Up Your Digital Writing Skills To Standout
In today's world, digital media use and consumption is big business. Therefore, being a proficient writer is a skill employers desire in their employees and could make you a hot commodity on the job market. As Lawrence (2022) states, "Candidates with strong digital skills listed on a resume may stand out amongst competitors as having a technical edge or skill-based advantage." Don't think employers place an emphasis on writing skills? Linville (2021) drives this thought home, "A 2019 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that four out of five employers named 'written communication skills' as the quality they value most in addition to a strong GPA." In their research on "The global digital skills gap", Feijao, Flanagan, Van Stolk, and Gunashekar (2021) list several of their findings: "Employers are actively seeking employees with digital skills in order to adapt to an increasingly digitalised environment. Rapid and widespread digitalisation has changed the nature of work, making digital skills an essential attribute for the modern workforce. While the demand for digital skills is high, supply is low, and businesses often struggle to find talent for digital roles." This isn't to say that other qualities aren't important to employers, but with businesses, small and large, spending more each year on digital advertising (online channels, websites, steaming, etc.) than on traditional advertising (newspaper ads, magazine ads, billboards, and radio advertisements), the demand for employees with strong written communication skills has skyrocketed. Strong digital skills along with written communication skills could help you stand out in the open market, or they could be skills that you'd like to work on yourself. You don't have to earn an extra degree to upskill, numerous websites and programs can help you reach your goals.
LinkedInLearning and Coursera are just two of the many popular sites that help workers earn certificates for employee training and professional development. While most certificate programs come at a cost, there are also several that are free. Before signing up for a class and paying yourself, check with your employer to see if your company already has an account. This way, you can earn a certificate from a respected learning platform at no cost to you. So what is there to lose? Add an extra skill to your resume and stand out from the crowd to employers searching for digital writing specialists.
References
Feijao, C., Flanagan, I., Van Stolk, C., and Gunashekar, S. (2021). The global digital skills gap: Current trends and future directions. RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1533-1.html.
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press.
Linville, C. (2021, February). Real world writing: What employers expect. Sacramento State University. http://webpages.csus.edu/~sac16141/RealWorldWriting.pdf.
Mr. Beard,
ReplyDeleteYou're right, writing is a skill that employers value highly. That's one reason I believe it's so important that we teach the digital writing process to our students. Composing digital text requires skills and knowledge that go beyond the traditional school essay, and it is our job as teachers to make sure students are prepared for both (Turner & Hicks, 2017). Just as we teach students the different modes of writing or the elements of a well-written introductory paragraph, they also need "explicit instruction" in order to learn how to write digital texts (Kathpalia & See, 2016, p. 25). Graduates shouldn't have to pay for a digital writing course; they should be learning these skills in school.
References
Kathpalia, S. S., & See, E. K. (2016). Improving Argumentation through Student Blogs. System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics, 58, 25–36. https://doi-org.ezproxy.montevallo.edu/10.1016/j.system.2016.03.002
Turner, K.H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts: Argument in the real world. Heinemann.
It is extremely important to stand out when writing digitally. This is a world where so many people are voicing their opinions, that if you want to be seen, you need to make sure to stand out. Since so much is posted everywhere every day. "The number is difficult to calculate exactly, but estimates suggest that 550,000 new web pages were published every day, around the world, in 2019. In a similar vein, there are also approximately 500,000 new Facebook users who join every day, and 300 hours of new video are uploaded every minute to YouTube." (Lawrence 86).
ReplyDeleteReference:
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: a guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press.
Wonderful post! I am learning a lot from our Lawrence text that I never thought of before about Social Media and how to properly showcase our organizations, schools, and lives. I agree that this is a skill we all should work to master as our world is ever changing! We must be lifelong learners to remain relevant with our students.
ReplyDeleteDonna Smith
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMr. Beard,
ReplyDeleteI agree that writers with strong digital skills are more marketable in our current job market. Strong digital skills are important because one must be strategic on how information is presented to an audience. Turner and Hicks (2017) state that technical and rhetorical knowledge must be present in order to avoid the risk of miscommunication. I am wondering how those in the field of education could be supported in building digital writing skills. I believe that many educators do not see themselves as writers, which could hinder their ability to grow in this area. I recently read an article that analyzed how pre-service teachers saw themselves as digital writers. McKnight (2021) referenced factors that limit preservice teachers to participate as digital writers. McKnight (2021) argued that "conservative, canonical, generational, and budgetary forces pull educators back to print and to proprietary, impenetrable digital structures" (p. 212). What problems need to be addressed in order for educators to feel motivated enough to build their skills as digital writers?
References
McKnight, L. (2021). Addressing pre-service teachers as digital writers: Conflicts and inconsistencies in practice. Theory Into Practice, 60(2), 202-214. https://doi-org.ezproxy.montevallo.edu/10.1080/00405841.2020.1857137
Turner, K. H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Heinemann.
Comment Posted by Tanishia Smith Sims