June ABCs of Web Design Newsletter

Your Moderator Theresa Wilkinson

(theresaw@columbus.rr.com)

In this month’s newsletter –

*Introductory comments

*Question of the month

*Wrap up

Introductory comments

***** Due to a severe illness in my family -- I am late getting my newsletters out. I am hoping to have several out in the next week or so.

I am currently working on my next column for the STC Intercom – I have decided to do an article on interaction design. I have heard of this topic but did not really know anyone who did this until I bumped into a friend of mine at the company where I am currently contracting. Oh, and did I mention I was asked to do this on my current project? So I am kicking into high gear trying to find out more about this field and what I need to do to contribute in my current project. On to the question of the month…

Question of the month

Question comes from Andrew White (I can always count on Andrew to ask me lots of questions inspiring articles and newsletters): “What’s the best thing I can do to get “professional experience” under my belt?”

Answer: Great question. Now my answer will depend on where you are in your career. A lot of people email me who are currently in college and looking to enter the job market in a few months (not exactly Bill in January’s newsletter, but pretty close) and ask this same question. If you are currently in college, I would suggest you try to get an internship with a local company. Depending on your field, you could probably get something close to what you want to do when you graduate. A guy who sits in the cube next to mine is a sophomore at Ohio State and he is doing a lot of bug testing and fixes on current applications in development. Not only will this give him some “real world” experience that would look great on a resume, but it can also help him get a foot in the door for a full-time position or establish contacts and mentors to help him in his job search. Don’t forget to get those letters of reference too!

Now, I know that Andrew wants to get into graphic design and is currently working. So I would advise someone who wants to switch careers to join professional groups and volunteer their services. Currently with DigitalEve Columbus, we are redesigning our web site and could really use some people to help out with database and Flash work. We have a lead graphic designer who is working on our concepts and we thinking of using students/volunteers for the remaining tasks. This would give the students/volunteers some really good experience that they can add to their resumes and some great references. Another plus about professional groups is that this is where a lot of job recruiters go to find people – I get lots of job postings and have a list of all the recruiters I have cultivated relationships with, which is why so many people send me their resumes! Don’t forget about networking and mentoring to get into new professions too.

For more information on switching careers, see Diving into the Wonderful World of Web.

For more information on networking and finding a new job, see Dealing with Job Loss.

Wrap up

I am getting a feng shui update on my house and my consultant told me that it is going to be a bad year for computers – I can tell because my home computer has been down more than it is been working. Hence, I am behind on everything. So, yes I am still working on my SEO e-book (for those who have emailed about it). My consultant told me to place amethyst around my computer – I think I need boulders and not just a few stones. With some luck and some good feng shui vibes, I will be up and running soon (and not going down for quite a while). Thanks for reading my newsletter.

Please send all questions to theresaw@columbus.rr.com.

To see the articles from my print web column, go to http://www.w-edge.com/articles.htm

Feel free to forward this email in its entirety to anyone you feel might be interested in it.