Digital knowledge these days is pretty essential to life. The question is: how serious should we be about digital when it comes to our careers? I think the answer is twofold.
Firstly, there are huge opportunities in the digital realm
Firstly, there are huge opportunities in the digital realm and these opportunities will only increase as the internet becomes more widespread. Check out the figures in the table below on global internet usage. This thing is not going away. (Nor would we want it to – think of the knowledge that is now at our fingertips!).
- Internet users – based on data from International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Internet users 2001-2011
The internet is opening up an uncountable amount of new jobs and opportunities, and if you play it right, there are plenty of ways to make money by working in the digital field (no – not just in IT!) or in creating your own business online. In some ways the opportunities are larger than traditional businesses, because the market is global online – the old boundaries of geography are irrelevant.
Even language and cultural barriers aren’t as important online, as you’re simply connecting with other humans who share the same interests or who have an appetite for the same thing – regardless of their language, location, ethnicity, whatever. For example, people from Australia, Asia, the US, the UK, Canada and Europe – provided the language is shared or adaptable – will follow a single career and lifestyle site from Sydney, if the content is correct (yes – I’m talking about Daily Inspiration Board!). This also means that I’m competing against others in a global market – creating a huge importance on having a specific point of difference in the marketplace, and bringing personality to business (an emerging trend).
The traditional boundaries are becoming blurred, and the old ‘global village’ phenomenon is more than coming true. This is presenting huge opportunities for individuals and small groups to succeed online – and also to challenge existing multinational corporate organisations with content marketing and business propositions.
Secondly, you can only improve a non-digital role with digital savvy
Secondly, I think non-digital roles will exist – at least for a long term yet – but I do think that you can only improve a non-digital role with digital savvy. In fact, you will probably do amazing things in the digital space if your sector is traditionally offline, because your competition is reduced. Think of a finance or a legal specialist whose competitors rarely venture online. Not only could these specialists’ profiles be raised online but they could attract more customers from a wider geographical network, resulting in an increase in business and reach.
The digital industry provides a huge scope for both new and existing careers. I work in the PR and marketing field and digital knowledge is increasingly crucial to my industry. Essentially, if you’re in this field and you’re not online you could be missing a trick. I’m not talking about coding or becoming an SEO expert right away – although for the next generation, these things will likely become part of the school curriculum – akin to learning a new language or maths equations.
If you want a new career or a change – it’s worth a look at the digital industry
There’s so many roles out there that will simply become more prevalent with the internet’s trajectory. It has in fact become an industry in its own right, like the legal, marketing or finance industries, and has its own specialist recruiters such as Just Digital People. These guys recruit digital-only roles including digital strategists, technology business owners, web managing directors, SEO specialists, back-end coders, digital copywriters, and more. If you’re not sure of what these terms mean, Google it. 
Note: I partnered with Just Digital People for this post
