Hi guys

 

I'm glad to find this community. I'm a total newbie and need some advice.

 

I'm looking to make a complete career change and the idea of some kind of job in web design really appeals. I know virtually nothing about it, or about the best way in. All I do know is that I love messing about with computers and on the internet for hours at a time!

 

I'd be very grateful if anyone could give some simple answers to the following questions:

 

1). Where else can I get some impartial advice and information about careers in web design?

 

2) What are some of the different roles out there in this field?

 

3) What qualifications and/or experience do I need?

 

I really just need a starting point to get the ball rolling. I'm 36 years old and don't want to waste any more of my time! I'm coming from a career as a care worker, although I do have a degree (Information & Media) which did touch briefly on basic web design (10 years ago!).

 

Sorry if I've posted this in the wrong place, but I couldn't see where else might be appropriate.

 

Thanks for your help!

Hi Murph,

 

first of all, welcome to the forum.

 

To begin with, i would start from scratch. what you learnt 10 years ago is likely to be well out of date by now. Be careful where you are getting the advice from, as alot of companies will just try to sell you one of their courses, or wont bother talking to you, so its hard to find proper impartial responses, but this place is good for it.

 

Personally i learnt from the "headfirst" series, they do a good xhtml/css book, that lets you pick up the basics and then some of the slightly harder stuff at a good pace.

 

As for jobtypes, there are so many. You can be a designer, a html/css coder, a php coder, a flash specialist, a SEO controller or a combination of them all.

 

To start out, you are likely better off working on html/css and design first, but it does depend quite heavily on what you like doing.

 

As for qualifications, there arent many out there that are valuable, short of a degree, and even then a portfolio/experience is normally better. What i can recommend is to try and find yourself either a company or a freelancer that is willing to take you under their wing, and show you the ropes. you wont earn much to begin with, but the experience is invaluable.

 

 

 

Reaper

Hello and welcome!

 

What Reaper said just about says it for me. I chose web design as a career change last year and have not completed any official courses. I have learnt mostly from HTML Dog, W3Schools, this forum and a few good books.

 

I have made a few good friends through this forum and online who know about certain areas which is nice both as support and advice.

 

I cannot rate this forum highly enough for helpfulness and a great starting point for lots of good information.

 

As for which areas, these seem to be endless. At the moment my personal title is web designer although I think this may evolve as I find new areas I am interested in. Like Reaper said, start out learning html and css to at least get an understanding of the basics. Nose about the posts here, see what interests you, ask if you don't understand something and this should lead you in a desirable direction!

 

All the best!

Hi Murph,

 

First of all, welcome to the forum. You've came to the perfect place to learn and become a website designer, it's not something that will happen overnight, but through practice and patience, you'll definitely be able to get the hand of it, and start getting really creative.

 

There are very few places where you can get career advice in this profession, your best bet is to visit websites like this and discuss options with members. Here at this forum there are hundreds of members who are literally waiting to help, so if you send them an email or a personal message, then they'll get back to you and offer all of the advice that they have. Just in case, you could also try and visit recruitment agencies, they'll tell you the sort of jobs that you're suitable for, and what skills you need to become a website designer; http://www.reed.co.uk/ would be my choice, but like I said at the start, your best bet is a forum like this.

 

In this field, there are very few roles that you can take, in the website business there are generally three different things you can do, and they're all and/or to be honest. You've got website design, which is something I specialise in and is literally designing a website in photoshop (or other softwares) and then changing it into a dynamic/static page online. There's web development, which is coding systems that run websites and create a completely dynamic site, such as this forum. Then of course, there's the biggy, search engine optimisation. This is a standard for most companies at the moment, so you should try and learn search engine optimisation alongside website design, to get your fingers in as many pies and to allow you to earn as much money as possible. Obviously, this isn't all you can do, there's also things like copywriting and information architecture that relate to websites. The places that studios are generally advertising for are usually junior designers, these are people who they want to mould into a designer the exact way that they want them to be, who have little experience and limited skills.

 

The great thing about this profession is that you don't need any qualifications. You are not legally bound to a degree, or any specific types of licenses, you simply need to learn in your own time and just find out something new every day. In my opinion, a qualification for website design is a bit fruitless, you're not going to learn anything until you start getting experience. The reason I didn't go to university is because I would've got into copious amounts of debt, and had no experience, the latter being the most important thing in this profession. Which takes me onto the next part of your point, experience is very useful because when a client or company sees that you have a strong portfolio, with a lot of commercial experience, it's more likely that they'll hire you.

 

You've already made a starting point to get your ball rolling to be honest buddy, you've came to a forum where you can get all the help and advice that you'll ever need. It's just a matter of getting started and trying your upmost to become a great designer. On this forum you'll get pushed to the absolutely limit, because you'll constantly be surrounded by someone who is that much better than you. Since I joined, the amount I've learnt is too much to fathom.

 

Luke

I can't really add to the great advice given above except fort this: enjoy it!

 

Welcome to the forum

Wow! I cant thank you all enough for such incredibly thorough and helpful responses! Lots for me to chew on there. I'm happy to start learning some basics myself (with the help of this forum, of course), and see how I get on.

 

Thanks again!

Wow! I cant thank you all enough for such incredibly thorough and helpful responses! Lots for me to chew on there. I'm happy to start learning some basics myself (with the help of this forum, of course), and see how I get on.

 

Thanks again!

Hi murph,

 

Do you have msn? if you do, feel free to add me to your friendslist, and then you can get in touch if you get any problems.

 

 

Reaper

Welcome to WDF.

Thanks Sam G

 

Reaper WD I don't normally use MSN, but if I do I will add you. Thanks for the support

i dnt have any gd advise since im just a newbi as well but one thing i would defo say stay away from home learning courses on web design i paid over £2000 for mines and only learnt the basics of HTML wich i could have learned online for free

Sorry to hear that Leeanne. There are sharks out there, unforutnately.

To be honest, i found my computer technician home learning course (im about halfway through) to be nearly a complete waste of time. I had no idea what i wanted to do, either be a techy or be a webdesigner, so took that out as i thought it would give me abit more knowledge, but its just rubbish theory all the way, and the salesman lied to me (at least i got a free resit out of that).

 

 

If you dont use MSN, feel free to PM me. That applies to anyone that needs a hand, ill do my best.

 

 

Reaper