Webmaster forum - Web Design Qualifications?

Author

Web Design Qualifications?

Feederbillia

2006-08-17, 6:48 pm

Im looking to gain a recognised qualification in website design. At
present, Im doing a CIW course in my spare time, but while browsing
online jobs (for web design), most, if not all companies are asking for
applicants with degrees!! Does this mean my CIW course is a complete
waste of time??

Can anyone give me more information on finding a degree in web design?
Ive looked on the Open University website, but all degrees seem to be
based around areas such as object-orientated programming etc, and not
aimed purely at web design.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Mark.

Andy Dingley

2006-08-17, 6:48 pm

Feederbillia wrote:

> Im looking to gain a recognised qualification in website design.

There are none.

The best, by far, is a good portfolio.

> Im doing a CIW course in my spare time,

CIW is extremely poor - but it probably is the best (!) and it's
certainly the only one with _any_ recognition.

> most, if not all companies are asking for applicants with degrees!!

UK degrees are the modern A levels. As they're now almost as "entry
level" as a US first degree, then in most places it's simply assumed
that everyone will have one. Fortunately this means that they're also
no real barrier if you don't have one. No competent employer is really
going to care if you don't have one, but you appear competent
otherwise.

> Does this mean my CIW course is a complete
> waste of time??

Certainly close.

> Ive looked on the Open University website,

The abject poor quality of the OU web course makes CIW look like rocket
science.

Charles Sweeney

2006-08-17, 10:39 pm

Feederbillia wrote

> Im looking to gain a recognised qualification in website design. At
> present, Im doing a CIW course in my spare time, but while browsing
> online jobs (for web design), most, if not all companies are asking for
> applicants with degrees!! Does this mean my CIW course is a complete
> waste of time??
>
> Can anyone give me more information on finding a degree in web design?
> Ive looked on the Open University website, but all degrees seem to be
> based around areas such as object-orientated programming etc, and not
> aimed purely at web design.
>
> Any advice would be much appreciated.

I would imagine that very few webmasters have a degree in web design.

Why not work for yourself? You wouldn't need to prove your worth by
showing a certificate.

--
Charles Sweeney
http://CharlesSweeney.com

Andy Dingley

2006-08-18, 4:37 am

Charles Sweeney wrote:

> Why not work for yourself?

Working for yourself (fewer than half-a-dozen people) as a web designer
is more about being a successful business than exercising technical
skills as a web designer. Now this is a fine career choice if it's what
you want, but some of us (certainly myself) are good engineers and bad
businessmen. I certainly wouldn't do it again.

Feederbillia

2006-08-18, 6:36 pm

Working for myself is an option i suppose.

In this day and age, is it possible to compete with the big boys
though???? The large companies appear to be taking control of
everything these days.

I also tend to agree with Andy...... im more a "hands on" kinda guy so
I dont know if id prove successful with the business side of things.

Certainly worth some thought though .......

Karl Groves

2006-08-18, 6:36 pm

"Feederbillia" <mark@feederbillia.com> wrote in
news:1155899696.058143.289980@74g2000cwt.googlegroups.com:

> Working for myself is an option i suppose.
>
> In this day and age, is it possible to compete with the big boys
> though???? The large companies appear to be taking control of
> everything these days.
>
> I also tend to agree with Andy...... im more a "hands on" kinda guy so
> I dont know if id prove successful with the business side of things.
>
> Certainly worth some thought though .......
>
>

Please try to quote the message(s) to which you're replying. That helps the
rest of us know who and what you're talking about.

There are a lot of reasons why a singular individual cannot "compete with
the big boys" and in a lot of ways, you shouldn't anyway.

- The big guys didn't get there overnight. They worked their way up, or
they split off from other big boys. This means they have both an
established reputation and an established budget to do things like
marketing, pay sales people, etc.

- In order to pay their personnel costs, office space, etc., the big boys
need to go after big jobs. The upside to this is that you can't handle
those big jobs anyway, but what you can handle are the things that the big
guys can't even touch. There are millions of small businesses out there
who need sites, but could never afford to pay the big guys. That leaves a
niche market for the small guys. You can go after restaurants, small night
clubs, bands, independent auto shops, etc.

--
Karl Groves
www.karlcore.com

NotMe

2006-08-18, 6:36 pm

"Feederbillia" <mark@feederbillia.com> wrote in message
news:1155899696.058143.289980@74g2000cwt.googlegroups.com...
| Working for myself is an option i suppose.
|
| In this day and age, is it possible to compete with the big boys
| though???? The large companies appear to be taking control of
| everything these days.
|
| I also tend to agree with Andy...... im more a "hands on" kinda guy so
| I don't know if id prove successful with the business side of things.
|
| Certainly worth some thought though .......

How to run a business is not rocket science and the basic principles can be
learned if you pay attention.

I've a six year old grand daughter that is quite successful running small
yard sales. Her inventory goes up every month, she clears enough to pay for
advertising, a small savings account and mad money. Her 'business plan'
includes blowing out the inventory at the end of the season, squiring away
the proceeds to restock next season.

As to mixing it up with the big boys. I've done both and have discovered
that niche marketing is a) easer on the stress button and b) more
profitable.

Basically it is the application of the 80/20 principle. 20 % of what you do
brings you 80% of the benefit, 80% of what you do brings you 20% of the
benefit. Concentrate on the first 20% and screw the rest.

Charles Sweeney

2006-08-18, 6:36 pm

Feederbillia wrote

> Working for myself is an option i suppose.
>
> In this day and age, is it possible to compete with the big boys
> though???? The large companies appear to be taking control of
> everything these days.
>
> I also tend to agree with Andy...... im more a "hands on" kinda guy so
> I dont know if id prove successful with the business side of things.
>
> Certainly worth some thought though .......

If you work for an employer, you are selling your services to the employer.
Instead of selling them to the employer, sell them to clients!

--
Charles Sweeney
http://CharlesSweeney.com

William Tasso

2006-08-18, 6:36 pm

Fleeing from the madness of the No thank you jungle
Charles Sweeney <me@charlessweeney.com> stumbled into
news:alt.www.webmaster
and said:

> ...
> If you work for an employer, you are selling your services to the
> employer.
> Instead of selling them to the employer, sell them to clients!

There's one major difference:

your employer pays you by the hour - same rate every hour.

your client pays a job rate no matter how long it took you to research and
fix those irritating bugs.

--
William Tasso

http://williamtasso.com/words/what-is-usenet.asp

Alan

2006-08-19, 6:44 pm

I'm just getting started too. I've previously run a different small
business so I know the basics, but these days I'm housebound.

Can someone please suggest where on the Net I can look for customers?
I've tried http://www.getafreelancer.com but that's a madhouse where
it's hard to get noticed - most projects (100 a day) are offered way
below budget (like $100 for a 3-day job) with only the barest details,
and 40 or more bidders who all have a track record of 40 or more
successful bids competing for each of those! Is there a better site?

I tried emailing everyone in the local phone book but only got a couple
of small jobs out of that. Good customers, but neither of them could
give me any referrals.

William Tasso

2006-08-19, 6:44 pm

Fleeing from the madness of the http://groups.google.com jungle
Alan <alan_raro@hotmail.com> stumbled into news:alt.www.webmaster
and said:

>
> I'm just getting started too. I've previously run a different small
> business so I know the basics, but these days I'm housebound.
>
> Can someone please suggest where on the Net I can look for customers?

wrong place to look. sure it's a good plan to throw a web site over the
fence but it's more useful as a contact point for existing customers

> ...
> I tried emailing everyone in the local phone book but only got a couple
> of small jobs out of that. Good customers, but neither of them could
> give me any referrals.

ok - that's a step in the right direction. You may not get referrals but
you can build on the successes ...
o write a case study - publish on the web
o write a press release - send to all local publications and publish on
the web
o ...

check the archive for guerilla marketing hints provided by Swampy -
possibly posting as 'Fat Sam' back then.

--
William Tasso

http://williamtasso.com/words/what-is-usenet.asp

Jerry Stuckle

2006-08-19, 10:43 pm

Alan wrote:
> I'm just getting started too. I've previously run a different small
> business so I know the basics, but these days I'm housebound.
>
> Can someone please suggest where on the Net I can look for customers?
> I've tried http://www.getafreelancer.com but that's a madhouse where
> it's hard to get noticed - most projects (100 a day) are offered way
> below budget (like $100 for a 3-day job) with only the barest details,
> and 40 or more bidders who all have a track record of 40 or more
> successful bids competing for each of those! Is there a better site?
>

Not a good place to look for real work.

> I tried emailing everyone in the local phone book but only got a couple
> of small jobs out of that. Good customers, but neither of them could
> give me any referrals.
>

OK, you spammed everyone local. Not a good introduction for yourself.

Get some business cards printed, with your web site, email, phone, etc.
printed. Get out and network with lots of people. Don't know where you
are, but in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce events are a good start. And
almost any other business mixer you can find.

It costs more, but get a flier printed and hand it out and mail it to
local people. Much better than email.

Talk to your friends, relatives and anyone else you know. Ask them if
they will help spread the word.

IOW - start looking locally first. They're the easiest customers to
get. But even then they're not real easy.

--
==================
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attglobal.net
==================

Charles Sweeney

2006-08-20, 6:46 am

Alan wrote

>
> I'm just getting started too. I've previously run a different small
> business so I know the basics, but these days I'm housebound.
>
> Can someone please suggest where on the Net I can look for customers?
> I've tried http://www.getafreelancer.com but that's a madhouse where
> it's hard to get noticed - most projects (100 a day) are offered way
> below budget (like $100 for a 3-day job) with only the barest details,
> and 40 or more bidders who all have a track record of 40 or more
> successful bids competing for each of those! Is there a better site?
>
> I tried emailing everyone in the local phone book but only got a
couple
> of small jobs out of that. Good customers, but neither of them could
> give me any referrals.

If you are competing online, then you will be up against people from
countries that have a very low standard of living, and will always be
able to out-price you.

Why not try local advertising, newspaper, Yellow Pages etc? Being
housebound means you won't be able to meet clients, but I'm not sure if
you would need to meet them anyway.

--
Charles Sweeney
http://CharlesSweeney.com

Alan

2006-08-20, 6:46 am

Thank you William, Jerry and Charles. I'll add your suggestions to my
plans and follow up the Swampy postings.

Uncle Pirate

2006-08-20, 6:37 pm

"Feederbillia" <mark@feederbillia.com> wrote in
news:1155841490.431275.78560@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

> Im looking to gain a recognised qualification in website design. At
> present, Im doing a CIW course in my spare time, but while browsing
> online jobs (for web design), most, if not all companies are asking
> for applicants with degrees!! Does this mean my CIW course is a
> complete waste of time??

I'm not familiar with "CIW", a certificate? From an accredited
school?

> Can anyone give me more information on finding a degree in web
> design? Ive looked on the Open University website, but all degrees
> seem to be based around areas such as object-orientated programming
> etc, and not aimed purely at web design.

http://alamo.nmsu.edu/catalog/degrees.html#web

> Any advice would be much appreciated.

Companies looking for people with degrees do so because they are
looking for documented education. When I was hiring for a technical
position, I did the same. I wanted to know that the person I hire
could finish a difficult task. Getting a degree shows that even if
the degree doesn't fully relate to the job. A degree in computer
programming would show me that you understand the development cycle
which applies to a website as well as a program. With so many sites
these days being dynamic, some programming skills are needed as well.

OTOH, I looked far more closely at an applicant's experience in a
field. Well documented experience wins any day. No degree but 20
years verifiable programming experience? You got the job.

My $.02.

--
Stan McCann "Uncle Pirate" http://stanmccann.us/pirate.html
Webmaster, ABATE of NM; AMA#758681; COBB; RETIRED!!
A zest for living must include a willingness to die. - R.A. Heinlein