Why is a career in digital a great choice?

It’s time to start believing the hype. The digital and tech sector is booming and the demand for staff who are skilled or hungry to learn is booming with it. We’re training hundreds of young people in our RAW Digital Talent programme who are looking for a career in digital, in this piece we look at the reasons a career in digital is a great option for young people.

1- More Career Choice

Digital jobs are growing at twice the rate of other sectors, and the growth in this industry is only going in one direction – up! In many industries and countries, the most in-demand occupations or specialities did not exist 10 or even five years ago, and the pace of change is set to accelerate.

Organisations in every sector are waking up to the benefits of digital and investing in their digital abilities. It’s a common misconception that digital job roles are in a certain type of company. This could not be further from the truth. If we look at the range of companies taking on staff and apprentices in digital marketing, it is huge! From service sector companies like solicitors, industrial companies like engineering and manufacturing, to public sector organisations like councils and health services. Of course, there is also a huge range of roles available in digital and tech companies too, such as digital marketing agencies who carry out a wide variety of digital marketing for a wide variety of businesses.

2 – Attractive Salaries

Digital jobs pay on average 47% higher than other sectors. With the digital skills gap widening it means that if you have the skills and hunger, then you have the opportunity to get on a positive career path. Your knowledge and understanding can bring you more attractive salaries as your career progresses, every month you are always learning more and enhancing your skill set, your knowledge grows as you do.

A recent study has seen that The highest pay rises were witnessed in digital (43%) and performance marketing (40%) above the national average of 3%. (TheDrum.com).

3- KickStart Your Career

Digital overall is an industry where you can create your own opportunities to build up your portfolio and experience. With digital there are endless opportunities for you to showcase your skills before starting your career. Techniques such as building up a strong following online through social media or even blogging are great ways to stand out within your CV. You can learn so much yourself from coding to software development. Other opportunities are to gain online accolades such as Google analytics exam and even becoming a Hootsuite partner. Showing you are really hungry for your chosen career, by investing your own time in self-guided learning really stands out when it comes to job applications and interviews.

The other benefit of this is you can try different aspects of digital, and enables you to see where your skill set and passion lies, ahead of applying for jobs or apprenticeships.

4- Exciting Workplaces

The digital world is evolving rapidly with changes taking place, and new innovations launched daily. An exciting sector to be in certainly.

Digital companies tend to be quite forward-thinking in their approach to the workplace and working. Flexible hours, working from home, cool workplaces with break out areas and fun activities and rewards for staff if completely the norm.

We have some companies in our region making big waves elsewhere in the UK and also overseas. This can bring a world of opportunity, literally.

5- Being in demand

3 in 4 employers are reporting a digital skills gap in their workforce, this means that those who are digitally skilled are in demand now. With the number of vacancies in digital set to continue, a career in digital and tech can prove to be not only lifelong but varied.

Did you know that “65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist”?!

In addition, the number of roles and sectors that a young person will work in will vary hugely throughout their career.

This is very different from the traditional, job for life of old, working a long time and slowly going up the ladder in the same workplace.

What this does mean though, is that upskilling and reskilling will be a way of life, and it’s really important to have transferable skills that can move from one job to the next. Soft skills are something young people hear a lot about, but in our experience, it’s the most mentioned set of attributes that tech businesses really want in their staff. Brush up on those soft skills, and never stop improving them!

In any workplace, if you show a hunger to grow and willingness to learn, more experienced members of staff will be more than willing to help you enhance and grow. Grab those opportunities with both hands, soak up what you lean, and start using your new knowledge immediately, and never let the cycle of learning and improving stop.