Hi all,

 

I've been web developing for years now and I am thinking of trying to get into the industry for a full-time position.

 

I started back in 2001 in a post-graduate course and we were not even using a html program only using notepad to code - nightmare.

 

I also studied Java which i excelled in but my passion for web design / development was awoken! I have since developed a string of websites entirely by myself and I taught myself (Back then) CSS some flash and most recently PHP/SQL, and I regularly use AJAX scripts, javascripts etc.

 

My only concern is I have no idea just how good or bad I am on the industry scale or whether i even stand a chance of being hired in the industry as I have never even worked for a company as all my proper work jobs have been word of mouth and I've been hired in that fashion.

 

What do you think? DO I stand a chance? I've no diploma or degree or anything in what i'm doing only a passion.

 

How do I even approach this?

 

I developed a website with a friend a couple of years ago when the recession really kicked in. He's got 10 years of graphic design experience so we hooked up our services and started this www.printandweb.ie/web

 

I'd really appreciate any feedback / thoughts on what I should do.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Wayne.

Good strong portfolio displaying examples of everything you are skilled at doing and that should get you far.

 

Industry experience also helps so any freelance work you can show will benefit you. I'm positive you have a good enough skill set to get a role full time it will just be hard to win an employer over but that goes for any rookie with or without degrees/diplomas.

Thanks Daz

 

Any tips you know of on the web to building a strong web developer CV?

 

If anyone else wants to add feedback too feel free.

 

Thanks to all participating

 

Wayne

If you can't find any work, what you can do is make your own scope. You can still showcase it if it isn't for a live company. What I did was make a custom CMS for an estate agent. http://www.sampleestateagent.com/ So what I did was find a local estate agent site that I thought was pretty shocking and needed re-branding and base my project on their site. The plan was to go and pitch it to them after but I never got round to finishing the site due to getting work through a local design agency.

 

So yeah if you set your own targets for a site and after you can go and pitch it to local companies. If you're a developer I would say do something like a hotel site so you can showcase all your development skills to future employers.

Thanks Daz

 

Any tips you know of on the web to building a strong web developer CV?

 

If anyone else wants to add feedback too feel free.

 

Thanks to all participating

 

Wayne

 

 

I've reviewed about 150 CVs when I was interviewing for someone to fill a Junior role beneath me.

 

My top tip is start with the juicy bits first to get the attention.

 

Format in this order:

 

1. Contact Details (name, address & phone number etc)
   
2. Quick Skill Set (just a simple long list of your skills; xHTML, CSS, PHP, ASP.NET, JavaScript and so on..)
   
3. Software Compliance (again, a simple list of tools you can use; Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop etc, also include here things like "Domain name registry knowledge" and things like that.
   
4. Links (and short descriptions) to current work
   
5. Then your other usual things, Qualifications, Past employment, references, hobbies etc)
   

Brilliant, definitely a good start

 

Thanks Daz

Brilliant, definitely a good start

 

Thanks Daz

 

 

Also, to follow up on that, don't go into too much (or any) details of how skilled you are with one thing then the other. I had a few people who put "advanced in: blar blar", "basic understanding of: blar blar"... get it all packed in their in order of strengths as you see it to begin with but don't mention that's the order it is. You'll get more chance of securing an interview that way AND it gives you something to talk about within the interview too.

 

"i'm strongest in such n such". Rather then saying you only know basic things in one language, use the words "i've not had a great amount of experience in such n such and would jump on any chance to learn more". Turn the weaker parts to your skill set into positives.

 

Hope all this helps!

 

 

( and no problem I was in the same position once! )

Gold. Cheers mate

 

Wayne

 

Anyone else with feedback feel free.

 

Thanks in advance.

I would say you were hireable! I never did any web programming as part of my degree. I did network / security / Java and relation database theory.. fun eh? So pretty much all my web related stuff is self taught and I've never come across any issues.

 

I would say the most important thing is to have a good, current portfolio. It's just the worst thing in the world to direct a potential employer to a rubbish, cobbled together site that doesn't do you any justice.

 

It's always going to be hard to land your first real studio position and your always going to be worried about how you compare coding / design wise against those your going to potentially be working with. Don't worry, just be honest about where you are skill wise and don't try to blag it. I once saw a php 'expert' get interviewed and when my boss held up a piece of paper with ?> scribbled on and asked what he was, he replied it was some sort of emoticon, but he didn't know which one because he wasn't good with emoticons...

 

Also, depending on what type of role you are after, try being creative with your cv. I landed my first job by designing a single page website for my cv with some nifty css and stuff. It's good to be creative sometimes if your going for a creative job

Hi,

 

From what I just read in your opening post I'd say go for it... grab it mate.

 

You sound like a talented guy. I'd be suprised if you didn't get work...

Great advice and a nice little boost.

 

much appreciated thanks

 

Can't help but I learned something here. Cheers.

 

And Goodluck m8

~evu.

What technologies would anyone recommend i brush up on?

 

Someone told me wordpress / drupal, im currently using magento i presume its like wordpress / drupal?

 

I was also recommended CSS3, anyone any other suggestions on what to brush up on?

 

Thanks in advance for your input.

What technologies would anyone recommend i brush up on?

 

Someone told me wordpress / drupal, im currently using magento i presume its like wordpress / drupal?

 

I was also recommended CSS3, anyone any other suggestions on what to brush up on?

 

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

magneto is more of a e commerce platform whereas wordpress and drupal are used for standard CMS or blog

 

so both are important in their own perspective

Goodluck..enjoy jon hunting!

 

 

 

 

 

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I was also recommended CSS3, anyone any other suggestions on what to brush up on?

 

Css3 is very cool but if i were you id try not to get too bogged down with it. I see lots of sites with people going 'look at my leet css3 clouds i made using a meg of code' but at the moment it isn't very accessible.

 

If your going to learn wordpress then php / sql is a bonus and they are always excellent skills to have under your belt. I find PHP to be quite sought after!

Css3 is very cool but if i were you id try not to get too bogged down with it. I see lots of sites with people going 'look at my leet css3 clouds i made using a meg of code' but at the moment it isn't very accessible.

 

If your going to learn wordpress then php / sql is a bonus and they are always excellent skills to have under your belt. I find PHP to be quite sought after!

 

I disagree I think employers would love to know that you are a forward thinking developer - it shows you have the right attitude which is sometimes the most important thing.

 

I firmly believe the future of web design is is based on the principal that websites don't have to look the same in every browser - using CSS3 for embellishments for the browsers that render them is the way forward as long as the browsers that dont still look decent. I only wish our account handlers would drill this into our clients though...

I disagree I think employers would love to know that you are a forward thinking developer - it shows you have the right attitude which is sometimes the most important thing.

 

I firmly believe the future of web design is is based on the principal that websites don't have to look the same in every browser - using CSS3 for embellishments for the browsers that render them is the way forward as long as the browsers that dont still look decent. I only wish our account handlers would drill this into our clients though...

 

 

I completely agree. The way things are moving now it's going to be near impossible to display everything exactly the same in each browser.

 

I think my point was though, that there is a lot of development going on at moment that only seems to cater for css3. It's a case of making a site look pretty for one browser and either being too lazy to code for neat degradation or being ignorant of it.

 

I saw a single page site in css3 the other day that looked horribly cool, but underneath, in the footer, it just basically said 'this won't work in IE because IE is rubbish' and as much as i agree, I don't know why you would alienate your site like that from an awful lot of people that still use IE and older browsers. I thinks it's something to just be a little bit careful of that's all.

Some very interesting comments here guys thanks.

 

Personally I code my sites for mutiple platforms. I test everything on IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Safair & Opera. I agree with the above comment that the site has to llok the same on every browser to cater for everyone.

 

I find the comments on CSS3 interesting though cos I get the impression that CSS3 has not been fully developed for all browsers or all browsers are not yet developed to cater for CSS3 - one or the other.

 

Personally I only touch on CSS3 in my sites for rounding DIV corners but nothing really more! Would it be cheeky to ad to my C.V that I would have basic knowledge of it?

 

Again thanks for all your input, I just have one question.

 

 

 

If you were me how would you approach an interview or prepare?

 

For me when I develop i use XHTML, CSS, PHP/SQL, javascripts, some AJAX. I also develop/edit the graphics in photoshop so baring this in mind how do i go about selling myself?

 

I've never interviewed for a developer role - what kinda stuff will be thrown at me?

 

 

Thanks everyone

 

Wayne

Everyone is hirable in one way or another; in web design and development, however, there is a lot of chaff covering up not so much wheat. I work in an industry hiring developers and designers and it is tough to get that first foot on the ladder. I like what j05hr says - the proof is in the pudding, so if you can show someone something that really works for them, that is more or less there to go, they are going to use you. This way you start off your portfolio, and off you go.

Best of luck - hope it all goes well...