How does one become a senior web designer

The Mighty Dubs

Hi,

Just wondering when does one become a senior web designer...Is it a self made title....or do you have a term to serve before one becomes a senior designer

Figment

Its a combination of how good a designer you are, how much experience you have, dealing with projects and clients and how much experience you have leading a team.

There is no set rule.

akari no ryu

Terms like "Senior web developper" and "junior web devellopper" are mainly in-house terms.
I'm our company's junior developper. I'd been developping in php in an amateur basis for two or three years (the fact that I'm a very competent Javascript and AJAX programmer got me the job) and since I started here (nearly six months ago) I've learned a tremendous amount.

When it comes to applying for the job, then "experience and knowledge" is the key. When it came to my interview, I got asked questions about what projects I'd managed, what platforms I'm familiar with, what I knew about MVC and object orientation, UML class diagrams, SQL queries, what architectures I knew and what operating systems I'm familiar with.

rsynnott

Apply to the government; they will issue you a special card.

The Mighty Dubs

Well I have been designing/developing sites for the last 6 years. Have worked on some major hi profile projects and being the only web type person in here (work), does this make a senior designer...

akari no ryu

The Mighty Dubs wrote:

Well I have been designing/developing sites for the last 6 years. Have worked on some major hi profile projects and being the only web type person in here (work), does this make a senior designer...

What about the other questions I asked.
How familiar are you with PHP, ASP, Java, Javascript, PERL, MySQL, Oracle, AJAX, XML, MVC, OOA, <insert buzzword of your choice>

better yet, post your cv.

The Mighty Dubs

Im familiar with PHP, ASP, Java, Javascript, MySQL, all the industry standard products Sequel Server and design e.g. adobe's,corel, Quarks and macromedias....

rsynnott

The Mighty Dubs wrote:

Sequel Server

*hisses*

Unless you actually use a 70s IBM database, of course.

seamus

"Senior" anything usually infers that there is a team of people all doing a similar job with the "Senior" people in the consultancy/decision-making roles, and the "Junior" people doing the grunt work and gaining the experience. A Senior something in one company may be a junior something in another company, it just depends on the nature of the work.

If you set up business on your own, you wouldn't have a business card with "John Doe - Senior Web Developer", it would just say "Web Developer". If however you then hired a young graduate to handle some of the work, you could write "Senior Web Developer" (but personally I'd go for something flashier like "Director of Web Development Services").

thedesigntribe

Continually encourage the 'senior' to leave, moan about the place your both work, point out job opportunities for them etc. etc. - hey presto - you're the 'senior web designer'

Alternatively setup your own company and call yourself 'The Chieftain'

rsynnott

thedesigntribe wrote:

Alternatively setup your own company and call yourself 'The Chieftain'

Or "Internet Pope".

It's only a name.

JustHalf

Captain Internet Web 2.0 reporting for duty

The Corinthian

The Mighty Dubs wrote:

Well I have been designing/developing sites for the last 6 years. Have worked on some major hi profile projects and being the only web type person in here (work), does this make a senior designer...

Well, if you have to ask...

akari no ryu

The Mighty Dubs wrote:

Im familiar with PHP, ASP, Java, Javascript, MySQL, all the industry standard products Sequel Server and design e.g. adobe's,corel, Quarks and macromedias....

Do you say "familiar with" in interviews?
I am very proficient in PHP, mySQL, postgresSQL, Oracle and Javascript, proficient in Java and familiar with PERL.

rsynnott

akari no ryu wrote:

very proficient

I'm inclined to think the 'very' there is redundant.

akari no ryu

rsynnott wrote:

I'm inclined to think the 'very' there is redundant.

Yeah, you're probably right, but I don't like saying expert because on every project I've done, I've learned some new tricks. Perhaps the word proficient should be replaced with experienced.

MrScruff

You say you are very profficient in mySQL, postgresSQL, Oracle

I have used only MySQL in the past, besides setting up the database etc what is the difference?

I mean the S in SQL means standard and I presume all three operate the same.

INSERT into THREAD studidpost??

bpmurray

MrScruff wrote:

I mean the S in SQL means standard and I presume all three operate the same.

No, the "S" is for "Structured"

MrScruff wrote:

INSERT into THREAD studidpost??

You said id

bpmurray

Actually, this reminds me of a prevous thread. The original question refers to a senior designer. However, most responses refer to actual Web development.

To me the Designer has the truly unique skillset. Sure, it's cool to be able to make a blob of markup sing & dance, but to come up with a look & feel, as a true designer should, is much more impressive. I can to all the tech stuff, but always defer to a designer/artist who can provide a description of a UI experience that makes a difference.

rsynnott

MrScruff wrote:

You say you are very profficient in mySQL, postgresSQL, Oracle

I have used only MySQL in the past, besides setting up the database etc what is the difference?

Quite a bit, in fact. Anything not explicitly forced by the standard, more or less (And few SQL dbs are particularly standard compliant).

And bpmurray's right; design's harder than development, by a long way. Wish I could manage design

jmcc

MrScruff wrote:

You say you are very profficient in mySQL, postgresSQL, Oracle

I have used only MySQL in the past, besides setting up the database etc what is the difference?

A hell of a lot. Setting up an enterprise database with a proper HD array on a decent server is quite different to setting up a mickey mouse db with a handful of records on shared webhosting. That's why database adminstrators are paid more than webdevs - they are two different jobs. It is possible, as a webdev to have knowledge of working with databases but being a DBA requires a far higher level of db knowledge. A webdev, generally, has to have a knowledge of how to connect applications to databases and the knowledge to execute rudimentary queries.

Regards...jmcc

rsynnott

jmcc wrote:

A hell of a lot. Setting up an enterprise database with a proper HD array on a decent server is quite different to setting up a mickey mouse db with a handful of records on shared webhosting. That's why database adminstrators are paid more than webdevs - they are two different jobs. It is possible, as a webdev to have knowledge of working with databases but it being a DBA requires a far higher level of db knowledge. A webdev, generally, has to have a knowledge of how to connect applications to databases and the knowledge to execute rudimentary queries.

Regards...jmcc

It is, incidentally, alarming how many people have dedicated MySQL servers with lots of memory... with the database still restricted to its default caches (in the region of 32MB total, IIRC). It is also alarming how many alleged DBAs think it entirely reasonable to backup a database by copying the actual DB files.

The Corinthian

rsynnott wrote:

And bpmurray's right; design's harder than development, by a long way. Wish I could manage design

He didn’t suggest that design is harder than development and it isn’t, it’s simply a different discipline. Being a Jack-o-Trades Webmaster is fine at the start of one’s career or for low budget sites where one can get away with mediocre to even fair design and programming skills, but realistically the more advanced you get the more you have to specialize.

Senior developers or designers are generally in-house terms as has already been pointed out and in SME’s fill the role of team leader, information analyst or technical architect. They will be specialized in either development or design (and generally specialized further still) and so will work as part of a project team. The term frankly has no meaning outside of this environment.

To the OP, as I’ve already suggested, if you have to ask you probably are not.

MrScruff

bpmurray wrote:

No, the "S" is for "Structured"


You said id

Ok yes, but it is an agreed upon standard.

So all these relational DBs use SQL but some also support some proprietary commands for kicks??

akari no ryu

MrScruff wrote:

Ok yes, but it is an agreed upon standard.

So all these relational DBs use SQL but some also support some proprietary commands for kicks??

It's an agreed upon standard in the same way as XHTML.
Nobody fulfils the standard.

Database creation, inputs, extraction, etc vary from SQL to SQL.

bpmurray

akari no ryu wrote:

It's an agreed upon standard in the same way as XHTML.
Nobody fulfils the standard.

Database creation, inputs, extraction, etc vary from SQL to SQL.

Ouch! XHTML *is* a standard - have a look at the W3C site.

The Corinthian

bpmurray wrote:

Ouch! XHTML *is* a standard - have a look at the W3C site.

He never said it wasn't, he just said that nobody follows it correctly.

akari no ryu

bpmurray wrote:

Ouch! XHTML *is* a standard - have a look at the W3C site.

Patronising much? Or did you just misunderstand where I said "SQL is a standard"?

KTdesigner

At least 5 years experience, have dealt with large clients (some internationals etc.) and have had "junior" designers work under you.

It also helps it you can levitate, speak 5000 languages and don't mind working for a few slaps with a hot mop. You also need to listen the the Rocky sound track many times.

bpmurray

akari no ryu wrote:

Patronising much? Or did you just misunderstand where I said "SQL is a standard"?

No. I referred to your original statement:

It's an agreed upon standard in the same way as XHTML.
Nobody fulfils the standard.

XHTML is a very real standard, with a number of levels of compliance. The most common is Transient, but more & more sites are moving to Strict. Many tool vendors now generate markup that is XHTML-compliant. Try playing a little with firefox 1.5+ and you'll see how strict a standard this is.

If some folk can't be bothered to adhere correctly to the XHTML standard, and still tag their files as being compliant, IE7 and FF1.5 will flag them as being in error, which isn't a great advertisement for their abilities.

The Corinthian

bpmurray wrote:

No. I referred to your original statement:


XHTML is a very real standard, with a number of levels of compliance. The most common is Transient, but more & more sites are moving to Strict. Many tool vendors now generate markup that is XHTML-compliant. Try playing a little with firefox 1.5+ and you'll see how strict a standard this is.

If some folk can't be bothered to adhere correctly to the XHTML standard, and still tag their files as being compliant, IE7 and FF1.5 will flag them as being in error, which isn't a great advertisement for their abilities.

But he did not suggest anything that was at variance to what you've just said and you certainly did not either say or imply that in your first response to him.