Love2c0de Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Good afternoon all, I've been looking at Open Uni Degrees and noticed it's mainly 'Computer Science' degrees but I would like something more pertinent to web design & development. Can anyone advise on the best route to becoming qualified in web design and development? When I search for Web Development jobs in the UK, they only request for relevant experience and preview of code, they never really ask for qualifications. Are they really needed within this industry or is it a case of 'if you can prove your ability, you have a good chance'. Not sure if I'm barking up the wrong tree here. Can anyone advise? Kind regards and thanky ou for your time. L2c. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Computer science is a good way to go. It'll provide you a good base with how to code & help you understand the mindset needed. Sometimes the CS guys will have a program that lets you specialize in web apps, other times check with a marketing / media college. They usually have web design & UX classes. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/#findComment-1447000 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zane Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Unlike contractors, cosmetologists, and clerical staff, and more, the web development field requires no certain certifications to land a job. There are no OSCEA rules to conform to, no health inspections, no drug tests, only experience is required. If you can prove yourself to be a capable, competent, and confident web developer, then college is unnecessary. If, however, you are aiming to earn some type of certification/degree for your own self-confidence, self-worth, etcetera,... I would recommend community college/technical college. I earned my Associate's degrees in Web Technologies and CIS and during that time I had the opportunity to dabble in several different languages (from HTML to Visual Basic, XML, XSL, PowerBASIC, VisualBasic, .NET, and more... Having taken such courses does not in any way make me anything close to an expert in those languages but I can say that I have used them before to create basic to intermediate quality applications... most basic. The question to ask yourself is "Do you want to expand what you know by being a student or a worker?" Being a student has its advantages in that you are not under the pressure of losing a job, disappointing an employer, nor are you flat out humiliating yourself by not knowing what to do. With an instructor you can ask, ask, ask, research, ask, repeat. The disadvantage is the motivation factor. Being a student, however, does not allow you to experience the world of creating something valuable from nothing. Unless you are the top student in the class, your work will mainly be just good enough to get a passing grade. Being a worker has its advantages in that you are pressed to create under a deadline. Even though homework does indeed have due dates, the homework only benefits you whereas a deadline in the work environment is vital to the success of the business; all or most or a sizeable portion of the expected output lies on your shoulders. If you enter the work environment without enough knowledge of programming, system design, planning, time budgeting, etc.. you will be pressed with the only option of staying and improving or leaving (being fired) In Short, a great portfolio is all you need. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/#findComment-1447010 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psycho Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 (edited) I can't speak for what it's like in the UK, but in the US there is no one right answer. I know some companies focus on the candidates' ability and look for years of experience and/or examples of their work and will follow up with specific tests or technical interviews. However, some will have a mandate that a degree is required. Personally, I think that is short sighted as very qualified candidates can be rejected over less qualified candidates just because they have a degree. But, it makes it easier for the hiring manager since they don't have to dig as deep in the candidates actual qualifications. But, if you are looking to get into the game, then by all means get a degree. Unless you have an extensive work history and have a strong-skill set, it is probably the single best thing you can do to get a job. Plus, some firms that require degrees do so with the intention of hiring "junior" developers. I will also add that, in my opinion, Web Development and Web Design are two completely different things and very few people can do both very well. In the early days, everyone who "built" web pages was considered a Web Designer because it was mostly static web pages. but, as times changed, the need to build complicated web-based software emerged. However, the original nomenclature of "Web Designer" still gets applied to the programmer/developers on a fairly regular basis. Edited August 27, 2013 by Psycho Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/#findComment-1447011 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love2c0de Posted August 27, 2013 Author Share Posted August 27, 2013 Thank you all very much for your answers. I'd like to get my foot on the ladder as I have no previous experience within the field. I work for an online company at the moment and realize the dedication you need to have to do a decent job as a developer as I'm always emailing ours asking him to change things and revert back to previous ways of doing things. I can develop a site to a 'workable' standard I suppose but my design skills are terrible. I can't seem to design something which looks slick, always appears to be very basic. I'm more interested in actually developing websites rather than designing as I've grown fonder of developing over the last 2 or so years. What do you guys and gals actually do? Are you more design oriented or moreso the other way and what would you suggest would be the 'easiest' to get into? I suppose it could just be a case of actually getting some kind of portfolio together in which the sites displayed would be very slick and dynamic but at the same time I think half of my trouble is coming up with an idea for a good website which people would actually use and visit. I seem to get maybe 25% through a project only to find something pretty similar on the net (with better design). I always do some research before starting any project but always seem to stumble across similar sites once started coding. Thanks again, I'll check in when I get a chance! Regards, L2c. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/#findComment-1447028 Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalecosp Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Our company has a "designer" whose background is actually in print and print layout, graphic design, etc. So "page development" here is taking printed documents and turning them into WWW docs according to the "blueprint". I also complete other programming tasks (related to functionality), as requested by the head of the I.T. department ... for example, I've taken web sites that were based on a certain platform and planned and executed a switch to a different platform. This required knowledge of a couple of different database systems, a general concept of data management and mapping, scrupulous discipline for backups and tons of testing, network knowledge, and the creation of several "glue" scripts that help things together at critical junctures. When a bug surfaces, or something needs added to a web "page" ... yours truly is the "go to" guy. I have a degree, but it's not I.T. related. So, my perceived skill got me the job; the degree was simply assurance to them that I was, indeed, as smart as I said I was, more or less. Hopefully that helps. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/#findComment-1447029 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irate Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 To add something to what Psycho said... Web Design nowadays is a lot more than just setting a few fonts, some fancy colors here and some nice padding, right now, with CSS 3, transitions are coming to enable previously static sites to be animated without using any scripting language (Flash (as in, ActionScript, too), JavaScript, Java) and they require quite a lot of skills, and it is definitely nothing to be looked down upon. Web Design can, just like Web Development, get you a nice and quite well-paid job, and it is nowhere near being bored during the job. However, Web Design also involves generally graphical skills (Photoshop, etc.) and, most importantly, a good imagination of how your ideal website would look like (unlike the Web Developer who cares for the actual functionality of the site). I cannot really speak about qualifications or any experience in jobs right now, though, as I am right now only getting ready to start searching for jobs myself. As Web Developer, you will certainly have a more "challenging" job experience (if you're not currently using CMS's, that is) due to the complicated nature of all programming languages for the unskilled eye. If that's what you like to do (I do, certainly), then go get yourself a nice degree. I'll do just that, possibly a general degree for Computer Science or something more specific like a qualification for online programming languages, though I believe my nearest university does not offer such course. Oh well. Help my post helped you out deciding a bit Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/#findComment-1447113 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love2c0de Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 Thank you for all the input. Due to having 2 children and a decent job already, going to University is totally out of the question for my situation which is why I was opting for an Open Uni degree where you study at home in your own time but still come out with a degree at the end of it. Looking at Open University website yesterday, I found a Computer Science degree but they wanted £15,000 which quite frankly is far too much. Even if I had that kind of money to spend on a course, I wouldn't. What other options can I explore in terms of getting a qualification which employers will 'recognise' as being worthy enough? Who is the professional body that deals with website based qualifications? Kind regards, L2c. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/#findComment-1447133 Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinM1 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Who is the professional body that deals with website based qualifications? There isn't one. There's no bar to pass or license to obtain in order to be a developer. You can get certificates from various places, but they're really not worth the hassle unless you're essentially guaranteed that having one will land you a job or promotion. Like others have said, having a solid portfolio is the key. There are plenty of great resources available, either online or in books. Programming: Sites: Here Stack Overflow Mozilla Developer Center PHP: http://www.amazon.com/PHP-MySQL-Dynamic-Web-Sites/dp/0321784073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377706744&sr=8-1&keywords=larry+ullman http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377706783&sr=8-1&keywords=zandstra http://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Elements-Reusable-Object-Oriented/dp/0201633612/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377706807&sr=8-1&keywords=gof JavaScript: http://www.amazon.com/Pro-JavaScript-Techniques-John-Resig/dp/1590597273/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377706857&sr=8-2&keywords=resig Design: Sites: Smashing Magazine Designmodo CSS-Tricks A List Apart Books: http://www.abookapart.com/products/responsive-web-design http://www.abookapart.com/products/mobile-first And that's really the tip of the iceberg. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/#findComment-1447179 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignace Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 What other options can I explore in terms of getting a qualification which employers will 'recognise' as being worthy enough? Portfolio. Is sufficient to have your foot in the door. Most employers will also use a technical test to ascertain quality offered. For example we use multiple empirical technical tests which basically acts as a grading system. Candidates that passed are contacted for a conversation. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/#findComment-1447206 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love2c0de Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Thanks for all your inputs. I will just get to work on studying and trying to pull a decent porfolio together. Last question, how many personal sites could you class as a portfolio - 3,4,5? Kind regards, L2c. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/281606-becoming-qualified-in-web-development/#findComment-1447381 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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