Self Study - do employers recognise it?

gravity121

I am looking at learning web design and have found the certification process quite confusing. There seems to not be any definitive qualifications or advancement process out there for web design, or am I missing it?

I want to study online and I've found fetac courses and CIW courses amoung others. Some of which tend to be quite expensive. I've also considered self-study then taking the exams at the end however trying to find out if a particular course is relevant today is difficult enough and there seems to be conflicting information. I don't want to spend money on something that's irrelevant.

There is a huge amount of well put together free study material out there which on the other hand seems very relevant and industry standard. And it's easier to study exactly what is relevant to today's industry this way.
html5, css, java, etc. etc. etc.

But none of these come with certification.

It seems to me that for choice, breath of material and cost, self-study at home would be the way to go but I'm curious about finding employment this route.

Is there an industry standard entry level web design qualification out there and if so what is it?
Are there continuing and advanced industry standard qualifications?
What are employers looking for?
How do employers respond to a education of self study where a person might have the skills but not any certifications?
If a person does self learn the materials, is it worth sitting exams then afterwards and if so which ones?

Thanks for your help,
feeling confused!

Media999

Studying Software development Degree myself and HTML is finished in first year pretty much. On the scale of things its tiny and easy to learn. On a CV from what i understand nothing speaks higher than a portfolio of good websites created by yourself. I personally feel that the whole SEO and marketing side is what makes people stand out. If you can show an employer a well designed website that gets 1000s of hits a day it gives a better impression than some chap who could easily copy someone elses site. And i mean an interactive site with lots of interaction not just numbers on Google analytics. Working on a Soundcloud type site myself. No where near finished as ive a lot to learn but it will look good and full of people when im finished. I think it will be great on my CV.

Java is a hell of a lot more in depth than HTML but the same applies i think. A good portfolio with lots of examples speaks volumes. Cert will get an interview but good work will get you the job.

LukeQuietus

I'm a developer (looking for work) and my qualifications seem to mean nothing. Unless you plan to take exams every six month then certification in (most) of these areas languages is pointless. I agree with Media999. Portfolio is key. A very solid foundation of HTML and CSS is a necessity. HTML (XHTML and HTML5) are the easiest things you'll learn in web design/ dev. CSS is easy to pick up but difficult to truly master. CSS is a fickle beast. Javascript & jQuery are important now more than ever with Single Page Applications (SPAs) becoming all the rage. If you can master those 3 and show a portfolio proving as much you'll get work. Java is tough. But of all the languages Java / Ruby and maybe .NET are the two you'll most likely get work with. But there's a reason for that. They're tough and they need to be your specialty. If design is your thing stick with HTML, CSS, Javascript for the beginning and when you're comfortable maybe move towards MVC framework like BackboneJS, EmberJS or AngularJS (I'd recommend Angular) which is what all employers are looking for from a front-end developer. If server-side is your thing MySQL & PHP is a good choice. And MySQL DOES have Oracle qualifications. And facebook are ALWAYS looking for MySQL guys and gals.

Hope that helps. Oh and Lynda.com and TutsPlus Premium are gold for learning up-to-date industry standards for all the above languages.

gravity121

Thanks for the advice. I've decided self study and a good portfolio is the way to go, especially since a lot of the courses you pay for seem to be out of date. I have started studying on tutspremium and finding it great so we'll see how things go.

Thanks again and all the best