Hi All,

I am a bit of a noob when it comes to web development but I have an interest in it and had a go at developing my own website. I am looking for a job and it is an area I would love to have a career in. Unfortunately most of the jobs advertised require commercial experience, but how are you supposed to get the experience without the job? I have a diploma in IT in which we learnt and practised web development but it never seems to be enough. I just have a couple of questions and would really appreciate any feedback on them:

 

Is there a web development evening/night course around London (or online!) in which the qualifications are recognised by employers?

 

Is there a back-bone of languages that every serious web developer should be well versed in? I have exposure to XHMTL, CSS, lil bit of Javascript, lil bit of Perl. What are the other languages/programs I should know in order for employers to notice?

 

 

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any response

 

Cheers

Andrew

For web development, you'll find it beneficial to have an understanding of at least one of the major server-side scripting languages like PHP/ASP (inc ASP.NET).

 

A good way to gain commercial experience would be to find out if any local companies near you have trainee positions available, even offer to work for free if you can afford to (they're not going to pay you if you're just making tea and slowing down their developers ).

 

Alternatively, create websites. Pick a couple of subjects you are interested in (sports, cars, etc) and create sites around that topic. Try everything from forums, guestbooks, ecommerce, wikis, blogs - get a feel for how projects are put together.