Our fifth Employer Profile is with the BBC. As stated in the profile below, the BBC host hackathon events that are usually coding based and also believe importance should be placed on digital wellbeing. As well, the BBC recommend using LinkedIn Learning to develop digital skills especially for future employability. View some resources below to help you in these areas:
- Digital Skills Festival 2023: Getting Started with LinkedIn Learning!
- Digital Skills Festival 2023: Exploring your Digital Wellbeing!
- Digital Skills Festival 2023: Unlocking Tech Careers for All with Code First Girls!
- LinkedIn Learning Coding Practice
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Company: British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC)
Company Size: 21,000
Founded: 1922
Where is the company based: UK wide
Examples of typical graduate roles:
- Apprenticeships
- Software Engineer
- User Experience Design
- Various roles across:
- Business
- Project Management
- Journalism
- Production
Essential Digital Skills We Value:
Digital Problem Solving and Collaboration –
“Hackathon style events where people are put into teams and set a sort of challenge, usually coding based, in a set amount of time and then present your solution and there is usually a winning team so it is a very collaborative event”.
Digital Wellbeing –
“We encourage people to try and come into work where possible and HR run sessions about mental health and wellbeing and in particular work-life balance. Within the digital teams they are doing more of things called ‘10% times’ where every other Friday people are recommended to step away from work stuff and spend a day or half a day learning a new skill which could be digital skills or courses or anything else!”
What digital skills does the BBC look for in their employees and how can students show those skills?:
“Depends on the role really, the key is to be knowledgeable about current trends, for example being aware and having a knowledge of current software and [coding] languages. Our key question is “tell us why you are best for the role”, and that would be the best opportunity to display your knowledge and skill base. So mention any projects you have been involved in, particularly dissertation projects as they are often at the forefront of digital skills. But as important as digital skills are we can also teach those when someone is in the role so other personal skills and behaviours like collaboration are really important.”
What do you suggest to students to develop or improve on those skills?:
“Read the job description and if there is something you have not experienced before use something like LinkedIn Learning, Pluralsight or just YouTube even and try to then match the experience they are looking for by working on those skills yourself. Acknowledging something you have not got experience in is not a bad thing as long as you can say I am willing to learn it.”
What are you not seeing enough of in terms of these digital skills?:
“What I personally notice is the actual quality of the application as opposed to the specific skills that are missing. It feels that we have people coming out of university who have done some fantastic things, but they have got no experience or had no help in writing an application”.
Produced by the Student Digital Champions