Boost your salary with these new age digital skills

Our increasingly digital landscape has bred a growing demand for digital skills – and not just within IT sectors, but among non-technical roles and industries, as well.

Knowing the right tools and practices to navigate the digital space can help businesses streamline productivity, bolster innovation, and maintain a competitive edge in an era of breakneck tech advancements. As such, those with the right digital talents can effectively stand out in an ever-evolving job market while earning a generous pay boost. 

Below, we break down the most sought-after digital skills in Australia today; ways to train in these emerging technologies; and how a course with Upskilled may be able to help.   

What options do I have when it comes to learning new digital skills?

Formal training or education 

Training courses and qualifications are among the most popular pathways to building new digital skills, with plenty of options now available online. Such programs not only arm you with new, in-demand skillsets, but many officially certify you for entry-level roles in certain sectors – with numerous courses offering (both nationally and internationally-recognised) certificates, diplomas, and degrees. These qualifications demonstrate a valuable competitiveness to your skills, ensures they’re up to industry standards, and help you stand out as a verified expert in the job market. 

Plenty of online or on-campus courses now cater to a vast selection of sought-after and emerging digital sectors – including areas of cloud computing, cyber security, and data analytics. 

Online resources 

Online content such as free tutorial videos, technical articles, and industry publications are effective, convenient ways of keeping up-to-date with the latest skills trends. Though not as in-depth as actual study courses, they serve as valuable additional knowledge and may even help you in honing your newfound skills.

On top of this, plenty of online communities are also readily accessible for helping you network and learn from fellow industry peers. Aspiring programmers, for example, have platforms such as GitHub, Stack Overflow, and CodeProject – spaces for forming new professional connections, participate in collaborative projects, or to simply share tips, tricks, and skill advice.   

Personal projects  

Your newfound digital skills are only as effective as your level of practice or commitment to them. If you wish to broaden your career opportunities, be sure to exercise your knowledge by undertaking personal projects (or collaborating on a few with your peers) and allowing yourself to explore various ways of applying your new skillset. Through your own experimentation and practice, you’ll eventually learn to hone your own techniques, methods, and processes for leveraging such skills. You may even discover new skill areas that pique your interest, helping you broaden your abilities further.
 
Additionally, pursuing your own projects allows you to build a portfolio that not only showcases your competency to potential employers – but your initiative and passion for the field. 

Top-paying digital skills (now and into the future) 

Honing your skills for Australia’s digital future can help expand your career pathways while securing them in an era of looming tech developments and automation. 

Additionally, as businesses rebuild their stride post-pandemic, 86% of Australian employers are reporting accelerated rates of digital adoption – making such skills more sought after than ever. Below are some of the highest-paying digital skills in the country’s current job market:   

• Cloud computing knowledge: With most Australian businesses now making their move to the cloud, the ability to navigate, leverage, and configure cloud computing platforms for streamlined productivity is invaluable. According to Payscale, the average pay for professionals with cloud computing skills currently sits at a whopping $129K AUD per year. 
• Digital marketing: As the online world continues to greater grant access to new markets and demographics, digital marketing skills are bound to stay in high demand. According to Robert Half, e-mail marketing, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) skills, and social media management have been among the most sought-after skillsets between 2020-2021. Payscale also shows high rates of pay for those in the field, with digital marketers earning a standard base salary of $70K AUD on average, and earning as high as $120K AUD per year as experience grows. 
• Cyber security skills: With cyber crimes on a rapid rise by the year, the skills to protect one’s data and IT systems have been in critical demand. The sector is currently facing a growing skills shortage, requiring an additional 16,600 workers by 2026 and pushing roles well into the six-figure salary range. According to figures by Indeed, the average cyber security specialist earns around $108,561 AUD per year. 
• Business analysis and management: Lastly, the digital skills to manage, analyse, and leverage one’s business data has garnered crucial demand with the rise of data analytics, Salesforce and digital project management tools. Digital business development managers can earn between $120K to $177K AUD annually, while business analysts earn an average of $102,250 AUD per year.

How do I upskill and increase my salary even while working full-time? 

Acquiring new skills while tending to other personal or work-related commitments has been made easy through the rising popularity of online courses. 
Professionals now looking to sharpen their skillsets can simply pursue a qualification (or a few) online, where most (if not all) of their training is delivered through digital content, forums, and communication tools. 

Upskilled is one such training provider that offers these options – with courses ranging from months-long bootcamps to fully-fledged degrees. Students can explore a wide variety of in-demand digital skills (including those in cloud computing, cyber security, digital marketing, and business/data analytics), all through a flexible online learning experience best tailored to their schedule. As such, employees can easily balance the commitment of learning new skills and the demands of their current full-time job.   

Will getting an online certification help boost my salary? 

Certifying yourself in high-demand digital skills can help bolster your resume and your salary potential on the job market. These qualifications (many of which are offered online) verify your credibility in a certain skills area – boosting your value as an employee and granting you a competitive advantage over your non-certified peers. 

Plenty of well-known certifications have thus been reported to significantly increase one’s earnings, particularly those offered by reputable bodies in your field. For example, aspiring cloud computing professionals are recommended to pursue qualifications under Microsoft, AWS (Amazon Web Services), and GCP (Google Cloud Platform); as these credentials are likely to lift your salary by 35%, 25%, and 7.1%, respectively. 

Seeking to boost your digital skills?

As mentioned, Upskilled offers plenty of options for online training (from short courses and bootcamps to diplomas and degrees), helping you sharpen your knowledge for an increasingly digital future. Stand out in the job market, raise those earnings, and “future-proof” your career path today – and enquire with us on a course. 
 

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