Seeking advice on web development jobs

by 6 replies
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Hi guys,

I'm interested in potentially entering the web development field and was curious to see if someone familiar with the industry would be able to gauge my skills and judge how far off I am from the minimum standards expected. Any assessments or advice would be greatly appreciated.

To start, I have an undergraduate degree, but it's unrelated to computer science. About a year ago I began teaching myself HTML and CSS using resources like Jon Duckett's HTML & CSS and the standard online resources, to the point where I'm now generally comfortable coding most common things. I do have to look things up a fair bit, but it's usually just for a refresher. For example, I'd need to look up the exact format for adding a new font to a website, though I understand the general process.

I'm familiar with HTML5 and CSS3, but have very basic programming knowledge (if/else statements, functions, declaring variables). I don't know much JavaScript or jQuery, though I'm in the process of learning.

I've worked on real sites and work on my own test site just to experiment with different concepts regularly. My question is, how close am I to being qualified for a position, and how good at JavaScript or jQuery do you think I'd need to get? I've heard from some that knowing JavaScript isn't even really required to be a front end developer, though I'm not sure I believe them.

Any thoughts?
#programming #advice #development #jobs #seeking #web
  • Hi Tillytoby,

    Im working fulltime in a software development company as an Application Developer and we have also 5 Web Developers there.

    What I have to tell you first:

    You dont need a degree in computer science nowadays. There are lot of people in this area which do not have one.
    And its not really rare that they are even better than that one which have a degree in CS.


    What I dont understand in your thread is this:


    Your thread title is on advice for Web Development skills.

    Then you are talking about an Frontend Developer.

    Then you are telling us that you have basic programming skills and that you dont have much experience in JS and jQuery...



    But anyways, you should have those skills IMHO:

    A Web Developer´s part is to develop or expand new/existing software in the area of the Internet. He should have strong knowledge in:

    HTML, JS, ASP.NET or PHP

    and should have basic understanding of

    jQuery, Apache XAMPP, mySQL, mongoDB or other databases and a few IDEs and different API´s.

    If you have those requirements you are good to go!

    Have a great day,
    Peter
    • [1] reply
    • Thank you for your insight, PHR.

      So is there a difference between a front end developer and a web developer? I guess I thought they were both the same thing, since they happen on the front end (browser side) rather than the server side.

      And by basic programming skills, I mean I'm familiar with the concepts, and can do those things in JavaScript, but am no where near capable of actually creating applications or something practical with those skills yet.

      As far as I can tell, I definitely am not qualified for front end development, since I don't know most of those, (ASP.NET, PHP, mySQL, etc...). I had heard that these were necessary, but perhaps they were talking about another profession?
      • [2] replies
  • A degree will help you a lot. It's a requirement in 50%+ fulltime jobs.

    Also, I don't recommend you to take another degree. That's will be a waste of time.
    Maybe you can get a Zend PHP5 Certification(backend) or another web certification, they will look pretty in your CV.
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    Seeking advice on web development jobs

    Hi guys, I'm interested in potentially entering the web development field and was curious to see if someone familiar with the industry would be able to gauge my skills and judge how far off I am from the minimum standards expected. Any assessments or advice would be greatly appreciated.