Are you REALLY tech-savvy?

*Warning: Contains swearing*

What does tech-savvy mean these days?

It definitely doesn't just mean you are half decent with Microsoft Office, spend hours a day on social media or understand how to animate a slide on PowerPoint. I say this because these are some of the more common examples we hear when we ask candidates what they think tech-savvy means exactly. There is a disconnect here and this is the motivation for me writing this piece. Tech-savvy is a subject close to my heart. Let me explain...

Acceptable in the 80s

Growing up in the 80s and 90s I felt that my generation was very tech-savvy. I mean, we were! Compared to our parents at least. It was the dot.com boom and the future of tech was going to be ours. I had also personally perfected the art of stopping the tape recording before the adverts kicked in. #winning

I distinctly remember my grandmother being absolutely mind-blown by CDs when they became mainstream. My first one was the ‘D:Ream, Things Will Only Get Better’ single if you're interested (I can sense you’re not). But I was terribly aggrieved when Tony Blair adopted it as his election song. Turns out things didn’t actually get that much f**king better, Tony.

Tech started moving quickly after that and a couple of treasures slipped past me; Blu-rays for a start. But then as I got into the world of work (1999/2000), I was well on top of technology and most definitely tech-savvy for the times. Remember Y2K? For those of you who don’t, it was the Armageddon for technology. It was predicted all tech would basically short circuit at the stroke of midnight in the year 2000 and we’d be plunged into darkness and fear which would, presumably, have triggered the real Armageddon because society would start to break down and we’d be eating each other by the following Christmas.

I may be very slightly exaggerating this but in 1999 it was a genuine concern and many, many compliance, risk and security meetings were held to discuss it ad nauseam.

I worked for a large corporation in 1999 and I recall very clearly the man in charge of the Y2K project at our firm would stomp around looking worried and muttering about the "end of all things". His name was Terry.?

In actual fact, it was a huge anti-climax and the clocks ticked over without even a flicker of burning cars or looting. A mild disappointment on my part since I was right in the middle of my goth/anarchy phase and quite fancied some trouble.

The next ‘tech memory’ I have is 5 years later when I started working as the PA to the Home Secretary, David Blunkett. As you may know, David happened to be blind, although this did not impact his effectiveness at all. This, however, was purely driven by his own attitude, intelligence and grit, not access to high-tech working. As his PA, it very quickly became apparent to me just how far technology could be pushed to create more effective working methodologies for him but at that time, we were restricted to audiotapes, braille and David’s formidable memory. However, it did trigger in me a fascination with workflow efficiency that I still have today. #mostboringhobbyever

Wazzock: A stupid or annoying person

Fast forward to 2006-ish and my first real experience of support staff recruitment from a candidate perspective. I could sum up in one word how I felt about recruiters during this time but I've been told I'm not allowed to use it so let’s go with the term “wazzocks’’ as a stopgap*. A grossly underused insult in my opinion. We need to bring that one back.

Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

The most frustrating part of the recruitment process back then was the factory-style churn of candidates forced through typing and spelling tests by a trainee recruiter called Cheryl who, at the ripe age of approximately 13, was loving the power trip of policing the testing process. Sat there in silence row upon row, frantically typing away on sticky keyboards, lines of utter gibberish about compliance standards in asset managers. For years I used to boast about how quickly I could type ''...requiring some firms to hold much more capital and introducing new obligations..." I can type it faster than you can say it btw... Also, how nice is the word 'obligations' to type? Try it...

The only thing those typing and spelling tests confirmed was that you had fingers and went to primary school.

Lots of recruiters used to also insist on taking your photo under the guise of checking your identity but I know it was so they could send them to clients to allow them to select the most provocative looking candidates. I always made sure I was winking in my photo with my mouth very slightly slack. What do you think of that, Cheryl?**

My point is...

Things have moved on, a lot. All technology requires now is for the user to be engaged and open to it; able to switch between technologies and remain agile, without becoming too institutionalised towards any one particular tech solution.

It’s not about understanding modems or bytes or CMS (important if you are technical but not to be generally ‘tech-savvy’). The best talent understands the importance of staying agile with technology and understanding how to adopt it to solve new problems as they arise. Harness the tech, don’t run from it.

The most exciting thing about this shift is that it creates better career mobility amongst employees and allows them to all become truly tech-savvy and not just proficient in Word or Excel. This is crucial because this mobility is what is needed to avoid being overtaken by technology or, at worst, having your role taken by it completely.?

It also brings in those who feel pushed out of the loop re technology, particularly older employees who can genuinely be discriminated against for roles because of their perceived lack of tech-savviness. There you go Terry, you are still relevant, me old mate. Actually, he’s probably dead now***.?

I love technology. I believe in tech making the world a better place. But you need to make sure you have the right mindset for it. Things can literally only get better from here anyway, right?

Now, get lost and get back on Tik Tok.

*Most recruiters I know nowadays are lovely, lovely, talented and impressive people with occasionally only a whiff of ‘wazzock’ about them, myself included.

** This didn't work, I got very few interviews.

*** RIP Terry.

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