As a IBCoM student, an internship is required for graduation no matter whether students decide to go on an exchange or take a minor. To stay competitive in a dynamic job market, students should broaden their horizon by acquiring new skill sets necessary for their career and development.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the procedure in which a website’s technical configuration and content relevancy are optimized so that it becomes more easily accessible to users. Thus, it is ranked better by search engines, leading to more traffic (viewers). As future marketers, students can familiarize themselves with SEO, which will be beneficial in their next job-seeking process.
Media Literacy
Video design and editing
As a Communication and Media student, video design and editing are essential for many projects at school. These skills not only help you complete an artistic assignment or make a congratulations video for your beloved ones, but also aid your work if there is a promotional video to be made for a new event at your company. Popular video editing softwares are Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X or iMovie for Apple users. Canva is also a well-known reliable source of editing nowadays. Simple posters or short clips can be completed in a short amount of time with Canva’s various templates.
Photoshop
Photoshop can be a useful tool especially when advertisements focus on creating visual effects nowadays. A bit of knowledge on Photoshop can be applied for image editing on social media pages. Simple tasks such as fixing an object or a logo position can also be done quickly by a non-professional designer with photoshop knowledge, enhancing the whole team’s productivity.
Adobe Photoshop, or Adobe Lightroom Classic are ‘gold standard’ in professional designing. However, there are also affordable alternatives for students.
Web Design
Whether an influencer, an entrepreneur or a large business owner, a website is favorable for product promotion or even self-branding as it is an owned type of media where we have full control of, unlike other shared or paid media. A decent website helps strengthen trust and attract potential customers. Many marketers also make use of web design to develop their individual portfolios, which help them stand out among other applicants. Popular website creating platforms are WordPress, Wix, Weebly or Webflow.
I wish everyone success in their internship-seeking process. I hope we can all do what we love and enjoy what we do to the fullest!
Author: Ellie Duong Dao
Editor: Phoebe Elliott
Visuals by: Isabella Restrepo