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Robert Russell
8,958 PointsGetting your foot in the door...
This is for staff/persons already in professional web development jobs:
I've been teaching myself web development off and on for years now, and I'm starting to get very serious about it. I recently left the military and am looking for full time employment, and I'd like to do something in the web/graphic/IT industry. I have a lot of soft skills like I'm great with people, have done sales before, I learn extremely fast etc. My skills in the web side are something more like Photoshop, HTML(5)/CSS(3), PHP/MySQL "ok", of course WordPress, and a little bit of javascript/jQuery. Also, I'm in school pursuing my bachelor's in Computer Science. What I'm having trouble with is communicating my skills to potential employers. I know I can do the job of a Jr Designer, I just need to find a way to show that to a company looking to hire. I also have a portfolio that needs brushing up: robdoesweb.com.
So I'm asking in general, how did you land your first full-time web job?
What should be in my portfolio when I haven't done much real, paid work?
What do web design companies look for when hiring a Jr. Developer?
What kind of advice can you offer someone looking to get their foot in the door to a design company?
1 Answer
Sebastian Wilson
15,710 Points1.) I went to an interview at a small website development company for a junior web developer role
- I showed off some of my university portfolio , such as an Android App and explained the design
- I had an example website
- In my CV I listed basic skills they were looking for
- Dressed very smart and understood what the company did
For several job interviews I have had to do tests in SQL and asp.net c#
-My advice would be do not just jump into your first job offer, this is what I did and it was a mistake the staff did not have time to help me and I struggled to do my work. Therefore as a junior it would be useful to look for what training they have to offer, and also make it is very clear what you understand.
-And it might be worth emailing local companies as they do not always have averts for jobs, there are also agencies that can get you interviews but they can be a pain to deal with and do not always have your interests at heart.
After my years worth of experience I moved jobs and I am now working at a biomedical company designing software and much happier for it :)
Adam Sackfield
Courses Plus Student 19,663 PointsGood Advice!
Adam Sackfield
Courses Plus Student 19,663 PointsAdam Sackfield
Courses Plus Student 19,663 PointsWell I am like you trying to get into the industry, so basically what your asking is how to show your skills to potential employers, well that's easy if you have mad jQuery skills then put a few things together that show these skills off. Your great at HTML5/CSS3 then wicked we want to see a site you made that uses all the Semantic tags of html5 and the brilliant new css3 features. But you haven't got any paid jobs thats not a problem (I have had one paid job and it was a site for a brothel and that is NOT going on my portfolio my mother could google me and see it eeek) So what you want to do is just copy other ideas to demo your stuff make a site similar to asos to demo your e commerce side. Then build a blog page about anything from apples to zebras nobody will read it all but they will see what you can achieve. If like me you struggle for inspiration have a look at themeforest and try to recreate the layouts. I guess what the things companies look for are the good base knowledge of all things web and a keen interest in learning (im almost obsessive about it must to the dismay of my gf). Then keep up with industry trends and changes using things like CSS-tricks and smashing magazine follow developers on twitter (@Sacki2013) and read read read.
Hope this helps Sir (As you are a military man its only right to call you Sir)
Thanks Adam Sackfield