Content Management Specialists

High School

Recommended high school classes include English, speech, foreign language, business, marketing, social studies, and computer science (especially web development, programming, and database management).

Postsecondary Education

Content management specialists typically have bachelor’s degrees in English, journalism, mass communication and media studies, technical writing, creative writing, computer science, marketing, public relations, or a related field. Students also complete internships or participate in cooperative education opportunities at companies or organizations that use content management systems in order to develop their skills and experience.

Certification

Certificates in content management and related fields are available from colleges and universities, online learning platforms (OLPs), and other providers. For example, Northwestern University offers a digital content management certificate to students who complete four of the following classes: Digital Media and Society; Human-Computer Interaction; Integrated Marketing Communications; Project Management; Visual Communication; and Visual Storytelling. LinkedIn Learning offers a certificate of completion to students who complete a class or classes in a specific field. Recent courses include Learning Elementor for WordPress Design, Drupal 9 Essential Training: 1 Introduction and Administration, and Squarespace Essential Training: The Basics. Visit https://www.linkedin.com/learning/topics/content-management-systems-cms to learn more. The OLP Alison offers a certificate in content management strategies. For more information, visit https://alison.com/course/content-management-strategies. The International Web Association (https://iwanet.org/profdevel/certification-levels) offers professional certificates for Web professionals that cover topics such as computer security, application development, databases, and web development.

Other Education or Training

Participating in continuing education (CE) classes is a great way to keep your skills up to date and learn about new developments in content management; CE credits may also be required to renew one’s certification. Continuing education opportunities are offered by professional associations (such as the Association for Intelligent Information Management, International Web Association, Society for Technical Communication, and the World Organization of Webmasters), postsecondary institutions, and OLPs (such as Coursera, Udemy, Alison, and LinkedIn Learning).