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So you want to be a web designer/ developer/ master?

We are asked quite often what it takes to be a web designer or one of its related jobs. We hope that this description is helpful to those wishing to get into the business. It is far from a comprehensive description however it is designed to give a general idea. Since the job description varies from company to company and person to person and the fact that the skills required are constantly in flux due to the nature of the web, it will likely not ever be 100% comprehensive.

Definitions:

Web Designer - "Web design is the design or designing of a web page, website or web application. The term generally refers to the graphical side of Web development using images, CSS and XHTML." - Definition from Wikipedia

Web Developer - Designs, develops, and implements software packages for web sites. Troubleshoots, debugs and implements software code. Has knowledge of standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field (ie, SQL, C++, HTML, CGI and JavaScript). - Definition based from IT Skills Hub

Web Master - "Webmaster or Webmistress is a commonly used term that refers to the person or persons responsible for a specific website." - Definition from Wikipedia

General steps to breaking into a web career

  1. Grab some books on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and general design. Books we like are the SAM's teach yourself in 21 days series.
  2. Learn to HTML and CSS code by hand BEFORE using a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor like Dreamweaver or FrontPage so that you know what is going on when you see a problem.
  3. Learn some graphic creation programs such as Photoshop.
  4. Join some web design discussion groups (Yahoo has a ton of them).
  5. Get some free web hosting and start to practice.
  6. Volunteer for non-profits once you are more comfortable in your skills to hopefully learn team work skills related to web work.
  7. Create a portfolio before applying for ANY web job.
  8. Apply for any entry level position you see. Craigslist is usually full of them.

You may also find some tutorials on the web but to really understand from scratch, you will need to grab a book that steps you through most of it. Tutorials we have found focus in on one step or problem and do not really tell a person the whole process.

Keep learning constantly and taking classes constantly as this market changes on a regular basis. You will not be able to learn all there is to know once and get a job never adding skills. Once you do end up looking for work, you will find yourself too out of date. You will have to spend a large amount of time catching up. At times it can be very daunting to keep learning as much as you will need. This industry more than any other we can think of requires a person to be a master of all trades. It does not fit the "jack of all trades and master of none" nor is it kind to specialists. To specialize, you have to be a master first then specialize on one part while never falling behind the times in the other areas.

All web people have to do some form of Project Management. Freelancers end up doing more of it than anything else as it is 90% of the job and with corporate web teams it is more like 50% of the job even when there is a specific person filling the project management role.

Skills

General coding skills (top 3 in list absolutely needed others good idea to have) Software skills (all needed) Other skills Other skills that are usually part of specialities

If you are a web designer, you are also often asked to do some print work thus these skills are also needed.

Print skills

Freelancers will also need to have core business skills such as:

Business skills
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