Career in web development?

@Rebecca_RowanJan 26.2003

I am thinking about a career in web development.
I would take a 10-month diploma program at a technical
college. I would learn Java programming, Visual Basic,
Intro. to programming, relational database programming,
Coldfusion, Unix systems and web page design. Is this
enough for a career in web development? How do employers
look at diploma programs? I’m a college grad. (History)

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rebecca Rowan

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Full-stack Developer

11 Comments(s) _↴

@RibeyedJan 26.2003 — #you seem to have it all covered apart from on vital thing employers look at......Experience ?

@jpmoriartyJan 27.2003 — #I'd have to say that it's all about experience actually. Imagine it like being an artist - people will ask you to paint stuff for them if they like what you paint. You wont get any work by sending people your cv stating all the fancy art colleges that you've been to.

The best way to go about it is to design some sites and learn it that way - by all means take courses to learn how to do it, but I've always found that the best way to learn is to try it yourself. Once you've designed a nice personal site, get in touch with friends, family friends, anyone, and ask them if they'll let you design a site for them, [i]for free[/i]. Once you've done that (and learnt a bit more) then you'll have a portfolio that you can show people to show them what you can do.

Most companies that are taking on web designers or developers will ask for the URL's of 5 or more websites that you can take most of the credit for - just learning the code aint enough - you've got to to be able to show that you can do it.

You may find that doing it the degree route will end up costing you a fortune in tuition, and not greatly advance your career at all, or not advance it as much as sitting down and working for free for a year would have.

@Digital_DragonJan 28.2003 — #Experience..that is the exact problem I am facing. I have the degree in Graphics and all but no one wants me because I have no experience.

I have sent out numerous CD portfolios and resumes.

My problem is that I need something where I can develope my skills...I can't even land a entry-level job in anything...be it web design, illustration or anything.

When I started my college training, I was naive enough to think that I would be able to get a job afterwards...even the so-called "entry-level" positions my college told me about all wanted people with experience. But how do you get that experience? Through a job...but without the experience you can't get one.

I liken it to the old "Which came first; the chicken or the egg" adage....

I really wanted to do illustrations or character design or something like that...web design is okay but I lean more towards something different...but now I got this degree and to me it is practically worthless if I can't even land a small job. And now I am discovering that there is ALOT that the college never taught me...like I am trying to learn how to make web pages using Photoshop and ImageReady, I am trying to learn how to use Style Sheets in Web Design...these things seem to be commonplace in Web Design yet my college did not teach that, we didn't even learn about basic Java or stuff like that...instead they focused on Flash Based sites and things like that but of course 99% of the students already either had experience in such related fields or had their own semi-business or fan sites....

They relied too heavily on pre-made tutorials and not nearly enough on creativity....

So you really have to plan things out too before going on such a venture.

Sorry for ranting there!

@jpmoriartyJan 28.2003 — #It's really a shame to hear that you're not having much luck with the job front. Unfortunately it's true of any degree though - you suddently realise when you come out that you're not really any more qualified for anything than when you went in! You're in a particularly difficult field (if you're thinking web design that is) since it's really one of the most open markets available - anyone can have a go. Personally my degree is applied mathematics, which means (if I was good enough) I might be able to work for an investment bank or something doign differential equations (I'm not though, but I know people who are!) - that's not something that most people can have a go at. But designing web sites - hell, everyone does a bit of that these days!

Just to try and offer some advice, I would reiterate my point that you have to offer to work for free initially - as you say, you need a worthwhile project to start you off on, 'cos it's much easier to learn when you're actually thinking of it's uses and how you're going to apply it. I recently offered to design an intranet site for a company that i know reasonably well, and offered to do it for free - I just asked for a little contact time so I could get an idea of what they want, and then set off doing it. There was no guarantee I could go back to them with anything, but i worked away and learnt a hell of a lot doing it, and they've just offered me £600 to build it up some more and include a few new features. But had I gone to them and said "give me £600 and I'll do you an intranet" they wouldnt have given me the time of day! Once I could show them what I'd done and they liked it, then that's the start of the road. There must be things like clubs that you know of, football teams etc who you can say "let me do you a website" to, and they wont mind cos they might not have one, and you can dedicate as much (or as little) time to it as you see fit.

On the subject of web design, I'm not sure if I understand you right, but you cant be using Photoshop and image ready to design compete sites - absolutely not (IMHO of course). Certainly you should use them to design graphics and the like, buttons etc, but nto to design sites. You need to learn how to write HTML using plain old notepad - there are loads of books, online tutorials, hell even the W3C (?) guidelines to help you learn. Then when you're relatively happy with that (and it really shouldnt take too long), you can start looking at server programming languages like ASP or PHP, where you might be better off with a good book than trying online, but it's your call. By this point you'll be doing some impressive stuff - dynamically generating content, using back end databases, login and passworded sites etc. It's really quite fun, but can eventually make you money too.

Just another point, I dont profess to be anything near an expert, and I only write websites etc to bring in a little cash and to keep me entertained on those long winter sites. I've made quite a bit from it now over the years, and I've never once used any flash. Personally I'm not sure i've [i]ever[/i] been impressed by a flash site - i'm more of the opinion that content matters more than having a wishy logo at the start. I also think that businesses use it for it's "wow" factor, but very few (to my knowledge) will use it for their entire site, because it's very difficult to update once you've done it, and it's really not friendly for the non initiated. There are some really impressive sites out there done in plain old HTML, making clever use of things like DHTML and CSS's that impress a lot more, and retain the ability for people with very little knowledge of HTML at all to go in and make alterations. And that's where you're going to impress people, I would think.

Hope that's of some use...

@nkaisareJan 28.2003 — #One good place to start is develop webpages for non profit organizations. Dont expect to get paid. It gives you some experience and a starting point, beyond designing personal webpages.

@lomfs24Jan 29.2003 — #I am at about the same position you are. I would like to start a career in web develoment. However, I don't have the time or money to enroll in a college or tech school. Someone earlier stated that you could design some pages for non-profit organizations. That is a solution that I am doing right now. I have a friend who is a member of the Lions Club International organization and he needed to redesign a web site. I VOLUNTEERED! I work on it at nights and often into early morning. But I am getting valuable experience in web design. I have more work than I know what to do with now. Several of the local clubs want a page and the local district now wants me to redesign their page. I will shortly have a portfolio of sites that I have designed.

As far as having a company hire you, well, the company that is most likely to hire you is a company you create. We live in a country that allows anyone to create a company. Your company hours could be like mine and be from 10PM to 2AM. Once you put word out on the street that you are looking for websites to build you will have more work than you can handle.

@spufiJan 29.2003 — #I just want to add that I'm also in the beginning phase of it. A friend of mine asked me to help her out and I did her site for free. Now my sister-in-law wants me to do one. I am also looking at doing some work on my parent's church's website and that should give me experience on more of the back end side of things. Last night I found out a girl I know wants to start her own buisness, and she even asked me to talk to her about it. She doesn't even know I can make websites yet. I'll bet she will be happy when she does. So just like everybody else is saying, do some for free and get your name out there. Networking with people maybe the largest factor in making money. Once you start doing that, then you should have no problem finding offers.

@Digital_DragonJan 30.2003 — #JPMORIARTY:

Actually, yes you can constuct a web page in Photoshop and ImageReady...you export the whole thing from ImageReadys menu....I followed a tutorial on how to do it and it worked out okay...

Unfortunately where I live, there is little to no call for web design or anything like that....but I guess I have to keep trying I suppose.

However nowdays people practically demand a degree before they even recognize or acknowledge your claims to be able to do web design or illustrations. Though I have seen those who posses degrees to be less "talented" than those without.

I don't know...guess I will redesign my site or something......

@tasneemJan 30.2003 — #Hi all

I am in the same boat. I designed my husband's site in 1997-98 in FrontPage, not knowing any HTML or such. I wasn't thinking of a career back then, more of family and such. Now my husband and I have started our business D.zigns Enterprise Solutions and I designed the whole site. I have learned a lot more about HTML, DHTML, ASP, JavaScript etc. Even though I donot yet have a portfolio, I have2,3 websites to design, so probably will have a portfolio soon. Reading your posts really boosted my hopes.

thanks

@jpmoriartyJan 30.2003 — #Actually, yes you can constuct a web page in Photoshop and ImageReady...you export the whole thing from ImageReadys menu....I followed a tutorial on how to do it and it worked out okay... [/QUOTE]
When i said you cant i didnt actually it mean it wouldnt be possible... i just meant that I couldnt think of anything worse. I really dislike using "web design" packages (particularly Frontpage) because I dislike the lack of control it gives over the code - it's a personal thing of course, but I prefer to use notepad. The prospect of using a graphical program to design them just struck me as bizarre: I'm sure you could eat cornflakes with a knife and fork if you wanted, but I use a spoon. (I've also seen sites designed by people using corel draw, which i would imagine is easier to do than using image ready, and they've been some of the worst pages i've ever seen - I'm not saying your site will be bad, I just think tthat you're going the wrong way about it and wont learn agreat deal through doing it. I think you'll find it a lot more satisfying using notepad or something, and it at least gives you a head start into "web site design" as opposed to drawing pictures that you can turn into websites. But that;s just my opinion... ignore it if you wish!)

@Julss615Jan 30.2003 — #Thank-you for posting this. I to dream of a career in web development. In my area most web development jobs require a B.A. in IT or an associates, 4-10 years of job experience plus a portfolio of at least 5 web pages. Funny thing is when I went to check out the curriculum for a degree in IT at my local community college, you couldn't specialize in web development and none of the classes would help you towards that career unless you wanted to work more as a network administrator. So I continued my search...the college also had a program in graphic design but it only offered 1 class in web design, nothing specific as far as programs & software which makes sense because graphic design and web development are actually two separate things. Anyway I found two tech schools that were very specific in the classes, ALL geard towards web development in some way & software learned up to date. One school you can get an associates in IT specializing in web development with webmaster certification and eventually transfer to a 4 year school. The other school didn't offer a degree but a rigerous full time 6 month training program in all the latest web development information with ability to get certified in different areas. Aside from the education I have to agree that getting a portfolio started is the best way to get the foot in the door especially if you lack the education. I'm just beginning by developing web pages for myself until I get the hang of it & I haven't started any formal training yet. Good-luck! ?