Student Life | Easy Computing Skills

Computing and tings

Some people are terrified by computers and technology. But we shouldn't be - we are the information generation. It's weird going into an office and showing older people how to tweet and blog, they see you as some kind of Zuckerburg-Jesus. They key to impressing your bosses is knowing the down-low on the downloads, and you don't even need to know HTML (but it helps).

• Gimp - Calm down, dear, it's just a photoshop alternative. Adobe can cost a lot of money to a student, even though they have a lovely discount available. For the majority of us, its infinite tools are just not worth it. Gimp is simpler and FREE. So while employers might not recognise Gimp, you will learn those magical transferable skills, for if you take on a job involving adobe photoshop.
• Anki - free flashcard software. Whatever you're studying, I guarantee that Anki can help you revise it. You create your own flashcards, and it cleverly orders them to show you the ones you find more difficult more often. My law friends use it to revise case studies, I use it for Chinese characters. 
• Infographics - To choose a programme according to your own needs, read this handy guide to infographics. You can link up your Facebook account to Inforgram, so you don't even need to sign up. Being able to gather and represent information has never been easier.
• Dropbox - Far cheaper than an external hard drive, save your work in dropbox so if the worst should happen and your laptop dies/is stolen, it is already stored online for you. Also, it's really useful as a shared space to work on group documents, for example, editing magazines. 
• Learn to Code - There are free sites that can teach you the basics, like codeacademy  and coursera.
• Social Media - Chances are you are probably already familiar with most of the basics anyway. But start thinking about it from a business perspective, and try to be versed in all the main platforms that companies are trying to gain a presence in (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and perhaps Tumblr). Twitter is probably the most important of these, so learn how to use tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Tweetdeck. 
• Blogging - Not technically software, but still technological. If I can do it, so can you. Blogging isn't just for wannabe journalists; the ability to write, structure passages and present information in an interesting way is vital to any job. There are loads of free sites ready to host your blog - wordpress and blogspot are probably the most common.
• Mailchimp - Learn how to manage, write and format your own newsletters, try doing this for a student society you are part of, or show initiative and set one up for your local community!
• Websites - the step up from blogging. Wix, Godaddy and Squarespace take you through from choosing and purchasing a domain name to helping you with layouts.