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ADM5003 Web Technologies- Becoming A ‘T’ Shaped Employee in the Digital Age

The digital age is upon us and the modern workplace requires a new breed of employee who possess both a depth of skill and a broad ability to contribute and collaborate across a range of disciplines in the workplace. The Diploma of Digital Media is giving me the beginnings of a range of practical and technical skills that are extremely relevant in the evolving workforce and which I have been able to utilize in my work already. One of the key concepts of Web Technology and digital media as a whole is the ability to identify who our consumers are and empathize with them to discover what they really want. This is a crucial element of the ‘T’ employee, who is able to apply empathy to their work and in their workplace. These skills will allow me to take this knowledge and use it to create appropriate content for a range of web based mediums potentially working in the content creation or digital marketing fields. New age workplaces demand employees who are willing to share their knowledge and expertise to achieve specific organizational goals and meet targets. This forms the broad aspect of the ‘T’. There is a growing demand for digital media specialists who can create content for a wide range of social media platforms and digital marketing strategies, but also for internal digital media specialists who can effectively communicate and develop projects for internal stakeholders and employees. This area of study seems a logical choice for someone who is reasonably creative, enjoys conveying meaning through writing and believes they can empathize with a wide range of people and it seems the workforce is looking for them too.

The ability to conduct and report on web analytics frequents digital media job adverts and the ability to transform data into a practical and pliable tool is becoming a more desired skill. “The focus is on locating, assessing, and representing new information quickly”. (Gilchriest, 2016) This is something that is the primary focus of the Web Analysis core subject that is teaching us the technical processes to draw out our own findings and then apply them in a researched and thoughtful way. "[They want] people who can interpret and then bring that data to life visually

Figure 1 T- shaped Employee

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— building dashboards and things of that nature, so the executive suite can push through techspeak and understand what the data is telling them." (Heaton, 2015) In Web Technologies, we are using what we are learning about consumers and the way people think to create content for different web platforms. Businesses specifically list web development of external company websites, as well as the internal intranet and media management systems in their job advertising. The ability to create websites and content of this sort is gaining further traction with employers as large companies search for ways to interact with their employees. Specific technical skills like Wordpress and Drupel development will be crucial to the new age professional as well as a basic coding ability with HTML and Javascript.

Practically I have been able to identify what I have been learning in my various workplaces. At Porter Davis Homes they use a CRM called Runway which uses web analysis and web generated data to create specific profiles on each of its clients and manages what messages they have been receiving at different points of the home building process. They are able to see what messages have been seen or ignored and this helps show the strengths and weakness of certain marketing campaigns. Coles has an internal website that is actually a useful tool in getting information from its employees with frequent surveys and questionnaires that can be answered anonymously and has launched an extensive online mental health program where they can gain extensive private knowledge about the morale of their employees. In terms of web development, Porter Davis use a CMS called Sitecore, which enables them to manage the content on their website. I have been able to incorporate some theory skills into actually using the software and I’m interested to see what else I can learn so I can offer some new ways of developing new content for their website. What I did identify was the importance of the personalization with a strong emphasis on the end user experience. Their website is extremely interactive and the content has all been developed to target their specific client profiles.

As part of the course, we were required to create a website using Wordpress which is an amazing tool that I really enjoyed learning to use. I stuck to my original idea of creating a web presence for my friend Gemma who has created her own homewares and styling business called House of Geri. I understood how competitive this market was and we identified a competitor to House of Geri and looked at the things they were doing right and wrong.

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I

demonstrated the use of technical skills with my inclusion of plugins and development of an online

store. I was able to insert an Instagram feed into the landing page and include a contact form in the contact me menu. I tried to consistently remain loyal in my designs to our target audience which is ultimately our peers of 20-30 year-old females who want to stay on trend but don’t want to spend too much. I believe through this project we have identified a shift needed to push House of Geri into a more

Figure 3 House of Geri

House of Geri’s point of difference is that Gemma hand makes her own homewares and can apply this skill to her interior styling. I felt this was an important selling point because it takes a lot of creative skill to execute your own designs. It also shows an extremely hands on approach and an ability to conceptualize. When creating my content, I tried to convey the spirit of Gemma and entrench some humor with written word and images.

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niche market. Gemma needs to move away from trying to develop new trends in her homewares and focus on the interior styling with the added bonus of handmade homewares that are currently on trend that can be included with store bought items. Handmade homewares will not be able to compete with Kmart homewares in this target market if the only selling point is that they are trendy. Customers often can buy the same things Gemma is slaving over at home at less than half the price at Kmart. This target market is price conscious and won’t buy her items at $30 dollars just because they are handmade if they can get them at Kmart for $8. Personalization will be a key selling point for Gemma and in the website content, I tried to push the notion that Gemma can create custom products. Through this website project, I believe I have developed upon my T- shaped skills demonstrating both depth and breadth in thinking and design process.

“A few years back someone described to me what it meant to reach a real comprehension of Digital Age ways of working; “it’s like crossing the border into a new country. I’d read the guide book before but it wasn’t until I got there that I really understood it”. Theory is good, but practical is far more important. Read by all means, but above all, try something different.”-Ben Gilchriest.

Soft skills form part of the broad T and emotional and social intelligence is important to have when working in the Digital Age. Through returning to University I have expanded on my soft skills by stepping out of my comfort zone and believing in myself. I have learned collaboration and at times feel very connected to my classmates. I have enjoyed seeing the way they learn and the different ways people comprehend the same information. I have been able to use and understand different perspectives, especially in this course which consists of many international students and I believe my nature as a person will allow me to become a great team-player throughout my working life. “Collaboration tools like Google Docs and Basecamp can’t make up for missing kindergarten. If your employees don’t know how to play nicely together, having the tools to communicate is not going to combat tendencies to hoard knowledge and resist sharing progress with one another.” (Samuel, 2016) My communication has

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also evolved and I am able to use industry relevant terminology in new ways. A problem I have always had though is connecting my thoughts to my expression. I am able to write down effectively my own thoughts and interpretations but have had trouble expressing them verbally. This is something I would still like to work on, and I believe a lot of it stems from confidence in my own thought process and potentially not being as impressive as others. Through our assignments, I have been creative and innovative in ways I never thought I could be. Innovation is a topic I have found myself very interested in and is very current in the Australian landscape at the moment. Whilst I potentially don’t see myself as someone who would develop a new product or idea technically, but I could see myself helping to bring an idea to life with effective soft skills. I feel like University has also given me the skills to appreciate good work and encourage others and this is something I have applied to my life outside of school. My partner is in the process of chasing his dreams to be a CFA Firefighter and I believe we have worked collaboratively on this goal. I have d him and we have faced problems together. We have planned and organized for a successful application and reflected upon how his emotional intelligence can allow him to shine. The importance of soft skills makes a lot of sense and can be applied to so many different fields of work and especially in the digital world.

It is likely that as the workforce progresses we will be forced to become much more than just T-shaped. We will be required to take on new, adaptable and moldable shapes, become M-shaped and Z-shaped. We will grow and expand and learn from our experiences and we will need to apply these to our careers. What should always remain the same though is our passions and our motivation to always keep learning and have an open mind.

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References:

Biz Library, 2016, ‘Top 5 Soft Skills: What Successful People Know that Every Employee Needs to Know’ Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/BizLib/top-5-soft-skills-what-successful-people-know-that-every-employee-needs-to-know [Accessed 09 April 16]

Gilchriest, B 2015, ‘The Skills you need for the Digital Age’ Firebrand Initiation Blog [online] Available at: http://blog.firebrandtalent.com/2014/11/the-new-skills-you-need-for-the-digital-age/ [Accessed 06 April 16]

Heaton, G 2015, ‘Take a look at the ideal tech employee of the future’ Firebrand Initiation Blog [online] Available at: http://blog.firebrandtalent.com/2015/07/take-look-ideal-tech-employees-future/ [Accessed 09 April 16]

Fallon Taylor, N 2016, ‘The Best Tech Skills to List on Your Resume’ [online] Available at: www.businessnewsdaily.com/4932-tech-skills-resume.html [Accessed 07 April 16]

Samuel, A 2016, ‘The Soft Skills of Great Digital Organizations’ [online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2016/02/the-soft-skills-of-great-digital-organizations [Accessed 26 May 16]