How to Polish Up Your Computer Skills

In this day and age, learning how to use a computer is a necessary skill in the workplace.

That being said, there are a lot of websites and programs which are quite difficult to wrap your head around.

It’s almost as if you’re learning a new language! But no matter how much experience you have with computers, there’s always room for improvement.

If you’re unsure where to start, here are some tips that can help you out.

Most people want to improve their computer skills because they think they will be more hireable that way. For you to do that, identify which programs you need to understand. Most job ads will display which skills you need to have for the position. The most common skills include using Spreadsheets, PowerPoint, Microsoft Office, Photoshop and working with social media, so make sure that you’ve got a handle on those things. Make a list of what you need to do to learn and research these skills that you need to brush up on. But what are the best ways to research information in these areas? Read on and find out.

I’m sure everyone has used Google before, but there are certain techniques that you can to hone in on your search results. For example, you can use quotation marks to find a specific phrase, or if you want to search within a website, all you have to do is put ‘site’ in the search bar, a colon in front, and the website you want to look through. Since Google is a tool for research, you’ll be using it a lot in the majority of workplaces, so knowing how to use it to its fullest potential is very handy indeed. And of course, googling is usually the first thing you do when you want to learn something specific on the computer. It also provides a great platform for finding courses.

There are a wide range of courses, both offline and online, that you can take to improve your IT skills all around. Not to mention, that many of them are fortunately free! Even in your local community, there are usually plenty of opportunities. I come across a lot of ads for introductory courses for computer skills at my local library, for example. Speaking of libraries, there are tons of books for beginners on a lot of programs people have difficulty with if you prefer a bit of reading material.

If you want to learn something specific however, there are online tutorials on pretty much every query you may have. YouTube is my go-to for any specific skills I want to learn. But if you’re not too sure where to start, or you feel you need to a bit more of an extensive learning experience, then you still have heaps of options when it comes to online courses, both free and paid. A paid course is an option if you want a more formal education that you can put on your resume.

If you’ve finished up a course, watched a bunch of videos and you still feel like you need a bit more practice, then applying for an internship related to your field is a good course of action. Not only will you get some experience with the programs necessary for your career, but you get to see which ones are being used currently. In other words, you’ll be up to date on which websites and programs your field will be using.

These are some of the things you can do to get yourself started, but I feel if you really want to push yourself to the next level, then expose yourself more to the programs you want to master. In your free time, be curious and explore it before seeing whether or not you need help or not. Once you get the basics nailed, you’re more likely to grasp it without any help. So, don’t be scared to try things out by yourself!

On a final note, remember that the world keeps on changing. There’ll be new programs and websites popping up constantly that you’ll need to learn for your position. You’ll even have to build up on skills you already possess. Everyone has to do it at one point at another, so if you feel the need to, don’t push it to the back of your mind. Get started on it as soon as you see a gap in your knowledge.

Considering there’s so much content at your fingertips already, there’s no real excuse not to!