ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) Computer Qualification and getting a job

[fabemmy]

I am about to start the ECDL (European Computer driving licence) Course and hopefully get the qualification.

Can anyone tell me what kind of jobs I can have a good chance of getting if I have this qualifcation as I was told it will give me a better chance in getting a job.

[saxy_jag]

It's a minimum standard for admin staff at the council I work for. Part of my job is testing the basic IT skills of applicants to first and second scale admin posts within the department. These are people who hold ECDL. However, despite the fact that people hold this qualification, their general standard of IT literacy is woefully inadequate. Many can't even create a basic spreadsheet or format a simple letter, and this is what I would expect of someone with ECDL.

An ECDL will certainly help you to get a basic admin post. Its usefulness in other areas of work depends on the level of IT use in the job. But you need to continue to develop the skills learnt. It is a basic qualification and there's much more to being IT competent than just this. All my colleagues hold this qualification, but have done little in terms of IT learning since the day they passed ECDL. Because I've taken it upon myself to learn more and try different things on the computer, I now have a high level of competence and it's usually me that ends up showing the others how to do simple things like renaming a file, attaching one to an email or placing a graphic into a document. It means I also get the less mundane and rather nicer IT tasks around the office.

[buildersmate]

I'd agree with that. It demonstrates that, at some time in the past, one could use the basic functionality of a PC and had a grasp of the most common Applications (spreadsheet, word processing, use of email, use of the internet). But a bit like English GCSE qualification, there's nothing like a damn good test at interview to find out really what the candidate knows.
It might get you to interview, it won't get you the job.