1. Digital Marketing Skills
Looking for a career that’s competitive, creative and exciting? Then digital marketing could be for you. This fast-paced career involves promoting brands and products via website content, blogs, social media posts, e-newsletters and text campaigns.
Who employs digital marketers?
- Small businesses
- Marketing departments
- Digital agencies
- Design agencies
- Advertising agencies
Which digital marketing skills are in demand?
This data-driven industry requires a combination of creative and technical skills, so if you’re an aspiring digital marketer, you’ll need a flair for copywriting and PR as well as the ability to master a range of marketing tools. These include Google AdWords, Mailchimp, Adobe Creative Cloud and Google Analytics.
Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram also play a crucial role in digital marketing, so social media skills are essential, as is the ability to carry out search engine optimisation. Google’s Digital Garage videos are a good starting point for SEO newbies.
2. UX Design Skills
User experience design is all about improving the design of digital products and services so that they’re more user-friendly. By bringing UX designers on board, businesses and developers can ensure that their websites and mobile apps look great, run smoothly and are enjoyable to use.
Who employs UX designers?
- The education sector
- Finance companies
- The health sector
- Publishing
- Telecommunications
- Marketing companies
- Broadcasting companies
- Public bodies
- Charities
- Digital agencies
- Web development agencies
Which UX design skills are in high demand?
A solid understanding of HTML is essential for UX design roles, but employers are also keen to employ people with a working knowledge of commonly used software such as Azure, InVision, Marvel, OmniGraffle, Sketch and the Adobe Creative Suite.
As well as having the right skills, aspiring designers need to gain some relevant work experience in order to create a portfolio. So if you’re keen on a career in UX design, why not ask to take on a small project for your current employer or offer to improve the website of a local charity or community project?
LinkedIn is also a great place to look for opportunities, as many employers use the network to advertise internships. Once you’ve gained some experience, add any design work you’ve produced to your portfolio and share your work on social media or blog about it.
Learning about the design industry’s latest trends is also crucial if you want a career in UX, so we recommend joining a few specialist LinkedIn groups. This is also a great way to start making connections with the UX community.
What qualifications do UX designers need?
A degree in computer science, graphic design or another subject that includes a design or computing element will give you a head start when it comes to finding work as a UX designer. If you already have a solid grasp of HTML and the software used in UX work, any degree is acceptable, although a masters degree in UX Design will boost your chances of bagging your dream job! There are also a few apprenticeships up for grabs.
What does the role involve?
UX designers spend their time meeting clients to discuss their requirements, sketching visual concepts, creating user journeys, developing personas and coming up with prototypes. They also carry out usability testing and redesign websites.
If you become a designer, you’ll work across various platforms including mobiles, tablets and computers. Teamwork is an important part of UX design work, so expect to collaborate with other designers, engineers, business analysts and project managers.
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