Landing a job in web development- what does it take?

Question

Hey,

I'm an 18 year old student in college. I've been programming since I was maybe 12 or 13, but haven't really gotten into any high-level stuff until 2 or 3 years ago with Java. In college, I am majoring in computer science... it is cool and all, but what I really want is a job in web development because that is what I find the best (and what I do in my free time).

Is computer science still popular amongst web developers, or does it come down to experience? By the time I graduate, I expect to have a pretty large portfolio... which is more important? What do companies look for?

Any input would be of great help- this is what I want to do for the rest of my life and I really hope I can do so.

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Duplicate: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/367381/how-to-get-my-first-programming-job

Answer 1

From what I have come across. Most web development companies expect degrees (at least in the UK) or a lot of experience. If you can gain both then it is a very good start.

I would suggest finding as many jobs as you can get related to web development. Try local charities and businesses (they won't pay well or at all but the experience and the portfolio you will build will be huge)

Many companies recruit through internships rather than the traditional process now (especially in the case of graduates), try to get in as many of these as you can (especially in your first year). This is also a great way to get a feel for working in a corporate environment (you may not like it and want something more casual)

And in the end, you can always freelance. Use the next few years to develop and build, by the time you leave uni you should have portfolio and the confidence to gain clients by yourself (while less secure, it's a lot easier to start earlier in your life when you have less financial commitments)

Answer 2

I would look for people having good knowledge in these areas :

1. any server side language (ASP/JSP/PHP etc), well, duh.
2. SQL and database design basics.
3. XHTML and CSS - web standards (coding by hand, not using some WYSIWYG editor)
4. good logic. Capable of handling some algorithm problem.
5. AJAX (know how to use a JavaScript framework) eg. jQuery

other also good to have knowledge are :

• using subversion
• good coding practice
• familiar with a good server-side language framework.
• how TCP/IP and HTTP work.
• good English.
• how to use Google well.
• easy to work with.

there. A large portfolio filled with small and similar projects for many clients is not better than the one filled with just a complex, yet usable and well-developed site.

Answer 3

The portfolio will be important, but serious employers will want to see some qualifications as well. I agree that for plain old coding jobs, you don't need the full computer science degree which is very theoretical in any good university (indeed the course could be very different from what you would expect, I remember a lot of teenage coders slamming into the CS course hard and having massive difficulties with the theory), but it will teach a lot of stuff that you will find useful in the medium and long term.

Having the portfolio as well as the qualifications will be a massive advantage over other graduates.

Answer 4

You absolutely want to take computer science classes. There are development practices that you need to know about and terrible mistakes that you want to learn about in the classroom, rather than on a job. Despite how long you've been coding, you need to collaborate with professors and other students to learn the ropes. You can miss so much in entirely self-guided learning.

Companies look for a variety of skills, and the areas with the most demand in web development are .NET (more so in the corporate side of things) and PHP (more so in the independent side of things). You would do well to familiarize yourself with CSS, XHTML, Javascript, and several development languages. A cursory glance in Ruby and Perl will at least get you a foothold on a job where you might be the one in-house web developer that's called on to address a wide variety of tasks.

I'm in your same position, except about five years down the line. I had been programming since I was 12 and wanted web development to be my full-time, lifelong career. College classes helped me develop into a better programmer, but so too did the college community. From my first week in school, I started contacting community groups and businesses and starting high-profile community-based web development projects. Does your city's nightclub need an interactive online calendar? Does the art scene need an artist/musician directory? Maybe some annual community event doesn't have a website yet and you can whip up something interactive and useful. These are all amazing sources of experience, portfolio-building, networking, and fun. And I'd bet that any potential employers would rather see a list of practical-application community projects like that than only classroom projects. If nothing else, it helps communicate that you're driven and can work independently, which will immediately make you stand out from a majority of other candidates for a job.