This post is quite long so I apologize in advance. I normally don't post on message boards. I used to when I was younger but not so much these days.

I am at a point in my life where I have no job, decent set of web design skills but no clients and no idea where to turn. It's becoming very upsetting and I have fallen into depression.

I worked at a company for the last year and a half (not an agency or web design co) where I designed the company's website and a business web application which they still use. I've always been very interested in web design and dev. and taught myself the technologies. Alas, I am a very timid and introverted person and I maybe don't make much of an impression on people. I despise networking and prefer when queries are inbound through referrals or the like.

Anyway I had designed a couple of corporate sites in the past, but never anything of this scope. I took on the job of at least 5 developers and I designed and created this software over the course of 18 months and I didn't get paid for it, nor was I asked to do it. I did it because I wanted to grow the idea into a business. One that I could resell again and again with a SaaS model. I did my research and I continued working whilst developing this software.

After one year at this company being exploited for less than minimum wage (it was about £6.00 an hour), I asked for a raise and I was denied it, so I got fed up and I quit. I wasn't going to waste any more time.

I left them using my web software, pocketed about £100 and that was that.

I didn't have another job lined up and I'm 27 years old. I feel at this point in my life and with the skills that I have, I should be earning at least £25000 a year. I should be taking on corporate websites that pay at least £1500 minimum for design and development, instead I am struggling with cheapskates and makeshift 'business owners' that somehow set up shop and see £300 as an excessive investment for a dynamic website.

And I don't live in a small town or village. I live in a very big city.

And I'm fed up. My girlfriend of 9 years left me recently and told me to sort my life out.

I never knew anyone that took this web design route so I can't ask anyone for help personally. No one can understand the road I've walked but I feel every step of the way, I've tried my absolute best to help people, especially business owners, succeed with their business. I've sat down and listened far more than I've talked and I've gone above and beyond just to try and get a recommendation or a worthwhile referral from these people. And nothing has come of it.

I don't talk much. I prefer working to talking about what I do. I sat through hours of self taught PHP, HTML5, JS, database design and theory. This took me years. And I somehow have nothing to show for it.

Every potential client I speak to says my portfolio is outstanding but when it comes to money, they clam up and disappear in the shadows.

I feel like I did the wrong things, maybe took the wrong roads or did things at the wrong time. I feel like freelancers are seen as a joke, small fish to be exploited.

I tried unsuccessfully a while ago to get a web design job, a junior position, anything I could find. I couldn't get my head in. I don't know how I'd even fit in in that environment, I've always worked alone.

My head is full of knowledge, and I am good at what I do, what is more I genuinely enjoy the work and the challenge. I just want to be compensated for it, I want fair pay that reflects the effort and time I have invested into my craft.

So because of all the above points and where I am in my life right now, I am very depressed and fed up and considering letting it go and I need some advice.

What do I do? How do I turn this around? Is it even possible?

Is this a dying field that nobody wants to admit is diminishing and I've just been blinded?

I've tried the broad web design approach, I've tried specializing on a particular market approach, what am I missing?

Is there something that people have not been telling me?

Perhaps I am looking for some encouragement that this can be turned into a career because from what I've seen, it's been nothing but an uphill struggle with no payoff and I'm just about done.

I'm sorry for the long depressing post. I hope someone can offer guidance.

Edited August 19, 201510 yr by Seinnheiser

I second Nocks advice, btw business that pay £1500 are getting a cheap deal to, you're talking in the 5-10k range for a decent website, more for anything complex. Try applying at some agencies, if your skills need some work then look into Treehouse, codeSchool and frontendmasters.

 

What do you do? Design? Front-end, backend? The fastest route to employment is to specialise and get really good at one of them.

Why the f**k were you working for less than minimum wage, were you there on a self-employed basis?

 

Something I learned years ago, do bugger all until you're asked to do it. If they find a willing horse they'll flog it to death.

 

As far as web design in the UK is concerned it is definitely a rapidly contracting part of the economy. Businesses now monitor every penny and the plethora of 'DIY WYSIWYG drag it 'n' drop it' web building programs and online apps means any bugger with a laptop is now a web designer. Everybody is on the lookout for anything cheap.

 

Unfortunate consequence of electing self-servatives.

 

If you have problems interacting with others then perhaps self-employment is the best option. However think about that long and hard and ensure you understand all the pitfalls and problems. If you have a tendency to depression then being self-employed can often be a very dark and lonely place especially when starting out and sweating on the bills. Don't forget in the UK there is no safety net for those self-employed. If it all goes wrong shaven headed, fat bailiffs will be picking your life over looking for anything they can auction, while you're trying to find a dry doorway to sleep in.

 

If you believe you are suffering from depression get yourself down the doctor's and ask for some Sertraline or Fluoxetine. They will also in probability refer you to a stress management course.

I've just noticed the word Stoat is in the top left corner of this reply box, WTF is that all about?

Why the f**k were you working for less than minimum wage, were you there on a self-employed basis?

 

Something I learned years ago, do bugger all until you're asked to do it. If they find a willing horse they'll flog it to death.

 

As far as web design in the UK is concerned it is definitely a rapidly contracting part of the economy. Businesses now monitor every penny and the plethora of 'DIY WYSIWYG drag it 'n' drop it' web building programs and online apps means any bugger with a laptop is now a web designer. Everybody is on the lookout for anything cheap.

 

Unfortunate consequence of electing self-servatives.

 

If you have problems interacting with others then perhaps self-employment is the best option. However think about that long and hard and ensure you understand all the pitfalls and problems. If you have a tendency to depression then being self-employed can often be a very dark and lonely place especially when starting out and sweating on the bills. Don't forget in the UK there is no safety net for those self-employed. If it all goes wrong shaven headed, fat bailiffs will be picking your life over looking for anything they can auction, while you're trying to find a dry doorway to sleep in.

 

If you believe you are suffering from depression get yourself down the doctor's and ask for some Sertraline or Fluoxetine. They will also in probability refer you to a stress management course.

 

The lower end of the market is shrinking. But the opposite is true at the higher end of the scale, those clients want quality and are not just out for something cheap. I believe those companies are in a minority, and are easily avoidable. You know they predict there will be 1 million unfilled programming jobs in the USA by 2020, a similar trend is happening worldwide as companies and people become more and more reliant on tech and the web. - That means one thing.. jobs and lots of them.

I think you'll find it impossible to get any concrete figures that suggest the uk web-development economy is shrinking - because it is not.

Edited August 19, 201510 yr by rbrtsmith

Well there were 8 web design businesses within a rock's throw when I moved here two years ago. They have all folded, the last was the PC repair shop and they withdrew their web design service just after Christmas.

 

There are quite a few positions available but as you say they're at the top end of the market so it is going to be very difficult to get a foot in without any top level experience.

 

Experience is of course the difficult thing to get. As always it is difficult to get a job without the experience and even more difficult to get the experience without the job. The eternal, the chicken or the egg scenario.

Plenty of business fail - in fact the vast majority of startups fail and it's not always down to a shrinking market there's many factors involved. Web agencies have to adapt to changing technologies rapidly, and with the more recent changes like responsive design, new server-side technologies, growing mobile market there's never been a better time to be in the industry. Perhaps those agencies were poorly managed, bad customer support, didn't stick with the times or advance themselves. But the market is definitely not shrinking, in terms of GDP it's one of the fastest growing industries.

 

Getting a foot in the door is tough, I managed though and so have many others, that aspect is no different than any other industry, at least in ours we can publish our work, trust me if it's good you'll get offers regularly without even looking for them - The industry is crying out for talented developers, there just aren't enough to meet demand, this is why the wages and perks get so insane.

Edited August 19, 201510 yr by rbrtsmith

Why the f**k were you working for less than minimum wage, were you there on a self-employed basis?

 

Something I learned years ago, do bugger all until you're asked to do it. If they find a willing horse they'll flog it to death.

 

As far as web design in the UK is concerned it is definitely a rapidly contracting part of the economy. Businesses now monitor every penny and the plethora of 'DIY WYSIWYG drag it 'n' drop it' web building programs and online apps means any bugger with a laptop is now a web designer. Everybody is on the lookout for anything cheap.

 

Unfortunate consequence of electing self-servatives.

 

If you have problems interacting with others then perhaps self-employment is the best option. However think about that long and hard and ensure you understand all the pitfalls and problems. If you have a tendency to depression then being self-employed can often be a very dark and lonely place especially when starting out and sweating on the bills. Don't forget in the UK there is no safety net for those self-employed. If it all goes wrong shaven headed, fat bailiffs will be picking your life over looking for anything they can auction, while you're trying to find a dry doorway to sleep in.

 

If you believe you are suffering from depression get yourself down the doctor's and ask for some Sertraline or Fluoxetine. They will also in probability refer you to a stress management course.

It was the only job I could find.

Do you have a Facebook page I'm looking to hire somebody to design a responsive website for me

^^ I sincerely hope you'll be offering him a proper rate and not taking advantage of somebody desperate for work..

Plenty of business fail - in fact the vast majority of startups fail and it's not always down to a shrinking market there's many factors involved. Web agencies have to adapt to changing technologies rapidly, and with the more recent changes like responsive design, new server-side technologies, growing mobile market there's never been a better time to be in the industry. Perhaps those agencies were poorly managed, bad customer support, didn't stick with the times or advance themselves. But the market is definitely not shrinking, in terms of GDP it's one of the fastest growing industries.

 

Getting a foot in the door is tough, I managed though and so have many others, that aspect is no different than any other industry, at least in ours we can publish our work, trust me if it's good you'll get offers regularly without even looking for them - The industry is crying out for talented developers, there just aren't enough to meet demand, this is why the wages and perks get so insane.

 

Do you mind me asking (if it's not too much trouble) what your chosen path was to get where you are now?

 

Do you mind me asking (if it's not too much trouble) what your chosen path was to get where you are now?

 

See here -> http://rbrtsmith.com/2015/08/my-journey:-how-i-landed-a-job-as-a-frontend-developer-within-7-months/

 

TL;DR: I followed the front-end developer path on Treehouse, then got my job & signed upto CodeSchool spending most of my time doing their JavaScript, Sass and Git courses. Then signed upto Frontend Masters and again spent majority of my time following JavaScript courses on there. I have also signed upto https://ericelliottjs.com/.

 

I spend a lot of my time studying, I travel often, 5-6 times a year which keeps me sane, but I study or work most weekends and evenings, reinvest money I earn into further sutdy materials etc. Work hard, play hard as they say.

 

So keys are

• Persistance and determination - don't ever give up, we all have days when things seem overwhelming.
• Study the right materials, there's too much information out there, it's worth the cost for me to know that I am getting the best possible tuition.

I am also lucky in that my employers give me free roam with the front-ends we develop, I am free to chop and change our framework in any way I wish which has been invaluable to my learning. Some say don't reinvent the wheel - just use a plugin. I say Don't!

In the short term you get a project done faster, but you haven't learnt anything. Reinvent the wheel, take it apart see how it works, after a while you can build you own more efficient wheels. Analogies aside you cannot do this all the time, but whenever there's an opportunity to do so then do it.

Edited August 20, 201510 yr by rbrtsmith

What level would you say you are with each language? I'm self taught, but I'm conscious of learning from the right people and trusted tutorials. It's very easy to spend years looking at the wrong materials, or to produce code that's not production quality.

 

I think it would also help to specialise, rather than to go for positions that cover design, frontend, and backend. Each one of these is treated as its own area, and well paying companies are rarely looking for someone who can handle everything, they want people that know one area extremely well.

 

It would be interesting to see some of your work. It's difficult to say where your recruitment problem could be coming from otherwise.

What level would you say you are with each language? I'm self taught, but I'm conscious of learning from the right people and trusted tutorials. It's very easy to spend years looking at the wrong materials, or to produce code that's not production quality.

 

I think it would also help to specialise, rather than to go for positions that cover design, frontend, and backend. Each one of these is treated as its own area, and well paying companies are rarely looking for someone who can handle everything, they want people that know one area extremely well.

 

It would be interesting to see some of your work. It's difficult to say where your recruitment problem could be coming from otherwise.

 

^^this x 1000

What level would you say you are with each language? I'm self taught, but I'm conscious of learning from the right people and trusted tutorials. It's very easy to spend years looking at the wrong materials, or to produce code that's not production quality.

 

I think it would also help to specialise, rather than to go for positions that cover design, frontend, and backend. Each one of these is treated as its own area, and well paying companies are rarely looking for someone who can handle everything, they want people that know one area extremely well.

 

It would be interesting to see some of your work. It's difficult to say where your recruitment problem could be coming from otherwise.

 

I'd say I'm fairly well versed with HTML, CSS3 and Javascript (although I hardly touch a line of pure Javascript these days because of jQuery).

 

I use PHP for backend but really only learned the portions I would use on a consistent basis ie. MYSQL, GD library, JSON data returns etc. I find myself digging into php.net quite a lot though to pick up new functions and relearn old ones.

 

I use SASS in tandem with DW, subversion for the larger projects.

 

I don't feel comfortable posting my work if it will be associated with this thread. Perhaps I can PM you?

There is another topic area you can post work for feedback, bung it there

 

http://www.webdesignerforum.co.uk/forum/28-website-reviews-and-feedback/

Edited August 20, 201510 yr by richardmountain

I'd say I'm fairly well versed with HTML, CSS3 and Javascript (although I hardly touch a line of pure Javascript these days because of jQuery).

 

Knowing jQuery isn't the same as knowing Javascript. Javascript is a very complex language, with a lot of odd behaviour and gotchas. Most agencies would expect competency in vanilla Javascript, not a library, because they may use something like Angular, React, or the thousands of other frameworks. It's sort of like saying I know Bootstrap, but I don't write plain CSS anymore.

 

Some quick wins, would be to replace SVN with Git. Use Github for any public repositories, BitBucket for private ones. Most companies are using Git Version Control nowadays, and it's often a 'nice to have' on a junior developer CV, or a 'must have' on an intermediate CV. I've never seen any professional use Dreamweaver as their main code editor, you should look into Sublime Text, Brackets, or Atom (there are others), and replace the built in Sass compiling with a Javascript build tool liken Grunt, or Gulp.

 

I would seriously suggest picking the part of the process you like the most, and specialising in it further. Otherwise you'll struggle to achieve the level of competency a company is looking for in a short space of time.

Hi bud,

 

Ouch, a lot of your OP I can relate to ... my wife always tells me that I undercharge for what I know, I'm 'too nice and willing'. There have been many times where I found myself tired of making websites for jack the lad traders who wanted the moon on a stick for a fiver. So what can you do?

 

When I hit this point and was tired of the small fry, I decided to get picky with who I will work with, only taking on projects for people who had the potential to be kings of their own industry. So essentially instead of trying to get my foot in the door with larger businesses I helped smaller businesses who have potential to become the next leader in their niche. Another point to note is I do a lot of automotive websites now for this reason as I love cars ... at the end of the day if you're designing a website it might as well be in niche you like.

 

This approach I find gives me the feel good factor and in addition promoting a business with ethics and skills is easier than trying to make a shoddy business appear professional. The second benefit is that I have clients dating back to 2003 who I still work with, but many now don't even ask for a quote, they simply know if I say 'i'd love to rebuild X and tweak y' they simply say go ahead and will pay whatever invoice I send to which I have never abused this trust.

 

The other aspect as freelance is to spot true potential of a start up and buy in with your skills. I own a % of a company now which earns me over half my annual salary, but there was risk and no money for the first few few years but now it's starting to ease the need to work so hard. It also offers the opportunity to rebuild whatever I want whenever I want, at the end of the day the more money the project makes the more money I will get.

 

These are just two ideas sticking in the freelance world, the others also have some great advice

^^That's the reason why, for me at least working at an agency has been better for me in terms of improving as a developer. I hated working for 'Del Boys' when I first started as a freelancer, with the agency I get to work with much larger organisations with larger budgets which allowed me the time to develop better websites.

 

If I were to freelance again it would have to be in some kind of consultancy role working for larger organisations - or the kind of startups that @@BrowserBugs has described. I do think though when prices are increased it sort of weeds out the majority of the jack the lads.

Edited August 27, 201510 yr by rbrtsmith

If I were to freelance again it would have to be in some kind of consultancy role working for larger organisations - or the kind of startups that @@BrowserBugs has described. I do think though when prices are increased it sort of weeds out the majority of the jack the lads.

 

This is an area I've started looking into. My actual areas of expertise are a bit random, I suppose it would be 'url architecture, performance and micro-formats' but combined with a larger companies in-house designers, developers and marketing team this niche would fit like a glove as a consultant. Believe though the amount of times I see a job advertised and think 'no more dealing with clients and paid holiday', I see why the PAYE world is so tempting

 

This is an area I've started looking into. My actual areas of expertise are a bit random, I suppose it would be 'url architecture, performance and micro-formats' but combined with a larger companies in-house designers, developers and marketing team this niche would fit like a glove as a consultant. Believe though the amount of times I see a job advertised and think 'no more dealing with clients and paid holiday', I see why the PAYE world is so tempting

 

It is nice being an employee, I spend my spare time studying, not dealing with clients But I guess some people enjoy that aspect of being a freelancer. I think specialising is definitely a good route to go down as opposed to being fairy good / medeocre at everything - in that instance the specialist can charge much more for his/her services.

Edited August 27, 201510 yr by rbrtsmith

You must work on your business/networking/people skills as well as your technical skills. At the moment, the former are letting you down badly, and that's why you're in a predicament. Like anything business/networking/people skills can be improved upon by studying and work. There is a wealth of advice on the internet if you look for it. Here are some to get you started:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/LondonRealTV

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/tailopezofficial

 

Whatever you do, do not give up on yourself. Treat your "soft skills" as importantly as your "technical skills", as it will require both to be successful. I would suggest trying to find a local coding group/business/creative/web design group that you can attend (preferably a free one LOL). This will build your people skills and give you more interaction. It may seem a daunting thing to suggest, but people are very accommodating at these groups and they are just there like you to better themselves, so don't be intimidated. You know where your weaknesses are, so set yourself on a course of self improvement. The links I gave you are the type of thing you need to take an interest in.

 

I hope that helps.

 

 

Do yourself a huge favor with PHP - learn a good framework like Laravel

 

Base what you learn on where the current market demand is. For example, at the moment front end JavaScript frameworks are huge - I'm currently teaching myself REact JS and Angular JS.

 

On the backend side, writing API's to interact with the said frameworks are also in demand - it goes hand in hand with front end frameworks / phone apps. I'm a freelance developer myself and the in the last 3 months about half of the work I've done has a strong API requirement (thank god I'm using Laravel is all I can say ).

 

I assume you already know this, but in case you don't - Angular 2 is on the way and it's API is gonna be vastly different to 1.~ I therefore am not spending any more time learning Angular. But for now React does look very good.

I see for the top jobs at places like spotify they are wanting experts in the language and functional programming rather than a framework. I'd say I devote only about 30% of my JS learning time to frameworks, the rest of the time is spent with the language itself - especially ES6. I'm not sure which is the best balance. I just fear spending a lot of time learning a framework as they come and go so quickly, especially in JavaScript. I think Node will be around for a long time though, and a sucessor will likely be very similar.

Edited August 28, 201510 yr by rbrtsmith

 

I'd say nowadays knowing how to use Git main features are essential. I'm not entirely sure how people with any kind of source control.

 

I agree, it's pretty much essential. I could not live without Git and SSH. I'd probably quit my job if we used FTP for deployment.

 

I agree, it's pretty much essential. I could not live without Git and SSH. I'd probably quit my job if we used FTP for deployment.

 

I think with junior devs, there's more flexibility with teaching you Git once you're there, but established developers should know it based on experience. There's a big difference using Git for yourself, and with teams / organisations, some larger companies have extremely complex methods for version control. It's something you would learn over time from being at the company I guess.

 

I think with junior devs, there's more flexibility with teaching you Git once you're there, but established developers should know it based on experience. There's a big difference using Git for yourself, and with teams / organisations, some larger companies have extremely complex methods for version control. It's something you would learn over time from being at the company I guess.

 

Good point. I'd never even heard of Git until I started work