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If ten years ago it was important to learn English in order to find a good job, now IT skills come to the fore. Which of them will be useful right now and how easier it is to learn them – in the Trends material
About the expert: Daria Abramova, CEO of the Codabra online programming school.
1. Программирование
Why is it important
Firstly, it is programming that allows you not only to use technology, but to create programs and applications yourself. It can be useful both in your career and at home. Imagine: in the office you write applications for Android in the Kotlin language, and at home you program a system for cleaning an aquarium or autowatering plants in the Arduino language.
Secondly, each programming language is just a set of rules, and if you learn the basics of one of them, you can then quickly understand any other. Programming is the entrance to the profession. You learn a language, start creating projects in it, and then, if necessary, learn another.
Thirdly, programming teaches to think abstractly, at the level of concepts, not specific objects. This programming is useful for children: those who know how to code, understand mathematics and physics faster.
Where can i apply
It depends on the programming language. It is easy to use Arduino, Java, Java Script in everyday life: you can program microcontrollers for radio-controlled children’s toys, household appliances on Arduino; you can write a phone application in Java; make a website in Javascript that will collect user requests, for example, customer orders.
Менеджерам, аналитикам и маркетологам может пригодиться Python, чтобы работать с данными в таблицах и базах, иногда базовых знаний достаточно, чтобы настроить макросы в Excel.
The developer selects languages for tasks: servers are written in PHP and Go, game engines are written in C# and C++, mobile applications are created in Java and Kotlin, system applications are written in C.
2. Basics of web development
Why is it important
The average person surfs the Internet seven hours a day, which means they see web pages more often than they look out the window. With the help of the site, you can convey information, express your emotions, find a job, sell goods. Basic web development skills not only help you build a site on your own, but also understand and evaluate the work of professionals. You come to the agency, order a website, you get an invoice — it’s great if you can evaluate the client’s competencies, understand whether the prices and terms are adequate, and even understand in advance whether it’s realistic to express your ideas on the website.
Where can i apply
First of all, web development is needed by web designers, layout designers and UX designers. Also, the basics of development will be useful to a specialist in any profession to assemble a portfolio, make a business card website, assemble a page for an event, and so on. Thirdly, web development helps to gain additional experience for representatives of related professions. For example, a graphic designer who draws postcards and posters can learn web development and website layout and expand their range of competencies. Knowledge of the basics of CSS, one of the elements of web development, will be useful for book layout designers – popular book layout engines are assembled on CSS.
3. Working with video and graphics
Why is it important
The quantity and quality of video content on the web is growing – now it’s easier to watch a video, especially without sound, than to read the text. There are also a growing number of video distribution platforms (Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, private platforms), and many people want to post videos on them. Of course, the careers of a cameraman, editor, or blogger largely depend on observation, scriptwriting, and knowledge of the basics of composition, but technical skills are also important.
Where can i apply
Editing and shooting skills can be used both in everyday life and for solving professional problems. You can make a video for grandfather’s birthday without knowing how to shoot and edit, but if you apply the skills, the video will come out professional and will be remembered for a long time. Also, these skills will be useful for teachers and everyone else who shoots training videos or prepares video presentations for clients and employees.
Also, editing and shooting skills will be useful for working on television, film production, and advertising agencies.
4. Machine learning and working with data
Why is it important
We live surrounded by data, and everyone has to interact with it – sort photos, process customer orders, calculate the average scores of students. Special tools make working with data faster and easier, but for this you need to know at least the basics of machine learning. At the same time, it is not so difficult to gain basic knowledge – in the popular Python language, you can solve simple problems without even really understanding how machine learning works.
Where can i apply
Почти в любой сфере. Работа с данными и машинное обучение помогают проводить медицинскую и психологическую диагностику, анализировать поведение пользователей, предсказывать стихийные бедствия и поведение фондовых рынков, создавать программы для беспилотных автомобилей и ботов для компьютерных игр, анализировать качество дорожного полотна.
Но навыки работы с данными нужны не только разработчикам. Маркетологи и менеджеры могут работать с Excel-таблицами, автоматически собирать информацию сразу с нескольких сайтов, работать с SEO-запросами. В быту эти навыки тоже могут пригодиться — например, чтобы сортировать домашний архив фотографий и выбирать из него только фото с дедушкой или котиками.
5. UI / UX
Why is it important
UX-дизайн — это создание полезных и простых продуктов, как цифровых, так и физических. Чаще всего UX-дизайнеры разрабатывают интерфейсы мобильных приложений, но это только из-за того, что сейчас в телефонах сосредоточена вся жизнь. В принципе, UX-дизайнеры создают такие продукты, с которыми пользователю легко взаимодействовать — хоть бытовые приборы, хоть промышленные объекты. Если ты разбираешься в UX, то понимаешь, как упростить форму заявки в интернет-магазине, создать меню для приложения, нарисуешь кнопку, на которую клиент точно нажмет.
Where can i apply
UX designers help create websites, mobile and desktop applications, as well as everything that the user interacts with. A UX designer can find work not only in digital companies, but also in industrial enterprises, research and production laboratories, as well as in the development of psychological experiments.
How to learn IT skills
- Exercise regularly
The easiest way to learn IT skills is to set yourself a challenge and solve it. And it doesn’t matter if you work with a teacher or do it yourself – you need to hone your skills constantly, gradually increasing the level of complexity of tasks. In teaching IT skills, the same principle works as in fitness training, and in any training – it is better to do a little, but every day, than to sit at a computer for a day and then not sit down for a month.
- Create your projects
Solving educational problems is boring, so it’s better to conceive your own project: a program that will help you keep a budget, a video presentation that will bring new clients at your main job, a website for a relative who has long wanted to start his own business. And it’s even better if this project is not for yourself, but for someone else – external motivation will work. But it is important to understand the degree of comfort – if it does not work right away and you become ashamed in front of other people, then you may not want to return to this again.
- Find the right format
Working alone is effective, but difficult – not everyone is ready to fill bumps on their own, sometimes you want to use ready-made solutions. Therefore, you need to try different formats – for example, take courses. Plus, the courses are at a low pace, it is easier to adapt to them. Also, in the case of courses, additional motivation works: you paid money, which means you must attend classes and try to get the most out of them.
Another form of learning is teamwork. Several people of the same level take the project and try to implement it. The main plus is that you can deal with problems faster than one. The main disadvantage is that not everyone will master the skill equally well, someone will get simpler tasks, someone will get more complex ones.
- Find a mentor
In training, it is important to receive feedback, and for this you need a mentor: he will tell you why you succeeded or why you didn’t. He can suggest simpler solutions and, in principle, show what should work and how.
Если вы занимаетесь сами, то можете получать обратную связь на специальных форумах, но ответ может прийти не всегда вовремя. Также для такого поиска лучше изучать англоязычные ресурсы: русскоязычное сообщество более токсично, новичков скорее ругают, чем поддерживают. Еще один минус такой поддержки — советы все время дают разные люди. Один наставник всегда может построить ваш образовательный маршрут, а случайные советчики нет.
In the Telegram channel “Will not write off” we talk even more about trends in education and how to learn throughout life and do it with pleasure. Subscribe!