Career ChangeI'm looking to switch careers from, records supervisor at a law firm to web design. For me, being in records has run it's course. I've been in this field for 13 years now and I'm in my early 30's. I was wondering if someone could assist me or, point me in the direction for some information regarding web design, good or bad? Is web design a very competitive field? Are there any, "entry level" positions out there that offer, "on-the-job training? I was thinking about attending, Clark University Computer Career Institute, a trade school for web design. Has anyone had any experiences with this school or, know someone who has? Thanks in advance for your assistance.
I have never had any experience with or know anybody who has had experience with the school you have mentioned. My nephew, however, is going to college for a degree in CAD/Web design/Computer Graphics. All of these studies are essentially interchangeable in nature. I read the course book. The pre-requisites for them are the same, but you need different courses for each specialty. Anyway, he is being required to take both an English Comprehension course and an algebra course. (both of which he hates). Basic Web Design is a pre-requisite for Computer Graphics and Computer Graphics is a course within the Web Design degree program. What his main problem is, for right now, is what he wants to apply that potential degree to. After two years of basic this and basic that, he needs to figure out if he wants to apply the degree to Architecture, Marketing or whatever else they have listed in that book. We have looked for entry level jobs in Computer Graphics and have determined that even the most entry level-est trainee job requires at least one year of completed related education. Keep your records supervisor job for right now and take a some courses to determine if you are really going to like this field long term. Once you find out more about what it entails, you may not want to pursue it. Howdy, I am in IT and do web design on the side for fun (I think for fun). Where I use to work our web designers had degrees in computer science mostly. You will need to have a great portfolio. Are you in Boston? What about the Mass College of Art? If you have your degree, strongly consider graduate school. Stay away from these career institutes. You are wasting your time and money. A certificate, say at Northeastern would be so much better and will look a lot better on your resume. Here's what you need to do. Get a book on Flash, HTML coding, and Dreamweaver. You absolutely must get a copy of Dreamweaver, do so. You also will need a copy of Adobe CS2 Suite (specifically Photoshop). This software is EXPENSIVE but absolutely necessary! You are easily looking at over $ 1,000.00 in software. Also, you will need a good digital camera. Start playing around writing web pages to see if you like it. Look at Geocities.com as a hosting site. You can get space for about $ 10.00 a month plus registering a domain. Eventually you will need to know how to use some scripting tools like Perl (I LOVE PERL!!). Web designing can be a lot of fun, but to make this a career you absolutely must have a good portfolio and an education to support you. How to you get the portfolio? You write web pages for free. If you are any good, eventually you will get paid to write them. Bill
Thanks for the response and your advise Kelly.
Wow! Thanks Bill. I really appreciate your thoughts and experience in this field. To answer your questions: Yes, I do live in Boston. I thought about Mass College of Art but I did not think I had to take the courses you mentioned in order to move forward. I thought attending a trade school would at least give me what I needed to step out into this field. I appreciate your honesty regarding the trade schools. I think I will take your advise on that one. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish my schooling at Northeastern but, now that I have this info I will look into their programs. Thanks again for all of your advise. I will get the materials you suggested and continue my research into this field. Question: Is there a field in IT that offers a good to great career opportunity? Thanks, Howard
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