Job Prospects

[htid]

I have a mate who's doing a dead end office job and wants to do something new. He's only 21 so wants to go back to college. He's decided to study something like web dev & software dev.

Just wondering what the job prospects are for this type of thing? I'm guessing in certain areas the IT market is saturated so which areas may be better to go into, if not that?

Cheers.

[wombar]

It really depends whether that's something he really wants to do and is willing to put in some long hours to get the skills he'll need. You don't need any formal qualifications to get into web dev, as long as you've got a good portfolio and can show people you know your stuff.

I don't have any formal qualifications in web design/development (but I have a computing degree, though none of my web skills were acquired at uni) and have taught myself everything I know off my own back. The prospects are very good if you're actually any good, as a decent web developer is worth their weight in gold.

However, there are a lot of people who "have done a course" and think they know it all. Most of the people I've seen who've been on a course are about as useful as a chocolate teapot when it comes to project time. Most of the decent professionals in the industry know these courses are useless and it can actually hurt to put them on your CV.

Basically, yes there are prospects but it's usually a long hard slog and if your mate isn't prepared to put the hours in tearing your hair out looking for a missing ; tell him not to bother

[sp3n]

if he is prepared to put in the time learning the new skills required for web/software dev then yeah he should go for it!

[tiggerai]

I definitely agree with Wombar here... some of the web dev courses aren't worth anything. I've seen a few people who *think* they can develop and then don't know the first thing about proper development.

Web developers are jack of all trades really, but that's where the hard slog comes in as you need to know various different languages (especially in my job, supporting all sorts of things!)

If he's getting into web dev, the most important thing to know about these days is designing for accessibility. I am still surprised at the amount of "web developers" who don't know the first thing about designing / coding accessible websites.

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by htid

I have a mate who's doing a dead end office job and wants to do something new. He's only 21 so wants to go back to college. He's decided to study something like web dev & software dev.

My advice to your mate would be to spend some time on the phone. Do some research, check out some job adverts that seem to be the kind of thing that appeal to him, then ring the companies doing the advertising.

Try to get through (see note 1) to a decision-maker if he can, or HR, and tell them that this is what he wants to do, and ask for a couple of minutes of their time. Explain that what he wants is some advice on the best route to take, whether to get formal qualifications or not, and if so, what qualifications? Or whether it's better to try to just get practical experience?

One of three things is likely to happen :-

1) He won't be able to get though, or people won't be interested in talking. If that happens, apologise gracefully and try another company

2) They'll offer some useful feedback. Listen, and try to get several such responses.

3) He MIGHT just be lucky enough to hit someone that's also looking for a trainee. If he can come across as enthusiastic enough, then having the initiative to make such a call MIGHT inspire someone to offer an interview.


But if he does try this, tell him to prepare. Tell him to work out what to say if he's asked why this is what he wants to do, for instance, and if possible, find out a bit about the company he's ringing as well.

Number 3 is a long shot, but you never know - and what has he got to lose? At worst, he'll have wasted a bit of time and the cost of some phone calls. But he might get some valuable feedback and, if he's VERY lucky .....




Note 1.

How he goes about this is a matter of personal style. Were it me, I'd be honest with switchboard. Tell them he knows he's not qualified for the advertised job, but he's hoping someone can spare a couple of minutes to give him some advice on his chosen career. Pile on the charm, perhaps admit that he knows it's a but cheeky, etc ....

[htid]

Cheers everyone I'll pass the advice on later when I see him, thanks a lot very helpful and a prime oppertunity to use the new thank feature!