of a product.
6. Future-proofing skills
A product is “future proof” if it won’t need to be significantly updated as technology changes. If you can view apps and websites in terms of how they might meet potential future requirements and opportunities, then you’ll be a cut above many other people.
7. Digital etiquette skills
Some of the basic rules of digital etiquette, also known as “netiquette,” include adhering to the same standards of behavior online that you would follow in real life, not spamming, helping keep flame wars under control, and forgiving other people’s digital mistakes.
8. Internet Protocol (IP) address skills
Each laptop and phone you use has a unique number assigned to it. This number helps networks and websites know where your device is. To guard against hackers and viruses exploiting your IP address, consider learning about services that “hide” it.
9. Business intelligence skills
Mastering business intelligence will enable you to turn raw data into useful information and answer questions such as the following. Which customer segments are buying what? What do all the clicks mean? What really makes our customers happy?
10. Note-taking skills
Sure, we all regularly take notes on our phones and in our email. But when you need a particular note, can you find it? If not, maybe it’s time to enhance one of those skills — note-taking — that you rarely think about. Consider learning to integrate note-taking software into your daily routine.
11. Plagiarism detection skills
We live in a copy-and-paste culture. While it might feel like we’re standing on the shoulders of giants, someone else might think that we’re stealing from giants. To avoid accidentally using someone else’s words as your own, learn how to put your articles through a plagiarism checker.
12. Website analytics skills
Analytics software helps you measure the performance of your website. It shows what your website visitors are clicking and reading (or not clicking and reading). The better you understand your clients, the more successful you’ll be.
13. Online banking skills
Learn how to login to your bank’s website and perform transactions such as checking balances, transferring funds, and paying bills. After you get a hang of the basics, learn about exporting transactions and setting up direct deposits.
14. Cloud storage and backing-up skills
Gone are the days when the majority of people only stored their digital lives on laptops. Increasingly we rely on cyberlockers like Dropbox and Google Drive. Get your digital head in the clouds and learn how to automatically backup your most important data.
15. Data encryption skills
Many of us use the same password for dozens of online accounts. Hackers would never steal our stuff, right? To ensure that your digital life stays confidential, consider learning how to encrypt your hard drive, your internet traffic, and your cloud storage.
16. Data migration skills
Data migration projects can be massive undertakings. However, before you even migrate data, sometimes you have to “clean” it. Often you also have to test and convert it into another format. If you know your way around databases, you could have a bright future as a data migration consultant.
17. Contact management skills
Where do you store your personal and work contacts? Consider using a service to manage and synchronize both your email contacts and your social network contacts.
18. Big data skills
Gone are the days when businesses made decisions based solely on gut feelings. These days, we have terabytes of data on our customers. Do you have the critical thinking skills to make this data useful?
19. Pivot table skills
It’s difficult to make sense of hundreds of rows in a spreadsheet. If you know how to create and customize pivot tables, you’ll be able to understand correlations between your data elements.
20. Data mapping skills
If you can “map” something, you can tell a story. That’s why, in the job market, people that can expertly click their way around data mapping tools are in high demand.
21. Infographic skills
If a client asked you to create an infographic, where would you start? Would you pick a “narrative” infographic or a “numbers” infographic? These are just two of the many types of infographics. There are many other types. Some have timelines, some have flowcharts, and some focus on images.
22. Presentation skills
How far can you go beyond PowerPoint? There are now dozens of dynamic apps that compete with — and sometimes outshine — Microsoft’s presentation program. While choosing the right presentation software is crucial, don’t lose sight of important non-digital presentation skills, such as making eye contact with your audience and varying the tone of your voice.
23. HTML editing skills
Many of the world’s most popular blog platforms have HTML editors. If you’re considering getting into website management, consider gaining more than just a basic understanding of HTML and how to use HTML editors.
24. Video conferencing skills
You might be surprised at how many people can’t effectively use video conferencing services. To distinguish yourself in this area, consider mastering Zoom, Google Meet, and Skype.
25. Video editing skills
Every minute, over 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. Consider learning about the essentials of a video editing application such as Final Cut Pro or Adobe After Effects.
26. Photo editing skills
To become great at editing photos, you’ll need to learn about composition, lighting, cropping, and color balancing. Even if all you do is post to Instagram, consider learning about the fundamentals of a photo editing application.
27. Audio recording and editing skills
There’s nothing stopping you from buying a cheap microphone and using free audio editing software to create great audio. But before you commit all that time and effort, consider learning about audio formats, audio levels, ambient sound, and setting up a home studio.
28. Podcasting skills
After you’ve learned how to record and edit audio, you’ll have learned some of the most important skills needed for podcasting. Other skills include being able to upload and distribute podcasts, embed podcasts into websites, and promote your podcasts.
29. Social media management system skills
If you feel swamped by the sheer number of social media posts to keep track of, consider learning a social media management system. These apps can be used to schedule posts to multiple channels, target audiences more effectively, and monitor your customers’ feedback.
30. Knowledge base skills
Knowledge bases are similar to wikis in that they’re used to organize and share information, yet they’re often more sophisticated than wikis. Learn how a well-organized knowledge base can save a company money by reducing the time employees spend trying to find information they need.
By Lee Bob Black.
