Skip to main content

Computer Programs All Students Should Know

By

The Liberal Arts does not feed into a specific career; unlike engineer majors who become engineers, Liberal Arts majors can apply their skills and learning to a variety of jobs and fields like editing, music composition, teaching, human resources, etc. How then do Liberal Arts majors prepare for the workplace when there is no one place for them?


A great way to prepare is by mastering digital programs. Think of it like a toolbelt. The more programs you can competently use, the more attractive you seem to future employers. And you might end up with a job you never thought possible! For example, a BYU English major graduate landed a job in a start-up tech company where she handles finances, social media management, and secretarial duties, and she loves it! Her previous knowledge of computer systems and social media formats has enabled her to be successful in her job.

Let's go through some of the best and most basic programs to know in the digital world. Remember, you don't have to know how to use all of them, but mastering at least one or two of them can give you a leg up.

Microsoft Office
Most students already know how to use all the Microsoft Office programs because they've been using them throughout their college career. Important programs to know would be Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Being able to efficiently use Word will show employers your ability to create a beautiful document. Being able to competently use PowerPoint will show that you are able to communicate well. Excel shows you can work well with numbers and equations and have a strong attention to detail. It's often expected that you are proficient with Microsoft Office. Mentioning that you know Microsoft Office is like saying you can breathe air but it's never a bad idea to at least mention that you have the skill.

Google Drive
Understanding Google Drive is increasingly becoming an important skill, and yet it's very similar to Microsoft Office. If you know how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint , then you know how to use Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Being able to navigate both Microsoft and Google programs will prepare you for whatever new workplace you find yourself a part of.

Adobe Suite
Another important program is Adobe Suite and its various extensions. Adobe Suite is a creative cloud that especially supports visual editing through programs such as InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Proficiency in Adobe Suite is less common than in Microsoft Office or Google Drive and this means it can be more impressive to an employer. Since these are less common skills, competency in them would show your ambition and ability to learn things you don't necessarily have to.

Social Media
Being able to use social media is a skill that any employer would consider an asset. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and your ability to use these for marketing will prove your abilities in a modern and digital time. We talk about social media and using that knowledge to your advantage in another blog post.
https://digitalbookworms.blogspot.com/2020/03/social-media-and-future-employers.html

Others
A few other programs that would impress any employer, depending on the job, would be podcasting, or website and blog creation programs. For example: Anchor.fm or Wordpress.com. There are so many digital program skills to help you create an impressive resume. Good luck!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overcoming My Fear of Coding

By
What do you think about when you think of "coding"? Does it confuse or scare you? It scares me! As a liberal arts student, I feel perfectly fine providing content to somebody else who knows how to put it online. However, the more that I delve into the world of coding, the more I realize that liberal arts students and coders are not so different. In a job market that is increasingly seeking people with experience in technology, us liberal arts students have many huge incentives to learn how to code. My interest in coding actually started only recently. Before signing on to help with this blog, I was involved in another project that had the goal of learning to code by building a website. Together with some other students, my good friend Patrick (who is a fellow liberal arts student and coding enthusiast) was helping us learn the basic of code. At first, it was scary. All that I saw were long strings of unfamiliar equations, words, and punctuation that showed on my screen in d...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are People Doing to Connect the Digital and Liberal Arts Right Now?

By
Lots of smart and concerned people have already begun addressing the need for digital training in liberal arts programs across the country. As I researched how individuals and universities are addressing the digital in the liberal arts, I found very similar, central arguments prefacing any expressed needs for digital competencies. Parents and students value career preparation above almost everything else when selecting a college. Most liberal arts colleges have professionalizing programs which are necessary for connecting liberal arts students to the real world. Despite professionalizing programs, liberal arts students are still directed first to graduate programs rather than a professional workplace. Employers care about digital presence just as much if not more than academic achievement. For a more in-depth look at parent/student/employer statistics, read From Written to Digital: The New Literacy  (seriously read it). Here is one of my favorite quotes from the article...
Post a Comment
Read more

Creating a Writing Portfolio

By
If you’ve applied for any job that requires a lot of writing, then you’ve probably been asked to submit a writing portfolio as part of your job application. I know that when I began applying for writing jobs as an overeager undergraduate student, I had no clue what recruiters were even looking for when they asked for a writing portfolio. Reading blog posts and articles about how to create a writing portfolio helped, but even then they seemed pretty vague. Never fear: here, we’ll detail the steps to creating the perfect writing portfolio for your job search. Know your audience The first thing you’ll want to do is figure out who your audience is. When you’re using a writing portfolio to apply for a job, the audience is usually a group of professionals who want to see your abilities shine through your writing. This is important because it will shape your tone and voice, two elements of writing that are incredibly important to recruiters. However, the articles you write or compile...
Post a Comment
Read more