Need some professional career advice

[EmperorRob]

After 8 years working in a data warehouse company writing C++ and Perl on all *nix Operating Systems I would like to make the transition into web development. I have some experience installing, configuring, and writing in Apache, Perl, and PHP. I interviewed twice for a good job over the last 3 weeks and was turned down. They liked me but I guess they went with someone who had more experience.

I realize this is the wrong time to be looking for a job but as I was laid off near the beginning of March time is not on my side. What can I do in the future to be more attractive to employers looking for web developers? Should I pursue further education (I have a BS in MIS) or is there something else I could do to get a start in this industry?

 

[imported_Imp]

Could get some additional college/night courses. Other than that, web development sounds like a volunteer-able job. Help out some charities, get some experience.

 

[Modelworks]

Examples.
Having work that can show what you are capable of doing will get you hired quicker than someone who only has a degree to show.

Compare it to a carpenter who can show you a house he just built to someone that can tell you how to build a house. You know what the first one is capable of, the second you only know what he might be capable of.

 

[Descartes]

Web development means a lot of things. Someone throwing down LAMP stuff isn't the same as someone who works on the graphics, Flash, etc. Which one are you?

I'm assuming you'd rather sling code than HTML, so in that case the quickest path to employability is almost certainly along the Java or C# path. You can keep an infrastructure emphasis and still work on what amounts to a web application. Increasingly, the visual aspects of web development are losing emphasis over the underlying technologies, even when considering AJAX.

That's my take.

 

[EmperorRob]

In a perfect world I'd go back and get a Master's in graphic design once I got a good job. I am a code monkey but I'd like to work on the interfaces as well. But I'm definitely not at a professional level artistry-wise so I'd be more of the back-end coder for sure.

C# is my kryptonite because I have no experience in it. Almost none of my professional experience is in windows.

 

[xanis]

If you want to be a web developer, make sure you know the following:

- PHP
- MySQL
- JavaScript
- Ruby on Rails
- ASP/.NET

I know a little bit about web development and those languages... but there's NO way that I could ever do it as a job. Wayyyyyy to complicated. Props to you though.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: EmperorRob
In a perfect world I'd go back and get a Master's in graphic design once I got a good job. I am a code monkey but I'd like to work on the interfaces as well. But I'm definitely not at a professional level artistry-wise so I'd be more of the back-end coder for sure.

Then why are you thinking about design? You can do interface work, but being proficient in design is an entirely different skill set. A master's degree isn't going to teach you how to be creative. That seems like a risky specialization when you've already got experience on the implementation side.

C# is my kryptonite because I have no experience in it. Almost none of my professional experience is in windows.

That's why I was suggesting Java too. Both will allow you to leverage a lot more than Perl, PHP, etc. With Java, you have the potential of being a capable software developer; with LAMP, your skill set is artificially limited and thus so are your employment opportunities.

IMO.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Xanis
If you want to be a web developer, make sure you know the following:

- PHP
- MySQL
- JavaScript
- Ruby on Rails
- ASP/.NET

I know a little bit about web development and those languages... but there's NO way that I could ever do it as a job. Wayyyyyy to complicated. Props to you though.

Ruby is entirely unnecessary as is MySQL unless of course you're using it. ASP.NET implies very little, and the languages are C#, VB.NET, C++, etc. etc. Suggesting he needs to know all these things is losing focus.

The real options are:

Design
Basic HTML

Few of the better designs do the actual coding of their product. Interactive agencies produce the six-figure websites of major companies, and they have a design team and an implementation team. Almost no one tries to do both.

or

LAMP

very limited, imo, and you don't develop the important understanding of how to produce business software, so the entire side of enterprise software is lost. Developers that just on LAMP type tech are limited these days.

or

.NET
Java

both have competent platforms for accessing the latest web tech, including AJAX, SOA and everything related to web services, etc.

I'm excluding everything else since OP is talking about a web focus.

 

[EmperorRob]

In the area where I live 99% of the web development jobs are .NET. When you say Java, do you mean just Java or Javascript as well? Not being a Java guy I never saw what the limitations of .NET vs Java vs Javascript vs PHP are. I can learn and write anything and it sounds like creating an example website is the way to go. Now I need to choose the language.

 

[ivan2]

if you are going the .NET route try to pick up C#. I don't think anyone will go ahead with a Javascript/ASP on .NET, unless they are retrofitting an app or something. For web development, I would like to keep javascript strictly on the client side.

For Java, what is hot right now is EJB3, and for interfaces, look up JSF and Richfaces (library built to help JSF by adding AJAX), they are getting a lot of development focus right now.