Interesting thread. I have spent the last 4 years doing what the thread starter has proposed to do. I gave up my dead end job and went the web developer route as I had been playing with it as a hobby.
But it has not been easy at all. One of the first things I found out was that its not just as simple as going and learning some HTML, CSS, Javascript then PHP. Employers generally look for an Honours degree with grade of at least 2:1 before they will even entertain you as a candidate.
When I left my Job I went and did an HNC in Web development for a year at my local college. It turned out that course was still teaching web design as if it was 1996 not 2007. I knew more than the lecturer who didn't even know css he did everything with tables. I stuck with it just to get the qualification and applied for some jobs, never got anywhere not even an interview and was advised for development level jobs you need a degree or xxx years of experience.
So I bit the bullet and went to uni (I was 27 at the time) My HNC got me into second year. I spent another three years doing my honours degree (degree is 4 years in scotland)
Now I have an BSC(Hons) Internet Software Development 2:1 and I am only on my first job after graduating last June at 32 year old. I have found it very hard to get a Job as developer even with my degree and decent knowledge and coding skills.
Employers are sooo picky! What I found is that often they advertise a job as graduate level simply because they don't want to pay a decent wage. When you go for the interview it turns out that they are really looking for somebody with more experience than a grad would have or that they are really looking for somebody with a computer science degree. The technical tests iv been hit with were well beyond me on occasion, expecting you to know complex algorithms ect that you would never use in web development. Its been a nightmare and I was one of the best programmers in the entire year at uni.
Ill also add that maybe Iv had such a hard time as I live in Scotland and also I got my first job but its not really a development role since all I'm doing is a couple Joomla sites for a small company that has no clue about web development and are easily impressed! I also landed a couple of short lived Jobs while I was studying.
So after all this I'm still not sure what you've got to do to get a decent job in this field.....
But it has not been easy at all. One of the first things I found out was that its not just as simple as going and learning some HTML, CSS, Javascript then PHP. Employers generally look for an Honours degree with grade of at least 2:1 before they will even entertain you as a candidate.
When I left my Job I went and did an HNC in Web development for a year at my local college. It turned out that course was still teaching web design as if it was 1996 not 2007. I knew more than the lecturer who didn't even know css he did everything with tables. I stuck with it just to get the qualification and applied for some jobs, never got anywhere not even an interview and was advised for development level jobs you need a degree or xxx years of experience.
So I bit the bullet and went to uni (I was 27 at the time) My HNC got me into second year. I spent another three years doing my honours degree (degree is 4 years in scotland)
Now I have an BSC(Hons) Internet Software Development 2:1 and I am only on my first job after graduating last June at 32 year old. I have found it very hard to get a Job as developer even with my degree and decent knowledge and coding skills.
Employers are sooo picky! What I found is that often they advertise a job as graduate level simply because they don't want to pay a decent wage. When you go for the interview it turns out that they are really looking for somebody with more experience than a grad would have or that they are really looking for somebody with a computer science degree. The technical tests iv been hit with were well beyond me on occasion, expecting you to know complex algorithms ect that you would never use in web development. Its been a nightmare and I was one of the best programmers in the entire year at uni.
Ill also add that maybe Iv had such a hard time as I live in Scotland and also I got my first job but its not really a development role since all I'm doing is a couple Joomla sites for a small company that has no clue about web development and are easily impressed! I also landed a couple of short lived Jobs while I was studying.
So after all this I'm still not sure what you've got to do to get a decent job in this field.....
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