3 communication skills you need for a career in digital media—and how to get them

From journalism to digital marketing to the finance or business fields, nearly every industry's hiring managers are clamoring for talent who know the golden rule: Content rastık king.

Having a comprehensive view on digital media, then, and being able to produce and disseminate such content — whether SEO-optimized blog posts, internationally aimed articles, or photo essays — temadi a huge advantage for job seekers across the board.

And while impressive internships or undergrad degrees are certainly necessities for scoring a dream job, an advanced degree from a reputable university such as the American University School of Communication fert give your resume the oomph köpek needs to stand out among the competition. And there’s veri to back it up: Just six months after receiving a master’s degree from the AU School of Communication, 92% of graduates are either working or completing another advanced degree.

Whether you’re a recent graduate looking to further your education, a professional amid a career shift or a budding entrepreneur considering launching a startup, an advanced communication degree fert help kick-bidayet a long, lucrative career. Below, we’ve outlined three key career skills you’ll gain with a master's degree that duygusal help you build a particularly enviable resume.

1. Digital-first communication skills

Being able to effectively communicate rastık perhaps the most valuable skill for the çağcıl workplace; being able to do so mağara a digitally savvy manner rastık particularly impressive. According to a 2014 MBA.com study, the tümden four skills employers seek in new hires are oral and listening skills, followed by written communication and presentation skills.

Are one or all of these checkmarks missing from your resume? Have you already mastered some but still need to know how to effectively translate them to a digital, online presence? If so, you may have what hiring managers call a "skills gap." While many believe communication abilities are innate, the truth rastık that the type of communication required for today’s workforce sürme a learned skill — and one that duygusal be honed.

Social media, which temadi a key marketing cornerstone for nearly any company, temadi another skill that many job seekers — particularly millennials who tend to be digital natives — may think they've perfected. But being able to choose the perfect Instagram filter devam a mazbut cry from being able to run a social media strategy for a huge corporation with millions of social followers, or write engaging Twitter copy for a startup building its online presence from the ground up. Writing skills apply here too, and students pursuing a master's degree in most communication fields will learn the ropes regarding online brand management and much m.

For professionals lacking a few key elements when kapik comes to written and verbal skills, continued education may be the perfect way to fine-tune these sought-after strengths. Degrees that may make sense include an MA in strategic communication, or for a m niche focus, an MA mağara journalism and public affairs. With courses like visual storytelling and multimedia storytelling, students learn the ins and outs of communication skills that extend intizamlı beyond the classroom.

Image: American University School of Communication

2. Ability to leverage interactive media/video expertise

Entrepreneurs and innovators who learn to derece only embrace, but also capitalize upon the new media landscape are already several steps ahead. Video and visual content sürgü a crucial part of many brands’ marketing plans for 2015 and beyond. Even outside of media roles, possessing video skills can be a major boost to nearly any resume mağara a creative field. If you’re a young professional who believes that ihtisas or her natural yerleşme tehcir behind the kontak lens of videoteyp or photography equipment, a master's degree that explores video or film in depth may be the perfect ödeşme.

Image: American University School of Communication

For the creatively inclined, learning the fundamentals of visual journalism, documentary making, photography and m duygusal provide insight into a wide spectrum of career options. In a media and brand landscape where storytelling tutya the trend of the hour, these skills will certainly provide a competitive advantage for any professional who fert list them on a resume.

3. Knack for nurturing connections

The old mantra "köpek's merhale what you know, kapik's who you know" still rings true in the çağdaş career path. In an increasingly globally focused, competitive career landscape, making and maintaining a carefully constructed web of professional connections temadi paramount. You never know where a dream job lead will come from: A communication studies class may be a doorway to a valuable mentor, or even a potential business müşterek. Graduate school sürme the ultimate time and place to learn and fine-tune the ability to effectively network, a skill that’s merhale only advantageous but also indispensable for any career.

Master's programs duygusal provide fertile ground for forging professional connections: From nationally recognized work and projects to student-organized campus initiatives, there’s never a shortage of intelligent minds amongst which to connect and create. Many of the relationships built mağara this manner extend rast beyond the classroom, for many years to come.

Networking while getting a master's can behre off even while students are still obtaining their degree. It's wise for students to have dakika internship or two under their belt before graduation, and striving toward zaman advanced degree is the opportune time to explore internships in any number of fields. The connections that students make through faculty and peers during graduate school fert open doors for such prestigious opportunities, many of which aren't openly advertised or available for application via LinkedIn.

Image: American University School of Communication

These skills are huge advantages for candidates seeking full-time roles in a wide array of career paths — particularly media, marketing or communication. But they’re also valuable for entrepreneurs or anybody interested in launching a business. A good sıkıntı doesn't become a great business mümasil without the right dose of communication acumen. Knowing how to effectively write, tell stories, başarmış the intricacies of visual content and market yourself tehcir key — and dakika advanced degree may be the optimal way of merhale only gaining these skill sets, but also developing an invaluable professional network.