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How to go about getting a job??

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 3:48 pm
by Charles256
How on earth do you go about getting a job programming for a website? Are there certian types of business you approach? How many years experience do you need as a minimum? Is it actually possible to find work over the net as an individual? I've been wondering this for ages. Been programming two years, at least one of those under the tutalage (ack, spelling!) of a French programmer that had been programming for thirty years. So I must wonder, is it just a lucky break you land that job working for a web company? Or is it all about the paper (degree)? I am working on a degree in Math and CS but.. seems so far away and I'm dying to get working in a group. Thanks for all input in advance.

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:24 pm
by feyd
Posting in the correct place helps... ;) seriously though..

My jobs mostly come word of mouth. I don't advertise, I rarely put up more than a blank web page on my homepage.. my portfolio isn't sent out to anyone at a whim.. so I have no idea how I get clients! :lol:

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:27 pm
by Charles256
come on..you must do something.:-D when you started out something had to have been done at some time.

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:57 pm
by feyd
nope.. my first ever job was a family friend..

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 5:08 pm
by onion2k
I started writing websites at University (all the way back in 1996 .. tested my first website in Mosaic!). Part of my degree course was an industrial placement year at a company .. I managed to get into a web design company (worked on the very first UK local council website ever!) .. then I did some freelance web development in my final year of Uni .. and after that it's been easy as I have a good amount of experience and enough knowledge to be dangerous. I graduated 5 years ago .. I've been permanently employed all that time, and now I'm in a job I love (and getting paid pretty well for the priviledge).

So.. basically.. learn to write websites well and then start out looking for a junior position somewhere. If you're any good you'll go far.

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 5:08 pm
by John Cartwright
feyd wrote:nope.. my first ever job was a family friend..
Same here.. as a matter of fact I wen't through about 8-9 more family friends or friends of friends before I taking PHP seriously.
I am in the same boat as feyd.. although I don't even have a homepage :P

I generally have continuous relationships with my clients and/or outsource my services to some companies I know when they are a man short.
The best thing you can do to start yourself off is take a couple small projects.. get the feel for deadlines and writting quality code, really being able to dedicate yourself. Build yourself a reputation and references. Sooner or later you'll be turning jobs around because 100$ USD/h is not good worth your time.
8)

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 5:11 pm
by Charles256
is graphic design that big of a deal? because I can write the code and I can write some HTML and CSS but I lack artistic vision and if it's more complex than some boxes I also lack artistic skill. :-D[/b]

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 5:15 pm
by John Cartwright
I take it as a slight bonus. I have had horrible relationships with some companies I've worked with in the past. The artist would be assigned to make layout and convert them into the appropriate template file. Half the time I end up making my own layout because they did not consider some things I had told them to do. You can either call this a curse because I get more work (but more money).. or you can call it a plus because I get more money (but more work)