Need some help with the digital market?
As many of you know, I work full time as a front end web developer. I’ve been doing this for over two years now as I have some experience in this area.
I know many people want to go into the digital design and development field, but not sure how to go about it or what it’s like.
It’s not a hard industry to get into but as it’s a relatively new industry not many people have much knowledge about it and don’t know how to go about getting their foot into it. It’s really not that difficult because it’s a massively growing market.
Don’t be demotivated by parents or friends. They may not be up to date with the current market so they sometimes think that you won’t get much out of it or it isn’t a good career path as more traditional fields such as accountancy or teaching. It’s a brilliant place for young, innovative and creative individuals.
I would love to help the potential digital designers and developers as much as I can. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have so fire your questions away.
I’ll either answer them in a comment reply or write a new blog post about it.
My dad is one of those parents who don’t see how anything digital related could make “good” money.
I guess he could be a part of the “old fashion” folks group because during his youth, there were never computer or anything of the like, just old fashion telephones and such. I think it’s exciting to see the digital design and development field growing among this generation.
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For a while, I wanted to be a web developer like you, or do graphic designing. I started getting into computer stuff when I was about 7 or 8, and I’ve always been really interested in this kind of stuff which is the reason why I started learning how to code and make graphics. My mum always discouraged me, though, and told me that there was no work for designers, which I now know is a lie. Unfortunately, I’m a bit of a technophobe, now, so it’s a bit too late xD The only thing I can tolerate is a computer, but even then, it annoys me. Coding often gets me frustrated and stressed, and that’s when I start biting my nails and pulling out my hair. A question I’ve got for you is how did you learn all of this stuff? Because honestly, your work is quite astonishing.
I’ve tagged you, by the way.
Please see my blog (http://semontify.co.cc/index.php?id=22) for the questions!
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My mom used to work as an accountant in IBM and she saw loads of tech people get fired every day. And now I kind of want to be a front end developer as well… As you can proabably guess, she doesn’t really support me.
My dad is also against me going into it. He wants me to go into the medical field. There’s really nothing wrong with the medical field. I love biology and all that, but I also love web design. My dad thinks that there’s no difference between software programming, web design/development, and building a computer. =__=;; So he thinks that if I get a job as a radiologist, I’ll be technologically satisfied and set for the future.. If only.
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It’s a good thing that you want to help the potential digital designers and developers. It’s good to learn new things every day!
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Great idea for a post. My question is, how do you feel confident enough about your skills to make the leap into applying for jobs? Or would you suggest the freelance route?
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In reply to your question – http://essencious.org/2011/12/everyone-has-to-start-somewhere-in-the-digital-world/
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I’m currenty at my second and last year of my web developer-education and I’m starting to doubt that I have enough skills to manage a career as a web developer. Just like Jenni I wonder; “how do you feel confident enough about your skills to make the leap into applying for jobs?”
And what do you suggest for a final project that could be a benefit even after school? I would love to hear your opinions!
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In reply to Jenny’s question – http://essencious.org/2011/12/everyone-has-to-start-somewhere-in-the-digital-world/
I would suggest you do a web development related project. A project that involves the start to end process of a website build is good. The process will be something like: research -> design -> development -> quality check -> approval. You can start your project by saying that you’ve found the need for a new website as others just don’t meet the requirements. You can then go through the process of researching the requirements (usability and functionality is very important), then design etc. The most important part that will help you find a job is the end result. It will be a website you can show to the interviewers. It doesn’t matter if somethings aren’t correct because you are inexperience afterall. You need to be able to show why you’ve done certain thing and the willingness to learn.
Hope that helps, be glad to answer any further questions.
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