Chaning career to become a web developer. Need advice.

[Barryd]

Hello all,

I am a mid-30's career changer with a marketing degree and several years in the ad business. The job outlook, and apparent need, for web developers/designers far exceeds my current career.

I understand the basics of what I need to learn (HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver et. al), but my question is: what is the best way to gain the knowledge necessary to succeed?

1. Should I go to an ITT Tech/DeVry and work on obtaining a bachelor's in web development?
2. Should I self-study with the help of training courses through New Horizons, Lynda, VTC and the like?
3. Self-study with a focus on earning certifications?
4. Perhaps there is a completely different path I'm not even aware of.

Please note: I have the luxury right now to devote my full time to this endeavor. Cost is a bit of a factor, but not a dealbreaker.

Also, any recommendations on what skills I should learn first or even a path to follow would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help!
Barry

[Hunter1]

Originally Posted by Barryd

Hello all,

I am a mid-30's career changer with a marketing degree and several years in the ad business. The job outlook, and apparent need, for web developers/designers far exceeds my current career.

I understand the basics of what I need to learn (HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver et. al), but my question is: what is the best way to gain the knowledge necessary to succeed?

1. Should I go to an ITT Tech/DeVry and work on obtaining a bachelor's in web development?
2. Should I self-study with the help of training courses through New Horizons, Lynda, VTC and the like?
3. Self-study with a focus on earning certifications?
4. Perhaps there is a completely different path I'm not even aware of.

Please note: I have the luxury right now to devote my full time to this endeavor. Cost is a bit of a factor, but not a dealbreaker.

Also, any recommendations on what skills I should learn first or even a path to follow would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help!
Barry

I would love to put you on the right path if I can.

What is it in the Internet that you wish to do?

[webeweb]

I think you are making the right move because the Internet is never going to stop growing.

I have changed some of my plans because of the Internet possibilities.

[Barryd]

I guess my main goal is to be able to create and maintain websites without losing sight of the design aspect. I need to increase my current lowly knowledge of photoshop, illustrator and flash for sure.

[Hunter1]

Originally Posted by Barryd

I guess my main goal is to be able to create and maintain websites without losing sight of the design aspect. I need to increase my current lowly knowledge of photoshop, illustrator and flash for sure.

I know of several people here that are in to that same thing here at our forum.

I myself maintain and run a web hosting, website building, and SEO business and I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have going down your new road if I can.

There are 2 main ingrediants to building a website which one of them would defiantely be to master PhotoShop but in my opinion you should learn and understand the mechanics of how the website is coded and built.

There are many different software programs such as Dreamweaver and alike but my best advice is to STAY AWAY at first and learn the basics in HTML, XHTML, PHP, CSS, and Ajax to start with.

You can gain a great understanding by opening yourself up a web directory or something that has all of the main ingredients. That way you can see first hand how they work, and you can mess with them.

I could go on and on but this is a good start.

BTW, you are one of the main reasons that we started DevHunters!

Thanks!

[Barryd]

Thanks for the reply Hunter!
Due to the myriad resources available on the web and the subject matter itself, do you think I should pursue formal (ITT) education for this field or learn on my own?

[Hunter1]

Originally Posted by Barryd

Thanks for the reply Hunter!
Due to the myriad resources available on the web and the subject matter itself, do you think I should pursue formal (ITT) education for this field or learn on my own?

In the many years that I have been in business I have never been asked for a degree of any type.

If you plan on being an Independent, I would say that a quicker route to learning and getting to the point of making any kind of a living will be without starting out with going to school, provided that you pursue the right education that is available online, but if you plan on going to work for a company, then you may consider going to get a degree from a credible school first.

It has always been my opinion that Hands On is the quickest method of learning, and the School of hard knocks is still the best teacher!!

For the heck of it you should try a phpLD directory which you can purchase one of their paid version scripts (Link Back) that costs 25.00 but they do offer a free version as well but the coding is not anything compared to it. You can find them at PHP Link Directory

We have many of these directories and they can be profitable as well, but in your case, it would be fantastic to mess with. I am a big fan myself!

Keep asking, asking, asking, whatever! I love to see new people getting in to the net!

[bizwiz]

I believe you are making the right choice. I am also a newbie in this business but I think you really don't need any formal education to learn how to do this. My knowledge, although somewhat limited at the moment is all based on self study. But even with my limited knowledge, I am still proud of it because I have 0% knowledge on how the internet works prior to this.

[sunken]

Whether you should have formal training or not depends on how you learn. Some people can pick up stuff from a book, while others need a more structured instruction. The best thing to do is to think of how you learned in the past, whether it came from school or from life in general. That will hopefully indicate to you how you will do on your own.

I would ease into the career change unless you really have to, because starting from scratch, it will take you awhile to get up to speed with all the things you need. There won't be much money coming in at first, but it will get easier as time goes on.

Hope this advice helps...

[carrot]

Originally Posted by sunken

Whether you should have formal training or not depends on how you learn. Some people can pick up stuff from a book, while others need a more structured instruction. The best thing to do is to think of how you learned in the past, whether it came from school or from life in general. That will hopefully indicate to you how you will do on your own.

I would ease into the career change unless you really have to, because starting from scratch, it will take you awhile to get up to speed with all the things you need. There won't be much money coming in at first, but it will get easier as time goes on.

Hope this advice helps...

I couldn't have said it better myself just what I was thinking. Good Luck!

[puffin]

Well 7 years ago i was a account assistant in Switzerland based finance company. It was a good job but it was not my dream job. So I d changed it. became a web developer and now I work as a freelancer, full time online.

One of the important things you have to think about is are you gonna work for a firm or another company or you want to become freelancer and work your own.

The think about which field you like , web development, Web Design or e-marketeer each them are different.

Also think about how you would earn and what are the ways you would like/want to.

[CoolGuy]

Might be a smart idea to work for a company for a little bit. When you build up some experience and a portfolio then you should go freelance. There are plenty of opportunities.