Life of a Website Developer
A career in website development is one that many people find to be extremely rewarding. This is because you’re responsible for making websites function at a basic level. Many of the challenges you have as a developer can be quite tricky and unique, and they can really force you to think on your feet and come up with creative solutions. You need to know programming languages in many situations, depending on what you plan to specialize in and what sort of work you want to do as a certified developer. It’s not completely necessary to know languages already when you start training though. The important thing is just to be knowledgeable in computers in general.
Working as a Freelancer
One option for working in web development is to do it freelance. In fact, you can do a lot of the work online using various websites suited for the purpose. For example, websites like Guru or oDesk and so on will help freelancer find a job. A lot of this task is from home. With a site like oDesk, for example, you start off with verification. You have to give them a wide number of document sin order to prove to them that you are who you say you are including your birth certificate, social security number and other potential documents. Then, you will often take tests to prove your acumen as a web programmer. You will do this through various multiple choice and other types of test. You’ll fill out a resume and a portfolio and other documents online to show potential employers what you are capable of doing. You can also link to previous work to show that off as well. Each of these sites is different and each of them will help you get freelance work in a different way.
Working in Big Companies
If you do work with a big company, web development tends to function differently. A lot of times employers will just come over to your cubicle or office and tell you what they want. You may even meet with clients in person in order to get a sense for how they want their site to function. In some cases you may be handed materials that have suggestions for architecture and for how to make everything look.
Salary, Pros&Cons
This is one of the biggest choices you’ll have to make as a registered website developer working professionally, namely, whether to work freelance or be an employee. Technically you can be an official employee remotely if you so choose, but generally the remote work will be all on the side of those doing freelance services. Salaries as an employee will likely be higher than freelance money in the long run (reference: ComputerCareers.org) but it really depends on just how many projects you get. Certain projects can be very high paying, and if you find enough of them to string together, you could make a lot this way as well. Employees have the advantage of often getting health benefits, though the working conditions may be less than ideal, especially when compared to working out of your home.