articles

Diving into the Wonderful World of Web

Reprinted with permission from the STC Intercom magazine - June 2001 Volume 48, Issue 6.

One of the most gratifying aspects of writing this column is receiving e-mail from readers. Lately, many people have been asking for advice on creating resumes and obtaining Web experience. People at the professional meetings I attend also ask for advice and ideas. I've passed these questions on to my friends, and together we've come up with some suggestions for getting Web experience and writing resumes.

Volunteering and Earning Degrees

When asked for my opinion on how to break into the Web world, I usually tell people to volunteer. I was very lucky when beginning my Web career in the early days of the Internet--my Web sites received a lot of good exposure. But when I jumped into self-employment a few years ago, I had to start all over again: I needed to show potential clients what I could do, not what my Web team could do. So I found a poorly designed Web site and offered to redesign it for free (the Oklahoma Indian Times Web site at www.okit.com). OKIT jumped at the offer (to read more about this, see The Need for Web Site Navigation in the June 1999 issue of Intercom). A lot of my friends thought I was crazy doing all that work for free. But I needed to build a Web site from scratch so I could give prospective clients an example of my work. Nothing is more convincing than before and after pictures.

If you want to gain Web experience, try volunteering to redesign sites for colleges, nonprofit groups, or local professional groups. Do anything you can to get URLs on your resume. The services you offer will depend on your specialty: You could write all the content, design the graphics, build a database, or, like me, completely redesign the site, code the site in HTML, and do any needed scripting. I did only one site for free, but it was a very large site. You may want to do several to start getting experience.

Just because a group already has a site doesn't mean that you can't help out with keyword generation, search engine registration, site promotions, and maintenance. Don't forget to ask the group for a letter of reference detailing all of your contributions that you can show to a potential employer.

Jamie Gerhlich, current leader of the Columbus chapter of Webgrrls, suggests that anyone interested in working on Web sites should decide whether they will be specialists or generalists (for further discussion, see What Is a Web Designer? in the December 2000 issue of Intercom). In general, larger companies want specialists and smaller companies prefer generalists. If you decide to be a specialist, narrow your specialty to one of these areas: technical development (programming), graphic design, project management, information architecture, or account management. Then find a mentor already working in your chosen field and learn how he or she got started.

Whether you decide to be a specialist or a generalist, Jamie strongly recommends that you earn a degree. Even if the degree isn't directly related to the field you end up pursuing, it will give you credibility. Prospective employers will be more confident in your ability to learn and more inclined to train you for jobs for which you don't yet have the skills. While in school, get an internship or volunteer your services. Build something that can be displayed on the Web, then use it to promote yourself.

Jamie also suggests joining local professional organizations such as the Association for Internet Professionals, the Macromedia Users Group, Webgrrls, Women in Technology, the Columbus Society of Communicating Arts, and Digital-Cocktail. Attend the events and don't be afraid to introduce yourself.

Above all, Jamie says, don't underestimate yourself. When interviewing for a job, never say that you can't do something. Instead, say, "I don't have experience with that, but I have related experience with this and this, and I'm willing to take a stab at it."

Contracting/Freelance Work

I have always done a lot of contracting work, either with a consulting company or through my own Web design business. It's a great way to gain experience and learn new things; of course, the money is pretty good too. A while ago, I built several Web sites for CaBella Creations and became friends with the owner, Caryn Badgely. When the contract graphic artist I normally worked with decided that he did not have enough time to continue creating graphics for me, I asked Caryn if she would be interested in doing some contract work. She had designed and created all the graphics for her site and I was very impressed with her work.

Caryn's experience provides a good model for anyone interested in designing Web sites. Caryn minored in graphic design at the Columbus College of Art and Design, taking classes in QuarkXPress, Photoshop, Illustrator, and PageMaker. After I asked her if she would be interested in freelancing with me, she spent time with some graphic artist friends learning tips and shortcuts for Photoshop. She also read articles and researched what was going on in the graphics industry, both in print and on the Web. When she started designing, she focused on print media and worked some of the same principles into Web designs.

Freelancing with me gave Caryn valuable experience and URLs to add to her resume. She used this experience to jump into full-time employment as a Web graphic artist.

To get freelance or contract work, network with everyone you can think of. At professional meetings, I talk with as many people as I can to tell them what I do and how I can help them. Of the several Web sites that target independent professionals, I recommend www.guru.com as as a starting point. It has a national presence and advertises a lot of contract work in a variety of disciplines, and I find its articles extremely useful. Some helpful sites, such as www.sologig.com, require membership payments, so I would recommend starting with the free sites first. PeopleMarket.com (http://www.peoplemarket.com) focuses on the Columbus, Ohio area, and currently there are not a lot of contract jobs on the site. However, I have talked with Marc Mattingly, Director of Business Development for PeopleMarket.com, and he promises that more contract jobs will appear soon.

Consulting Experience

Another way to get job experience is through a consulting firm. Vince De Francisco, an executive search consultant with O'Brien and Roof Executive Search, advises people interested in Web work to gain experience with as much technology in as many environments as possible. If you're going to change jobs, do so in order to learn more, instead of simply to get better pay. "Consulting for one to two years gains you three to four years of experience," De Francisco says.

I think this is great advice. I loved working for a consulting company: The work varied, I was never bored, and I really appreciated working from home.

Resume Advice

No advice on how to get a job would be complete without suggestions for improving your resume. Every time I start a new job hunt, I revamp my resume according to the following suggestions of Kimm Nordman, Vice President of Executively Speaking, Ltd. a communications training and coaching organization located in Columbus, Ohio:

1. List the skills you have that are transferable to any position. For example, I added a qualifications list to my resume, in which I highlighted my project management experience, management experience, information architecture experience, and writing skills.
2. List the types of software/hardware/programming experience you have. I moved my list of computer skills to the beginning of my resume and updated the list of software programs I've learned.
3. Create a functional resume. Emphasize your various duties by categorizing information according to the functions you've performed, not the positions you've held. A functional resume is especially helpful if you’ve handled many more tasks than your job titles would suggest. For example, secretaries could use functional resumes to draw attention to the assortment of administrative and supervisory duties they regularly perform.
4. If you don't have a lot of formal job experience, list any volunteer work you have done for a nonprofit group or professional organization. Usually, if you show that you were doing work (or supervising a group for a nonprofit), an interviewer will realize you're dedicated and can work under less than ideal conditions.
5. Describe how your experience relates to the requirements of the position you seek.
6. Develop different resumes tailored to specific kinds of jobs. For example, if I want to apply for an information architecture job, I should tailor my resume to emphasize my experience in that field. If I want a management position, I should tailor my resume to highlight my management experience. I also suggest categorizing your experience. For example, on my resume, I list my freelance work under the heading "Consulting Projects" and my full-time employment under "Professional Experience."

I am very fortunate to love what I do. The Web is extremely challenging and always changing--that is what I love about it! I hope these tips help you dive into the Web world or find your dream job.

Related articles

• Dealing with Job Loss

Return to top.