To feel sad and cross about this?

[flowersinthepost]

This is not a Home Ed bashing post exactly but AIBU To Be aggrieved that my horrible father (now nc) didn't allow computers /mobiles/internet in our house when I was growing up meaning that the first sustained contact I properly had with them was when I was 16/17 and we fled the family home due to DV EA etc. This has meant that as I didn't go to school until I was Sixth Form age, I missed out on all IT lessons meaning I now know nothing of excel and the like compared to my peers.
It is definitely impacting on my job prospects right now as well as my confidence (early twenties).

YANBU, that's terrible and not your fault at all.

Do you have access to a computer now? If so there are really excellent tutorials on YouTube and other sites which would help you master the basics of word / excel etc. That's all most people know tbh! As long as you know your way around the main features you can call yourself competent in a job interview and then just google anything specific after that.

Don't stress. Most people my age are completely self-taught. It isn't hard.
In fact, I think you learn better by "doing" rather than being told. Start with something you are interested in, word processing or spreadsheets, keyboard skills, and just crack on, experiment, make mistakes. All my children are self-taught as they are 40 so learned as computers evolved, They all use computers in their work. I think you have far more important things to feel aggrieved about

Programs such as Excel and Word are designed to be idiot-proof, so just sign up for a couple of training courses and you'll be fine.

It is very easy to learn. You can pick it all up yourself using YouTube. I haven't used excel in years and have forgotten everything I was taught at school. If I need it I just open it and fiddle around until iycdies what I want. You will he fine.

Don't waste your life with 'what if my upbringing was different'. Many of us could contribute to a thread that was full of bad luck/bad upbringing/disadvantages stories that would make others weep.

Just find and follow the 'catch up' and succeed advice given.

Thank you

My teens have grown up with tech, but they only know the basics of Word and Excel etc - I know because I have advanced qualifications and see them struggle.

Oh OP please don't stress. I recently did a refresher I.T. course having been a sahm for years and going back to work and there were people of all ages who for various reasons hadn't had much computer experience.

Maybe consider doing one of those? For your confidence if nothing else. They're not too expensive and mine only lasted 10 weeks and did the job. Good luck!

How old are you? My generation learnt on Amstrad and BBC Acorns after school age but have turned out IT literate. Focus on turning the situation around, enrol on an ECDL course which will get you up to speed on software like Office. You could even learn coding online. However many packages are work specific and learnt on the job, so even basic skills are enough.

Most of my peers can use software okay, but can't touchtype. If you wan't to get ahead, rather than just catch up, try mavis beacon lessons for typing skills.

A few years ago I did a City and Guilds computer basics course. It was FREE (yay) at a local college for adults. It was very good because it really did start at the beginning and assume you knew nothing. If someone had said 'oh just check things out on YouTube' I wouldn't have even known how to find YouTube!

Many people didn't have access to computers and manage fine. Learn

I think you'll being slightly unreasonable here. If it helps I was brought up without computers, mobile phones etc because they didn't exist (I'm 53). However, my career is in IT - started off programming, worked my way up, now a director of a software company. It's just a case of trying and learning - there can be some good courses at local colleges. Enjoy!

Don't stress too much, I grew up completely without any tech (because it did not exist, we did not even get TV in the country I lived in until I was 14). I am fine with tech and IT now and use it all the time at work and home, including running a business. No courses or anything, just taught myself. But there are lots of courses etc available, as people have said...

Gosh, I learnt excel in six one-hour evening classes and word I picked up as I went along.

Definitely not too late!
A surprising number of my students (University hard science) have very poor computer skills when they arrive, can type a document in word and send emails but that's about it.
seems stupid, but you can find a lot of answers just by googling it, eg. "how to work out average in excel". My stock answer to students seems to be "have you googled that".
Most programs you'll use will have comprehensive online support in some way (help pages / message boards / online chat).
a course might be a good start

PS I still cannot touch type, just type with two fingers. As my job involves a lot of writing, I just mostly use voice-recognition, it works very well!

Look. You're an adult. You need to take responsibility for youtself. If This is impacting your job prospects then learn to use them, it's not hard.

I say that as someone who had a shitty, shitty upbringing so knows. It's fine to feel sad and cross about what happened, but it's not fine to just accept it and do nothing about it as a grown up.

So get out there and get it fixed. There is no reason for this to continue or impact your job prospects.

I worked in a large volunteer organisation and 20% of our members/volunteers didn't have computers or internet access at home. I know it feels ubiquitous but actually it isn't.
You can hold on to the resentment. And since you lived in a home with EA and DV, I can understand why that resentment is there as its a reaction to the much bigger problems.
But you can also enrol in a short course to learn the basics or self-teach. I've attended courses for various IT programmes but taught myself to touch type. Look and see what programmes/skills will be most useful to you and then plan how you can gain them.

But no one learns Excel at home OP! I learned it once I started working in a company that required it and I asked to be sent on one-day training course. If that's not an option and you need to have it on your CV then look at free tutorials on YouTube, or get yourself an Excel book, or ask a nice friend to give you a lesson in return for dinner or something. The basics are surprisingly simple and anything more complex you can Google and teach yourself. I'm always learning new things, even now, so once you've learned the basics you can teach yourself.

Have a look at Adult education
classes locally. There seem to be loads of short courses o n offer at the moment. Most are free. Can work up to ECDL later.

Don't worry OP - nobody learns that stuff at school. Word doesn't really need to be learnt, and basic Excel can be learned in half an hour with one of those Dummy books. Your local library probably runs basics courses if you feel unsure how to get started.

Not excusing your father, who sounds like a lunatic, but his behaviour does not in any way influence your current computer skills.

You can certainly teach yourself. I learned most of my IT skills by figuring it out as I went along. I taught myself to touch type as well. You can do it!

I am in my fifties so obviously didn't learn IT skills in school. I know it probably isn't what you want to hear but it really is very simple. Programmes like Excel and Word are designed to be user friendly and have Help functionality built in at every stage. Buy Excel for Dummies,\ or Word for Dummies and crack on.

After a career break for children I was in my forties when I was recruited as Data Manager for a large secondary school based on my organisational skills and a reputation for being a self starter in an organisation I volunteered for. My first 6 months I bluffed my way through constantly exploring the database and working out what it could do. I relied heavily on the Dummies books and often felt a bit of a fraud but I eventually got to grips with it and made a success of the role.

My kids are all early 20s and none of the know how to use Excel..and we have always had a computer! None of their jobs require that skill, but I'm pretty sure that if they needed to they would do what I would..google it!
Most local colleges offer adult learning too..I know mine does a course for adults (free!) so worth looking into that.
While I completely understand the resentment... it's not going to hold you back unless you let it. Get learning :)