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If there's one thing that I'm sure of, it's that this place will be a good source of information on this!
As noted in a thread a little while back, come September I'm going to be heading back to university to hopefully study an MSc in Sustainability and Green Technology. (My only real job has been as a Pro musician for the last 18 years)
I'm currently browsing various job sites/internships etc with a view to future employability. Most are after a 'good level of IT skills' although what that actually constitutes isn't explicitly stated. I'm also aware that to complete my MSc well, then my IT skills will need to be improved.
Currently I use Word to a basic level, email most days and could tell you most keyboard shortcuts on most music production software! So although not a luddite or an illiterate, anything useful in academia/real world jobs is probably a fair bit beyond me. For instance haven't use Excel since year 9 IT which was the year 2000!
So a couple of questions really:
What should I be aiming for as a good level of IT skills in the professional arena? (I appreciate that this is an incredibly broad and subjective notion!) There's a good chance that my MSc will contain a module on 'data analysis'.
Any recommendations for course for a 36 year old musician in Cheshire that doesn't seem to qualify for anything free that the government is offering?
I reckon that if a job is not a specific IT job, then "good IT skills" just means being able to use outlook, office etc. Although so very few people in the world of work really do have good IT skills I doubt it's much of a barrier. The people interviewing you probably won't.
I'm guessing the 'IT Skills' mentioned are likely to be the basics like Word and Excel, browsers, knowing your way around a (windows) machine in terms of how to run programs, use file explorer etc., I'd be surprised if its knowing how to code.
Your data analysis module could be literally making some graphs using data in excel, though you'd hope it'll be a little more advanced, but possibly not if the IT side isn't a requesite for students.
I'd say, probably go fairly braod - know the main bits in a laptop - processor, memmory etc. as concepts. If you want do some 'programming' and you say you've okay with Word then I'd be tempted to have a look at HTML which is what you use to build web pages, as as it's most basic its just Word but instead of highlighting something to be, say, bold, you say 'start being bold here' and 'stop being bold now' etc.
Python is usally the language of choice when starting if you want pukka coding.
Suppose you'd better throw Teams/Zoom into the mix too - and use Outlook to set up a Teams (or Zoom) call
Maybe I'm not actually that illiterate then, I'm fairly good at Zoom (taught exclusively via zoom during lockdown).
I think that spreadsheets/excel are my only knowledge black hole!
I've seen a 'functional skills ICT level 2' course.....not sure it'd even be worth doing though, seems like I could do about 90% of it already!
As said I’d say good working understanding of the ms office suite inc PowerPoint & onenote.
It’s always great if someone has a understanding of the concept about backups vs onedrive type file synchronisation products.
A grasp of online security do’s & don’ts.
Above that I’d suggest you’re getting into specifics.
I think that spreadsheets/excel are my only knowledge black hole!
Thats a good gap to plug, and I'd start there. Probably plenty of free onlione tutorials. Always found it helps to do stuff with Excel thats useful to you - family finances etc. and learn that way.
And yes, you could well know 80% of a basic ICT Course already.
I’ve seen a ‘functional skills ICT level 2’ course…..not sure it’d even be worth doing though, seems like I could do about 90% of it already!
Can’t see that being worthwhile, I’d try YouTube & some home practice.
Excel get the concept of formulas, pivot tables & charts.
Power point is more art than science imho.