Calling all Webmasters and Internet Professionals

2canSAM

Diamond Member
Jul 16, 2000
3,390
4
81
First off let me apologize, as this is somewhat lengthy. OK here is the situation. I am currently working as a network technician for a large company. Most of my work is setting up new machines for the users at various locations but all within the same environment. I have been with them for 1 year now and it seems that the learning stage is now capped. I have started thinking about looking for something new that will allow me to learn more about networking. I got on with this company shortly after getting A+ certified. My original plan was to continue my certification track and achieve MCSE within a year. I got too comfortable and that goal got pushed back very quickly. The money I make is real good considering my lack of experience and education/certifications but I need something more. I have also installed MS FrontPage and have always had a desire to learn more about making web sites. There are just a few barriers for me right now. School is not currently an option and I cannot take a pay cut so an apprenticeship type situation is out of the question. Now I am sure that there are quite a few of you here that make websites for a living so I'd like to ask you all a few questions.

1. Of course is about Salary. What can I look to make just starting out? 2 Years? And 5 Years down the road?

2. Are there many people who just make the sites for a living or are there other duties? If so what do these other duties consist of?

3. I would like to just be the creator of the site not really the one who comes up with the design. I truly have no creativity. A friend of mine told me that his wife used to work at a company where she actually met with the customer and got the information on the kind of site they were looking for. Then she would do the design layout. And then she would give it the Web designers to create the site. Is this common in most places or just a rare case?

4. What technologies and certifications do I need to stay current on and where are the future trends going. Are there any good books that will help me through the transition and help me decide if this is the route I'd like to go?

5. What are you schedules like? One of the hardest parts of leaving my current job will be the fact that I worked 3.5hrs last week and still got paid for 40.00hrs. How many of you get to work form home and how many must go the office each day?

6. Somewhat personal. What is most rewarding form your job with website's and what is the biggest disappointments?


I know this is a VERY long post but I am at a lost as to where to ask these questions. I figured who better than those who know. Also PM me if you'd rather not post your responses
 

tim0thy

Golden Member
Oct 23, 2000
1,936
0
0
it all depends on YOU.

(1) i've known one guy who went from low 20s to 80 in 9 months. yes, i'm serious. all depends on what you do. in teh IT field, there seems to be a cap at around 120k though. personal opinion.

(2) well, more knowledge is always better, but i can see management of the servers as well as webpage making. depends on the company. if they are small, you can be asked to do anything and everything.

(3) dunno

(4) again, up to you. certifications is nice as long as you can BACK THEM UP. very important on that. otherwise it's useless. get the certifications of things you want to pursue.

(5) i work at the office and on call the rest of the times. it doesn't infringe on my personal life too much.

(6) rewards from job is appreciation from your coworkers and bosses. disappointments is politics.

how old are you? that's the only question i have.
 

2canSAM

Diamond Member
Jul 16, 2000
3,390
4
81
Thanks for the reply. My age is 25. What exaclty do you do at work? Do you do webpages or more of a traditional IT management role? Thanks again
 

tim0thy

Golden Member
Oct 23, 2000
1,936
0
0
i do a little of everything. i'm a systems engineer. go from desktops, to servers, to network to whatever. i don't need to do that, but that's what i choose to do because i want to learn. and that person that went from low 20s to 80 is 29. so it is possible to successfully change career.
 

THELAIR

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,493
0
0
2cansam

Are you creative?


Getting a certifcation that says "I can put paint on a canvas" means jack sh!t to a arts teacher if you cant do somthing with that paint.

Getting your CiW (Certified internet webmaster) cert is pointless if you cant think up web design pages.

Web page design is leading heavily into ASP and related scripting languages (not just javascript)but things like PHP, CGI, ASP etc...

They also want big flashy introductions to their pages, that means Macromedia Flash. Anyone can tween two lines together and make somthing happen, but if you dont have the creativity, then web page design IMHO opinion is completly useless.

Also, every tom dick and harry seems to be able to do web pages these days... i dont know... it seems like in the past 2 years the amount of web page "Designers" has risen, but i cant say the same for the quality of them. Taking a pre existing template and modifying it just slightly doesnt give you the right to call yourself a true web designer.

The only relevant certifications that i know of for web page design are:

I-Net+
IIS4/5 & FrontPage 2000 from MS
CiW
and various vender specific certs from Adobe (photoshop6) and macromedia (flash, dreamweaver etc)

If you have a creative flair then go for it, you'll do well, if not, your just a dime dozen.
 

Deicide

Banned
Mar 5, 2000
376
0
0
I never really saw the point for graphics application certifications. If your applying for a job, then you probably already have a portfolio of sites that you can show them. Who cares if you know or don't know some obscure window option in photoshop, as long as you get a pleasing end result?