Do i need to be more qualified?

Trilla90

Hi i wasn't sure what kind of career i wanted and I'm still not 100% sure but i find myself leaning towards web development/design (whatever it's called nowadays). I graduated from a Digital Media course with a level 7 qualification at the end of last year but the course was very broad and covered all different parts of the DM industry.

Over the 4 years i was there (i did the 4 years but ended up taking the lower award for 3 years as i never completed my final year project) i did about 4 projects related to web design, where i had to design and build a website from scratch mainly using Dreamweaver. I enjoyed doing those projects more than any of the other stuff (video production, animation, graphic design) so that's why I'd like to go in that direction.

I can't say I'm really passionate about web design, i haven't done any websites (apart from college assignments) since last year but i wasn't passionate about any other parts of the course either. The web design was probably the one part of the course i could see myself doing as a job. I had some work experience managing the back end (Joomla) of a website a couple of years ago and i liked that. Was mainly just adding/editing articles on the site, and creating ad banners in photoshop.

I've only been working part-time in a shop the last year that has nothing to do with the course i did. Just wondering with my limited experience of web design can i start applying for jobs in that area now? Would the qualification i have now be enough to get my foot in the door? or would i need to do another course fully focused on web design first?

The reason i haven't been applying for these jobs is that i don't feel confident enough in my abilities, what if i got the job and couldn't do what they where asking of me?

And when it comes to my CV should i include skills that i have limited experience with? (like JavaScript which we barely touched on).

any help would be appreciated

Graham

You're likely to be competing with people that have one or more of the following:

1) experience
2) qualifications
3) enthusiasm

From your opening post it sounds like you don't have much of 1, 2 or 3. How do you think you might be able to change that?

Trilla90

I think i probably would enjoy it once i got into it but i'm not sure how to get started there are so many different languages out there i don't know which to start with. I've done some HTML5 and CSS but not much else. I've had a lot going on the last year or two so that has taken up a lot of my time.

I suppose i'm just wondering if i want to get a web based job (whatever that may be) do i have enough right now to start applying? Or should i look to learn the different languages online or through a more focused course first.

niall19922

Hi

I have A level 8 in Multimedia & Programming design, Most jobs I applied for demanded 2 or 3 years experience. However there are companies that will take you on and pay you nothing for 6 months to see if your up to the task. If you "want to get foot in the door" its great but if you want to make money it's not.

ThrowinShapes

If you don't have experience, then create something. Anything at all.

Fair enough, an employer might like seeing your qualifications, but what happens after that? It's probably a good idea to show some of the work you've done. It doesn't have to be paid work either, there's plenty of volunteering opportunities around.

It sounds like your experience aligns most with a web designer, or perhaps a front-end developer. There are opportunities that can call for someone with both design & development experience. A front-end developer would have a good handle on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Code School - https://www.codeschool.com/ - have some great free resources for starting out.

So yeah, my advice amounts to creating something. Keep building/designing. Don't be afraid to iterate and throw things out to start again. Start a blog and just write about your journey. Find some work you like and follow that person on Twitter. You'll learn an incredible amount, and I wish you well on your journey.

off.the.walls

In terms of your skills don't include stuff that you haven't got. If you only have the most basic of JS experience I wouldn't include it. You will be expected to do things with programming languages that cover a bit more than a document.write method and if you say you know it and then need some hand holding along the way this might annoy your employers.

Dreamweaver is grand to use but did you code through it or did you use the interactive page in order to design your websites? are you laying out your own css or are you just using dreamweaver to produce quick templates. Learn to code any text editor anytime. Personally I like sublime text or text wrangler as i'm using a mac.

From the sounds of it you're going to be better off applying for an internship to get your foot in the door and learn the stuff that you're going to need to learn before going to a company and applying for jobs that are going to have higher experienced designers and developers going for them.

Banta

I have to query you on this:

I can't say I'm really passionate about web design...

The web design was probably the one part of the course i could see myself doing as a job.

If you're not passionate about it, then why do you see yourself doing this as a job? These days I think it's only my passion for it that's getting me through it, half the time. There's constantly new frameworks, technologies, ideas and new design techniques etc. that are becoming more popular, then becoming a 'must have', and it's only my passion for the job and my inner want to keep learning (so as to move up the ladder) that makes me go and learn these new design techniques etc.

Set yourself the target of building a portfolio/CV website. If you enjoy the process, then that'll say a lot for you wanting to work in web industry, I reckon.

With regards to applying for jobs, as has been stated, if you just have a very basic knowledge of something, don't put it on your CV. If you want to demonstrate your basic knowledge, then do something with it (e.g. Javascript) on the portfolio page. It may serve you well when applying for a 'foot in the door' position, as a potential employer can see that you've basic knowledge but have demonstrated it well and they can see the potential your may have with that discipline, if that makes sense.

Graham

Banta wrote: »

If you're not passionate about it, then why do you see yourself doing this as a job?

It's rapidly becoming the mantra spouted by lecturers/parents all over the place:

Get a job in the bank / civil service / I.T. and you'll be set for life.

The net result is a surge of people with very little interest in the work. You can see evidence of this on boards in the Development forum where the most common questions appear to be

1. How can I get into *insert IT Subject*
2. How can I convert my *insert random degree* to *insert IT qualification*
3. How much will I earn when I graduate with *insert IT qualification*
4. I've been in my I.T. job for 27.5 minutes, when can I expect a payrise

sheesh

OP quiet simple really find a local club society or charity and ask do they want a website lay out ll the costs for them the hosting the domain name (if they don't have this already and go through a design process with them. then create the site for me it was the best way to learn. don't go to a business if they are getting it for free they will not appreciate it and might consider you a waste of time.