Graduate Digital Skills Profiles
View a series of interviews with graduates of Aberystwyth University about their use of digital skills in their lives since graduating and the skills they wish they had developed further before they left Aberystwyth University.
Criminology Graduate
When did you graduate from AU?
What did you study? – Criminology
What are you doing now professionally since graduating? – I am working for the NHS as a Support Secretary in the Oncology Dept. of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital
What digital skills do you use in your job? –
Digital Collaboration and Communication- “sending emails and using MS Teams to communicate with colleagues”.
Digital Problem Solving- “the NHS uses lots of old systems so I am often dealing with software crashing, computers freezing, file corruption and deletion”.
Digital Learning- “I had to learn how to use Excel for spreadsheets and how to use the NHS digitally automated lettering system for completing patient details on forms”.
Digital Identity- “the NHS has guidelines on how to present yourself online and how to properly handle patient data according to data protection regulations.”
Are there any digital skills you wish you had learnt before you graduated?
“I wish I had used all the resources available to me and explored them more rather than just using them for what was needed in my modules and assignments. I also wished I had explored or been taught more on Excel because I use it so much in my job and I think I only really knew the basics coming into it”.
Are there any common weaknesses in digital skills you notice amongst your colleagues?
“Yes, definitely massive weaknesses in digital problem-solving skills around knowing how to fix technical issues when they happen as well as information literacy skills around general computer use”.
Film Making Graduate
When did you graduate from AU?
What did you study? – Film making
What are you doing now professionally since graduating? “I’ve been creating a portfolio of my work, updating my CV, making business cards, getting a driver’s licence and done some volunteer work like helping with event photography”.
What digital skills do you often use? –
Digital creativity- “I am pretty proficient in photoshop, editing software, film and video editing software and screenwriting software like Trelby”.
Data literacy and digital proficiency- “I used Excel to gather and present data from a talent show and then counted the data. I feel confident in basic computer skills and I prefer to Google any problems first before going to an IT specialist so also digital problem-solving”.
Information Literacy – “I learnt how to Google things efficiently by using keywords”.
Digital footprint- “I try to be mindful about my digital footprint and not give Google too much information, I pride myself on how little information google has on me! I don’t use TikTok either because of security concerns”.
Are there any digital skills you wish you had learnt before you graduated?
“In an ideal world it would be great to know how to take full control of your digital footprint but I can appreciate this isn’t really possible. But maybe it would be a good idea to have mandatory programmes for online security and privacy and how the things you say online can be used in the future”.
Where did you learn these digital skills?
“I mainly learnt about all the different digital creation software at university and I utilised my student discount to get things like Adobe Cloud. I learnt how to use quite a lot of programmes by just playing around and watching a few tutorials”.
Psychology and Criminology Graduate
When did you graduate from AU? – 2022
What did you study? – Psychology and Criminology
What are you doing now professionally since graduating? “I work in Mortgage Servicing for TSB Banking so taking payments and answering customer enquiries.”
What digital skills do you use in your job? –
Communication and Collaboration- “We use teams quite a lot on a daily basis, for example we have a hub we all use to communicate with each other if there is a customer enquiry we don’t know the answer to we can see if anyone else has experienced the issue and has a solution. We also use email plenty to communicate to customers and collaborate with the payments team to ensure information is carried across correctly.”
Digital learning- “Every 3 or 4 months we have online training through our company hub so we can keep up to date with our digital skills and be able to find and use information. So at the moment we’ve got one to make sure were utilising the Microsoft systems correctly.”
Information and data literacy- “We have a lot of Excel spreadsheets with customer data to work with them to make sure they get the information they need and to match up data and information with the payments department.”
Are there any digital skills you wish you had learnt before you graduated?
“Probably just improving technical proficiency overall because life is quite online now. Also going over the digital identity and wellbeing because I think we really covered all the data and technical side of things but not how to use your online profile to help you get a job and how to portray yourself.
Where did you learn these digital skills?
“A lot of the basic Microsoft software was introduced at university and I was also figuring things out by myself and with my friends and then my employer taught us a lot of the job-specific stuff using their online training.”
Physics Graduate
When did you graduate from AU?
What did you study? – Physics
What are you doing now professionally since graduating? I have taught English in Japan and done a PhD in Physics at Leeds University. At the moment I am teaching myself computer programming and I hope to find a career in that.
What digital skills have you used in work? –
Digital creation- “when I was teaching English I would create and design lesson materials using things like MS PowerPoint.”
Digital learning- “during my PhD I learnt a huge amount of new digital skills and used a lot of new programmes and software, particularly in data analysis and handling.”
Digital proficiency- “in both my teaching and PhD I was relying on digital tools and software to carry out day to day tasks so I have good digital proficiency. When I started my undergrad at Aberystwyth that was the first time I had ever sent an email so I have learnt a lot since then.”
Are there any digital skills you wish you had learnt before you graduated?
“I have always been interested in computing and so I feel quite proficient especially having done an A-level in computer science. I picked up most digital skills before graduating but maybe having the ability to have learnt computer programming skills from AU provided platforms would have made it easier to find a job in it now.”
Have you noticed any common weaknesses the digital skills of those in a similar field as you?
“Not really as most physics graduates seem quite good with technology but I do see a pattern in correlation to how inclined people are towards computing technology and if people are not interested in it they will just pick up the minimum that they need.”
Fine Art and Film and Television Studies Graduate
When did you graduate from AU? 2022
What did you study? – Fine art and film and television studies.
What are you doing now professionally since graduating? “I am currently working in hospitality but it’s not a permanent job, I’m searching for a job in film production and in the meantime I’m working on my CV and creating a portfolio website”.
What digital skills do you use in your job? Digital creativity- “I edit photos with Photoshop, I’m creating a website with WordPress and using Instagram to build a social media presence”.
Digital proficiency- “working with software to enter orders on tills and taking digital card payments”.
Data literacy- “I use spreadsheets to track expenses and I love computers so I use them lots for research, for example finding a doctor for my friend who only speaks Polish”.
Did you receive any support with your digital skills at Aberystwyth University? “Yes there was help with software in lecturers and I remember getting lots of emails reminding us of support available. I know I had help from Information Services for outlook/emails”.
Are there any digital skills you wish you had learnt before graduating? “Yes, more help with using and searching for people and jobs on LinkedIn. I struggle to understand it and am having to self-teach it to myself now”.
Are there any common weaknesses in digital skills you notice amongst your colleagues? “Applying research to digital skills or solving digital problems”.
Biochemistry Graduate
When did you graduate from AU? 2022
What did you study? – Biochemistry
What are you doing now professionally since graduating? “I am doing a master’s degree in Bioinformatics at Cardiff University.”
What digital skills do you use in your MSc? –
Digital creation- “so using PowerPoint and Excel to present data and information.”
Digital learning- “mainly using language programmes, I used R in my undergrad degree but I don’t think I learnt enough and I was only taught the basics so I’ve used LinkedIn Learning to develop those skills.”
Information and Digital Literacy- “I use Google Scholar a lot and also ChatGPT which has a good side as well as a bad one and my computer science lecturer actually recommended it for when you don’t know what the command line is doing or if you are unsure of what a command does it can be really useful for rephrasing information to help you understand it better.”
Communication and Collaboration- “I use LinkedIn for networking and to find jobs because lots of people look for and advertise jobs in the online space now so it is like the Facebook of the job world.”
Are there any digital skills you wish you had learnt before you graduated?
“I’d have liked more help with R, most of the content during your undergrad is very general and non-specific but I guess that’s where LinkedIn Learning helps to get those in-depth skills.”
Where did you learn these digital skills?
“I learnt a lot of them during my undergrad and with each module you would learn digital skills but for things like R I used LinkedIn Learning and I have also used it to develop my hobbies because I’m really into photography. I only found it late into my undergrad and I wish I’d have known about it sooner.”
Zoology Graduate
When did you graduate from AU?
What did you study? – Zoology
What are you doing now professionally since graduating? “The last 6-months I have had a volunteer position at a Scottish RSPB reserve but I’ve just got a 3-month paid seabird surveying position on the Isles of Scilly with the National Trust”.
What digital skills do you use in your job? –
Data and information literacy- “I have done a lot of data entry and work with Excel and also typing up from written notes into spreadsheets. Also report writing with some statistical analysis but this has mainly been done with Excel as well”.
Digital learning – “Working at the RSPB I have had to use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and I hadn’t used it until I was at the RSPB as it wasn’t part of my course”.
Are there any digital skills you wish you had learnt before you graduated?
“It would have been helpful to have learnt GIS and also maybe some introductory level map making skills and maybe to have different level courses so for beginners, intermediate and advanced for example. I would have also been interested in using image analysis software as this would have been good for my dissertation but also work so for example I could upload an image of a starling cloud and it would automatically count how many birds there are”.
Are there any common weaknesses in digital skills you notice amongst your colleagues?
“Yes statistics, it seemed that for some people it just didn’t click and no more support could be given– just seemed that you need to repeat the procedure. The resources were all there for you to learn which is good”.
History and Politics Graduate
When did you graduate from AU? 2022
What did you study? History and Politics
What are you doing now professionally since graduating? I now work for Cambrian Training Company as a translator
What digital skills do you use in your work?
Digital participation – “I have a lot of meetings online, and we use Google Meet for these.”
Digital proficiency – “Being a translator, I use programmes like Cysgeir and Cysill quite a lot. I also use online dictionaries like Byd Termau Cymru and Geiriadur yr Academi.”
Digital communication – “I use Gmail every day for emailing colleagues.”
Digital productivity – “I use labels in Gmail to help me organise my emails.”
Did you receive any support with your digital skills at Aberystwyth University?
“I received a lot of support from my lecturers and from the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol to learn how to use Cysill a Cysgeir.” “My lecturers gave me a lot of support with how to use the reading lists on Blackboard. That really helped me with finding resources to write my essays.”
Are there any digital skills you wish you had learnt before you graduated?
“When I left University, I wasn’t very confident communicating over email in a professional manner, so it would have been good to be able to practise this more before leaving.” “We use Excel a lot at work to manage data. I didn’t use Excel at all as part of my degree, but it would have been really useful to have the opportunity to learn how to use it.”
Download All Graduate Profiles
- Criminology Graduate Digital Skills Profile
- Film Making Graduate Skills Profile
- Psychology and Criminology Graduate Digital Skills Profile
- Physics Graduate Digital Skills Profile
- Fine Arts & Film and Television Studies Graduate Digital Skills Profile
- Biochemistry Graduate Digital Skills Profile
- Zoology Graduate Digital Skills Profile
- History and Politics Graduate Digital Skills Profile