When you've arrived at the point where things just have to change
- where do you turn for advice on a new career?
It doesn't matter what your previous background is - if you're hoping to find a new career path then it can be pretty tough. Have a wander round this site and you should find some handy starting information.
It's so easy - just click on the job option to start...
Try to name one well known business that doesn't successfully promote itself on the web! If a business wants to succeed, it must have a well designed and informative website. A business website is a shop window, an information portal, a sales tool and a product catalogue all rolled into one. As customers, our first port of call when we're looking to make a purchase is very often a search on Google, Bing or Yahoo to find a suitable website.
Naturally, the rapid growth of websites on the internet has led to a great demand for web designers. There are a number of training course options available if you're looking to study web design. Some are entirely in-centre based, some entirely home-based and some a combination of the two.
When you look at the range of trainers who are advertising, don't rush through them too quickly. Get a feel for the quality of the training itself, and how you'd fit the different study methods into your current lifestyle.
Web design courses should furnish students with a number of key skills that will be necessary to gain employment.
As well as web design courses though, there are also courses for web developers. Students training to become web developers will be taught programming codes, so they can learn how to create functions for the 'back office' of a website. This feature deals with courses and work in web design, where as the name suggests the focus is on the design aspects of websites.
Web Design appeals to people with a creative, artistic flair. Also people skills are a bonus, as frequent discussions with the client are common. Many customers have given some thought to how they would like their website to look. And then the designer has to build a site that is impressive, navigable, fit for purpose and all within the client's parameters. Naturally, the designer will also look to advise the customer with the benefit of their professional experience and knowledge.
Look for training in various Adobe packages - most professional courses will offer this. They generally command the most respect in the commercial world, so designers would be at a disadvantage without them.
Adobe Dreamweaver Creative Suite 4 and Adobe Flash Creative Suite 4 are probably the most valuable products to learn. CS3 is still taught by some training establishments, but you are advised to always go for CS4. With professional Dreamweaver tools you'll be able to learn how to build fantastic and innovative web pages. Commercial designers however will also need to add Flash to their repertoire to add that extra dimension of interactivity and movement. Students who master both tools will have the best and most valuable expertise for industry.
Mastering the skills and putting together a collection of designs that you've created whilst studying are the most vital things for clinching that first job. As with many creative disciplines, web design is quite subjective. Employers will therefore expect to be able to look at your work if called for interview. If it's your intention to become a self-employed Web Designer, then commercial accreditations may be superfluous. But if becoming certified is your goal, make sure your course prepares you for the ACE certification or the ACP certification. (Both are available in Flash and Dreamweaver).
It's quite short-sighted to restrict web design training to just the bits of the website that we can see. You can be so much more employable if you go through a course that also includes a range of other factors. You will benefit from an in-depth tutorial on HTML and CSS. They're the underlying languages and layout descriptions that Dreamweaver creates in the background for you. To understand any level of interactive functionality, you'll also need to have a grasp of extended HTML and PHP programming. We think it's also important for a viable web designer to have a good grasp of how e-commerce websites work. And to conclude the list for now, a requirement that's very overlooked by many is SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation. To avoid your websites getting lost in the ether and ineffectual, you should gain an understanding of how to optimise sites on Google and Yahoo. It doesn't matter how fabulous your websites are, they can't do the job they're designed for if nobody knows where they are.
Imaginative and creative web design work has exploded with the growth of the internet. Training now to become a part of this industry will prepare you for a dynamic future. As the flexibility of the internet and speed of delivery continues to improve, so too is the way web sites are being built. Think how different your working day could soon be if you resolved to check out your training options now!