which path to take to career in web?

artyeva

a bit of backround - i'm now long term unemployed, 2+years! previously studied a degree in fine art and various bits and pieces since, including documentary film making, and a very basic web design course as part of a multi media training initiative for artists that included basic dreamweaver, photoshop, imovie etc. this was taught by a tutor who now *i think* works in the IT in sligo but i'm not sure.

i'm now thinking of going back to study web design. my current choices are - due to money and geographical concerns :

3 year full time BSc in computing - web development and creative media in Sligo IT, and a load of distance learning courses that i found on CMIT:

• FETAC Level 5 Web Design
• FETAC Level 6 Advanced Web Design
• FETAC Level 5 Internet Marketing
• Certified eCommerce Consultant
• CIW Certified Internet Webmaster - Associate
• CIW Certified Internet Webmaster - Security Professional
• Adobe Photoshop CS4
• Adobe Dreamweaver CS4
• Adobe Flash CS4

i have no idea what the formal education requirements are to work in the industry, i have no idea even, of what the employment prospects are. i've been kind of ignoring these small details as i research this, as i'm so desperate to get back to some sort of education and learn something new. i'm technically minded but also creative at heart so web design is where my heart is pointing - but which path will lead me there??

if anyone could give me some advice on either of the above options i'd greatly appreciate it. i'm swimming in a sea of indecision at the moment and i'd love the input of someone already working in the industry.

cormee

Use your existing knowledge to build sites in subjects that interest you, as you progress you'll learn more technical skills and be getting practical/work experience. Employers are more interested in your experience and portfolio of sites than in your qualifications and it's something you can start doing now from home.

There's no formal requirements, I studied Industrial Design which had 0% focus on web design and I've been working at it over a decade now, no one has ever questioned my ability or qualifications to do the job.

tricky D

Beware of overrating courses. They too often have bad and out-of-date practices. Someone with good portfolio and who can figure things out from quality, authoritative and up-to-date resources is much more useful than someone who has done a load of courses. Some of the courses you list would get your CV binned if I was back employing staff.

artyeva

cormee wrote: »

Use your existing knowledge to build sites in subjects that interest you, as you progress you'll learn more technical skills and be getting practical/work experience. Employers are more interested in your experience and portfolio of sites than in your qualifications and it's something you can start doing now from home.

There's no formal requirements, I studied Industrial Design which had 0% focus on web design and I've been working at it over a decade now, no one has ever questioned my ability or qualifications to do the job.

yeah, i see what you're saying. and i know down the line when i'm looking for work that experience counts more than pieces of paper. the thing is i have no skills to build anything yet. as i said the course i did before was so basically basic. if i sat down to construct anything more than a blogger blog i wouldn't know where to start, hence my need for some sort of formal education.

tricky D wrote: »

Beware of overrating courses. They too often have bad and out-of-date practices. Someone with good portfolio and who can figure things out from quality, authoritative and up-to-date resources is much more useful than someone who has done a load of courses. Some of the courses you list would get your CV binned if I was back employing staff.

i agree. the problem is that if you don't know the difference, it's hard to make that descision. i frequent the photography forum here a good bit, and sometimes people come on asking about photography courses. in terms of someone who already has the technical skills of being able to use an slr, and are able to produce quality stuff by the discrminating use of shutter speed, aperture and iso etc it's easier to direct them into a specific course that might develop their interest and skill further - such as landscape, or studio work or whatever. to transfer this example to my situation - i don't know how to use a camera yet, so i don't know which course would be better for me, i just know i want to learn.

trickobrien

The only way is to just jump right in and start building sites,break as much as possible,and learn how to fix it.

Learning by doing

anbrutog

Would echo a lot of whats already said. Would hazard a guess that a good lot of whats being taught on that course is irrelevant and out of date. I could be wrong but from a quick look at the course description I see no mention of things like web standards , jQuery , cms's or even php to name but a few things.

You could either ...

• Spend three years doing that course and come out in three years time with no experience , with what knowledge you've acquired being potentially 5+ years out of date.
• Start learning from the bottom up. Get a decent HTML / CSS book. Im a big fan of Andy Clarkes work , any of his books on CSS will put you on the right path. The lynda.com videos also are another great place to look.

From there on after that you go could down the design or development route , or perhaps like a small few do, both. My advice is to stick to one route and perfect it , rather than spreading yourself too widely.

No employer worth his salt would value the course in question above a solid portfolio and 3 years worth of good work behind them. If they do , you're better off not working for them!

Pixelcraft

anbrutog's said it all. Specialise and don't be a jack of all trades