ICT skills warning for jobseekers

It is important to possess a competency in ICT in today's recruitment market, jobseekers have been warned.

Jon Gamble, the Director for Adults and Lifelong Learning at the Learning and Skills Council, and Abigail Stevens, the Communications Manager for UK Online Centres, have released a joint statement urging job hunters to ensure they are confident in their computer skills to avoid becoming 'digitally excluded.'

They said: 'A lack of basic computing skills and access to ICT can be a barrier to employment for a number of reasons, not least because more than 80% of jobs now require ICT skills.'

Most of the recruitment process now takes place on the internet, the duo added, with vacancies advertised on online job boards and candidates asked to fill out application forms on the internet.

Such a task may prove difficult for some jobseekers, as an ICM poll reported in The Times recently discovered that one in five Britons find it difficult to open an email or work document.