University Student Software Skills They Don't Teach You In Class
University Students: How Fast Can You Adapt To New Software?
by SoftwareGuru
posted Monday 6th October 2008 10:15 GMT


One of the most important skills this writer learned while at University was how to achieve the seemingly unachievable.

There is no doubt that the mind is the most powerful tool at our disposal. If we tell ourselves we can't do something, it's highly likely we will fail at it.

Take the tight-rope walker for example. They will likely fall off several times before they learn how to do it correctly. Self-belief is at the core of what they do. Without it, the skill could not be learned.

The principle of belief applies - you must visualise the end result and see it clearly in your mind before you can achieve it, whether it's designing a building or sinking the winning putt on the 18th at the Ryder Cup.

Technology and software can similarly strike fear into those who can't imagine themselves mastering the challenge in front of them.

Vista, Office 2007, Expression 2 - all of these new software tools have faced unfair criticism simply for being different, for taking some amount of effort to master in a society where everything is supposed to be instant like coffee.

Nevertheless, when it comes to securing your first proper job here's the reality check: how fast you can adapt to new software AND in-house company specific systems could prove to be the difference between career success and failure.

So let's evolve ideas.
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Outside the lecture hall.
Back In The Day

There was a time before Google when searches were done in Yahoo!, Napster was used to swap mp3s, photos were edited in Paint Shop Pro and adding a DVD drive to your PC to watch the Alien trilogy was a big deal.

Fast forward ten years and the skills I learned in my free time such as Adobe Photoshop for graphics and Dreamweaver for HTML, kick-started my desire to learn how to use a wide variety of professional standard software applicable in many different industries. Not forgetting a fascination for SEO and how this Google thing works...

At University, anything that helps you to push beyond your own previously held boundaries is a good thing.

Genuine self-belief and confidence (not to mention humility) that you develop at this point in your life will help you tackle obstacles throughout your career.

If there truly are no jobs for life anymore, then the ability to adapt and learn new skills is a skill in itself. One which must be refined and University is the perfect time and place to do just that.
Career Opportunity

To have a career beyond the paycheque means doing something that inspires and challenges us.

Software is only one example of how to overcome self-doubt and achieve a skill previously thought to be beyond us.

So once you've tweaked Vista Ultimate software for your laptop, mastered the Office 2007's ribbon interface while writing that essay and even conquered Expression Web 2 for those web projects, the real challenges still lie ahead.

The Freshers of 2008 now have a rare opportunity in their lives to shape their own futures over the next three to four years.

What challenges dare you imagine yourself conquering...? 		 Build career skills

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