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Web Design career advice - should I go back to University or continue to teach myself?

  • Hi guys, I am looking for a little advice from Web Designers about which way to go to start my career. To give you a bit of background ... I have been designing websites for about 2 / 3 years using Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Fireworks & some animation programmes. About a year ago - the company I worked for asked me to build their website and from there I have gone on to design many more for different companies and even had it as my main source of income for a while. I now want to turn this into my career but as I have taught myself how to do this through painstaking hard work, tutorials and trial and error - I obvioulsy have missed certain things out of my learning and also need to know other things that will take quite alot to teach myself. Some of the things I am referring to are: PHP, mySQL, customer log-in area's, designing for different browsers & screen resolutions and whilst I have some knowledge & am learning - CSS as well. Here is an example of some of the sites I have designed & am currently finishing: www.royalmilerentals.co.uk www.neverthelessmedia.co.uk www.tinsmithtools.co.uk Basically - I am 30 years old and have a baby on the way in 4 months. Its not exactly an ideal time to go to University to learn these things but they seem to be a requirement before even getting an interview for a web design job. I have taught myself up until this far & feel confident that I could learn this stuff if I put my mind to it. I am interested to hear from those who have learnt these skills. Am I biting off more than I can chew with regards to learning this stuff on my own? Should I look to take a course at Uni or somewhere else?! I would have to work full time through out! Are there other ways of learning theses skills such as a work placement?! Do they exist in the web design world considering there are probably many people who have learnt these skills already looking for employment? Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

  • Answer:

    You don't need to go back to uni to study this stuff, just learn from home with Open University. Do it quick though i think the next enrollment is next month and they only have two, the other is in October. As for the course, I think if you go out to work as a web designer then yes it would help you a great deal. Whereas if it was a second income then no it wouldn't be a big issue to go to uni. Of all the freelance designers i have come across none have uploaded any certificate. It's just employers that need/want them.

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It would be worthless to get a BA in web design. Literally worthless. Now, that is not to say that a college degree is worthless. I would recommend you go to college, either for Comp Sci or Business, but that's just because with a college degree you can demand more from the companies you're working for. As far as web designing and programming go, college can teach you a lot in regards to _concepts_. When you understand the concepts of programming, picking up any given language becomes much easier. Insofar as knowledge and learning goes, I would get together with a group of designers and programmers. You might post an ad in Craig's list's Computer Gig's section for your area with something along the lines of, "Hey, I'm bored out of my mind, I do CSS and XHTML. Anyone want to grab a cup of coffee? I'll be at the Starbucks at X street and N avenue." Get out there, meet others who do what you do, and gain experience by looking around, asking people. If you can, find a mentor. Simply someone who you respect a lot, and who is knowledge in the area you're interested in and whose brain you can pick. Have a wonderful night!

You've been doing quite well for yourself. In the long run though, you'll need a diploma of some kind if you want recognition. Bear in mind that when a given company requires a given diploma, there are lots and lots of applicants holding that diploma or better. Only a handful of them will be called for an interview and only one will have the job. Those without a diploma altogether will be discarded in the first stage and you don't even get a chance to speak for yourself.

Hi, I was in a similar dilemma to you about 2 years ago. I decided that in the 3 years or so it would take to complete a degree (that you have to fork out for), I could be working for real clients, building up my portfolio and getting paid at the same time. That is because I wanted to go freelance - if I had wanted to work for a company, then I probably would have reconsidered. I think you are right to want to branch out (with PHP/Mysql) but as you have had design experience, you could look at Flash, Flex and Actionscript/ Javascipt and XML instead. I do think specialisation is important because HTML and CSS can offer only so much to a client. It sounds like you might have a good list of contacts, which is a very good start if you want to go freelance...most of my work is through word of mouth. I would probably try and get some more work for them, or at least find out what additional functionality they would like then try and offer it to them. Also, create your own online portfolio if you have not done so already and put your strongest work up. As it becomes richer you can start approaching companies if thats what you want to do. p.s: **www.neverthelessmedia.co.uk is not working for me**** Good luck

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