Getting Ahead While Getting Your Degree

Landing a respectable job as a web designer has become increasingly difficult as more and more people enter the web design job market. Some people even assert that the web design market is over flooded with designers. Without differentiating yourself from people your age seeking similar jobs, you could easily find yourself in an uncomfortably long transition from college to career.

(Image credit motherjones.com)

How can you differentiate yourself?

With determination, sacrifice, and a little guidance, you can easily differentiate yourself from those competing for your prized web designer/developer position.

Educate yourself

School does not teach you all the essential skills you need to become a successful web designer. If you currently major in computer science and hope to obtain a web development position after graduation, know that almost all computer science degrees revolve around C++ and/or Java. Learning PHP, jQuery, .Net, or Coldfusion has to be done on your own time.

Luckily the design community makes the learning process extremely simple and relatively enjoyable.

Subscribe to blogs via RSS that relate to the position you’re pursuing. In addition to SoDevious, here are a couple of blogs by category to get you started:

• Web Design: Spoon Graphics, Vandelay Design
• Web Development: The Web Machine, CSS Tricks
• SEO: SEO Book, Michael Graywolf’s SEO Blog

You MUST read blogs like these in order to stay ahead of your competition. The web design industry is always changing; failure to educate yourself results in the industry leaving you behind.

Forums are another great educational resource. Personally, I prefer forums over blogs, but I recommend utilizing both. Forums have the added benefit of enabling you to interact with the community and get your specific questions answered. You get your mix of industry experts, novices, and average-joe’s, allowing you to see multiple perspectives. Here are a few forums by category I recommend.

• Web Design: Web Design Forums
• Web Development: Devshed Forums
• SEO: SEO Chat Forums

Your ability to self-teach will directly correlate with your success in the future. If you want to prove to your future employer that you can contribute more to the company than the next candidate, you better know what he’s talking about when he says “AJAX” or “CMS”. A majority of the skills required to land your web design dream job will not be taught in the classroom.

Build your resume

Your resume can be your best friend or your worst enemy. To some companies, the strength of your resume means more than your GPA. Your resume tells your potential employer what you did with your time while in school: Did you go above and beyond to build your resume? Or did you find frat parties and video games more important than your future career? How your potential employer answers that question determines if you get the job.

So you need to build your resume, but how? Here are 3 easy ways to build your resume as a teenage web designer.

1) Apply for internships

Internships remain the foundation of a strong resume for college students. They let employers know you have at least an idea of how the industry works in “the real world”. Call local web design companies and ask if they have any internships available. Treat this internships as a job, even if you don’t get paid. Paid internships are few and far between. You must treat the internship as an investment: Make less money (or no money) now so you can have a higher salary later. While working at Pizza Hut or Build-a-Bear puts some money in your pocket, it does not contribute to the skill set you plan on using the rest of your life.
Read more about Internships.

2) Donate a site/logo to a charity or church

Working for free does not appeal to anyone. However, donating a website or logo to a local organization not only adds an item to your resume, it gets people talking. Consider making a website for a church. Why a church? Church people talk. Make the site, and when it’s finished, ask the Pastor to announce the launch of the website at a service. People trust their pastors, so his credibility is passed on to you when he announces you made their website: textbook word-of-mouth marketing.

3) Guest post on blogs

Find highly credible blogs to guest post for. Using this search query brings up a multitude of web design blogs that allow guest writing. Contact the site owners and pitch your idea to them. If your article gets published, be sure to tack that on to your resume. This greatly adds to your credibility.

Keep your eye on the prize

Taking on such an extensive workload in addition to your classes may seem too stressful or unfair. I encourage you to push through and keep your eye on the prize: Your dream job. If you ever need any help, ideas, or encouragement, the crew here at SoDevious are here to give you a helping hand.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/143186839/