Become Tech Savvy. Technology is the fastest-growing field right now and there’s no sign of stopping anytime soon. Being tech-savvy is not an impossible task, but it requires time and energy to master the basics. No matter what your reason is for wanting to become tech-savvy (not “a geek” per se), a self-assessment is always a good way to start. If you know the make-up of a computer inside out, you can read the specifications of a CPU, RAM, hard drive, SSD and understand them, you are skilled at navigating your way through Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux operating systems and you’ve done any programming such as C/C++, C#, Java, Python or web programmings like HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and MySql, then chances are you are not a beginner. Whether you are a beginner or not, becoming savvy with technology requires enthusiasm and a lot of dedication. The following steps are ways you can begin this exciting adventure.
Let’s start with the proper explication of what tech-savvy means. According to Oxford Dictionary, a tech-savvy person is someone who is well informed about the modern technology, and also uses his/her skills in order to take advantage of the current technology. In other words, you’re a tech-savvy if you know how to deal with a PC, a smart device, and maybe certain software and tools.
In today’s society, being a tech-savvy individual will bring you a lot of benefits. It is important to be able to take advantage of the technology that every modern business and company uses. Without it, you’ll miss a lot of opportunities and career job positions.
In case you are not a tech-savvy person, do not worry, as it’s possible to develop these skills in a matter of few weeks. It takes a bit of effort, but it’ll be worth it in the end. In today’s article we’ll take a look at the main benefits of being a tech-savvy person, and the ways in which you can improve these aspects.
The Benefits of Being a Tech-Savvy Professional
The more skills you posses, the better you’ll be perceived as a good investment for any type of company or business. Besides that, you’ll be improving your personal qualities and become a better professional. To be honest, you need to understand that our society and marketplace are the ones who dictate the rules.
You either adapt, or you will be truly disadvantaged. And this is not just about getting a job; it’s about being able to compete with other individuals who are better than you because of these skills.
Here are some of the benefits of being a tech-savvy professional:
- Better Hiring Chances
If you have the abilities to deal with your potential employer’s tech skills requirements, you’ll automatically boost your chances of landing that job.
People who can’t deal with basic PC skills will hardly have any chances of getting the results they want, and that is because no company can use the services of someone who can’t work and meet basic criteria’s at the same time.
- Higher Salary
Tech-savvy individuals are usually better paid because of the positions they can occupy in a specific company. If you don’t have these skills, you can barely reach a mediocre position inside that company.
- Resourcefulness
Technology is all about making a person’s life easier. By taking advantage of all the digital tools that are available for free or for sale, you can find many ways to deal with potential problems and difficulties.
- You Will Be Perceived Differently
People judge all sorts of stuff. If they find out that you can’t use a mobile phone or easy software, you’ll be below your colleges or below the people you know and talk to on a professional level. Make sure that this doesn’t happen!
- Save a Lot of Time & Effort
Today, automation is everything. Taking advantage of all the special tools and software is going to make your life way easier. You can automate time-consuming and simple tasks and never spend your time doing insignificant stuff again.
Steps on How to Become Tech Savvy
- Use Google. Google is your friend. If you have a question about something or need to research a certain topic, search using Google.
- Find info about computers. Info can be in e-books, on websites, or even in books. You can find it at your local library. As it says in the last tip, use Google to find them. Also, you might want to use the Usenet to find info about computers.
- Be knowledgeable in many fields. For example, you may never need or want to pick up a digital camera or be able to answer questions about it but it is worth your while to get an understanding of what a digital camera is because it increases your know-how. Everything you learn will come in handy at some point in your life.
- Become an expert. What is something technology-related that interests you and that you enjoy? Say it’s blogging using WordPress. Research the topic and get to know how to use things first hand.
- Learn how to treat computer viruses Viruses, Spyware, and And learn how to avoid Malware. Some great Anti-Virus/Spyware programs are Avast, Malwarebytes, Spybot, AVG, and Spyhunter. There are many anti-virus/Spyware programs out there, and some are free.
- Learn How to Program. Programming is one of the most important skills in technology. If no one could program there would be no worldwide web or even Windows! We wouldn’t even have video games, Mp3 players, or just about anything else electronic. (We would still have lights, of course.) Some programming languages are Python (recommended for beginners), C, C++, C#, Java, and PHP. You can learn some programming at websites all over the web. If you want to start programming, try HTML. There are some very nice tutorials at http://www.w3schools.com/
- Use a Unix or Linux The Unix family of operating systems is very common with some of the most tech-savvy people in the world. This family of operating systems is free and you are free to view the source code used in them. In this family of operating systems, there are also better programming tools and better technical tools than what you can find on Windows.
- Join an online community of other tech gurus and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
- Run scientific and technical conversations with your expert colleagues in work, school, etc. this way, you can get face-to-face knowledge or a wonderful jump-start putting you in the right way.
- Read Technical Skills – What other better way of learning something other than reading a professional book? You can find thousands of books online and even in bookstores. Choose whichever suits your needs.Choosing a technical book is easy, as you can get easy access to reviews and comments for each specific product that you buy. Amazon is the best source of technical books; you can order paperback and even read online using the kindle option.
- Volunteering – Volunteering is another choice that will facilitate the learning of technical skills. Depending on what type of volunteering campaign you join, you will come across a lot of tech-savvy professionals. That will happen of course only if you choose a specific techy group.Speak to those individuals who you believe that can help you develop the necessary skills, and promise to give back the help as soon as you get the chance.
- Ordering Personalized Tutorials – Here’s a unique method of learning new technical skills. You may need certain aspects and information for more skills, but you need to have them all together. In case you don’t find any resources that can provide all the information you need, you can choose to outsource the knowledge.Whenever someone asks me how to approach this, I recommend Australian Writings, professionals who deal with all sorts of content requests. Make a list of things you want to learn and ask them to organize them all accordingly. They will start crafting your tutorial, and you’ll be able to learn everything you need to know even faster!
- Practice, Practice, Practice – Repetition is the key to success. A lot of knowledge is useless if it’s not being practically used. Being a tech-savvy person is all about the abilities that you have, and not necessarily the information that you hold.The moment you learn something new, begin testing it until you get some productive results. I’m telling you; being a tech-savvy isn’t hard…you just have to get the necessary momentum to get started.
- How-To Online Videos – You can find almost any type of video tutorial if you’re actually looking for it. YouTube is your best bet in this case, and you’ll get awesome tutorials for free. If you’re interested in a specific subject, just type some relevant keywords regarding the topic and add “how-to” at the end of your search.You can also buy professional made videos from Udemy, as this marketplace offers a lot of instructional digital materials.
Conclusion
If this article has helped you understand more about the importance of having technical skills in this digital society, you should definitely commit to apply some of the mentioned strategies.
You can fill in the gaps, learn whatever you must learn, and then start taking advantage of the benefits that showed up in your life because of your techy skills. Never give up learning and keep getting better each and every day. Remember, the marketplace is always shifting, and you must adapt in order to be truly successful.