Becoming Who You Want To Be

Adobe Dreamweaver is the starting point of study for almost all web designers. It is thought to be the most used web-development environment in the world. For applications in the commercial world you’ll be expected to have an in-depth understanding of the complete Adobe Web Creative Suite. This includes (though it’s not limited to) Action Script and Flash. If you wish to become an ACP (Adobe Certified Professional) or an ACE (Adobe Certified Expert) then such knowledge is non-negotiable.

Having knowledge of how to construct a website is simply the first base. Driving traffic, maintaining content and knowledge of some programming essentials should come next. Consider training programmes with additional features that include these skills maybe PHP, HTML, and MySQL, in addition to E-Commerce and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) skills.

Don’t put too much store, as can often be the case, on the certification itself. Training is not an end in itself; you should be geared towards the actual job at the end of it. Stay focused on what it is you want to achieve. Students often train for a single year but end up doing the job for 20 years. Don’t make the error of choosing what sounds like a program of interest to you only to spend 20 years doing a job you don’t like!

Prioritise understanding the exact expectations industry will have. Which precise qualifications they’ll want you to gain and how you’ll go about getting some commercial experience. You should also spend a little time thinking about how far you think you’ll want to progress your career as it may affect your choice of qualifications. Chat with someone who has a background in the industry you’re considering, and could provide a detailed description of what to expect in that role. Researching these areas before beginning a learning programme will prevent a lot of wasted time and effort.

The sometimes daunting task of finding your first job can be made easier by training colleges, through a Job Placement Assistance facility. Often, this feature is bigged up too much, because it is actually not that hard for any motivated and trained individual to get a job in the IT environment – because companies everywhere are seeking trained staff.

CV and Interview advice and support may be available (alternatively, check out one of our sites for help). Make sure you bring your CV right up to date straight away – not after you’ve qualified! It’s not uncommon to find that junior support roles have been bagged by students who are in the process of training and haven’t even passed a single exam yet. This will at the very least get your CV into the ‘possible’ pile and not the ‘no’ pile. The top companies to help you find a job are generally specialist locally based employment services. As they’re keen to place you to receive their commission, they’re perhaps more focused on results.

A slight aggravation for a number of training providers is how much men and women are prepared to study to get top marks in their exams, but how ill-prepared they are to market themselves for the position they have qualified for. Don’t give up when the best is yet to come.

Ensure all your certifications are what employers want – don’t bother with courses which provide certificates that are worthless because they’re ‘in-house’. If the accreditation doesn’t feature a company like Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco or CompTIA, then chances are it could have been a waste of time and effort – as no-one will have heard of it.

When did you last consider your job security? Typically, this issue only becomes a talking point when we get some bad news. However, The cold truth is that true job security is a thing of the past, for most of us. When we come across increasing skills shortages coupled with increasing demand of course, we generally locate a fresh type of market-security; driven forward by the conditions of constant growth, organisations are struggling to hire enough staff.

The IT skills-gap across Great Britain falls in at just over twenty six percent, as reported by the 2006 e-Skills investigation. Showing that for every four jobs that are available throughout computing, we’ve only got three properly trained pro’s to perform that task. This fundamental reality reveals the urgent need for more properly trained computing professionals throughout the country. As the Information Technology market is developing at such a quick pace, there really isn’t any other area of industry worth taking into account for your new career.

What is the reason why traditional degrees are now falling behind more qualifications from the commercial sector? Key company training (as it’s known in the industry) is far more specialised and product-specific. Industry has acknowledged that such specialised knowledge is what’s needed to handle a technologically complex commercial environment. CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA are the key players in this arena. Of course, a certain amount of background detail has to be covered, but essential specifics in the required areas gives a commercially educated student a real head start.

Just as the old advertisement said: ‘It does what it says on the label’. All an employer has to do is know what they need doing, and then match up the appropriate exam numbers as a requirement. They’ll know then that all applicants can do what they need.

(C) Jason Kendall. Pop to LearningLolly.com for intelligent career advice on Dreamweaver Training Courses and Adobe Dreamweaver Course.