Re: What do I have to do???

>Karen (and list),


I have been a web developer in Atlanta for about a year now.  I left 
college (not highly recommended) to pursue my career after working with 
HTML off and on for about two years.

Once I decided to pursue a career in this field, I developed a career 
path.  I found a job at the university designing a web site for one of the 
departments.  I also started my own web design company.  These two things 
helped me to establish an on-line portfolio, something that is imperative 
in this field.

Since I didn't have a lot of experience, I used my lengthy background in 
computers as my foundation and pushed my ability to learn and adapt to new 
technologies.  I also became familiar with all the popular web development 
programs and listed those on my resume.  Finally, I gave links to a few 
sites I had created on my resume too.

In your case, I think you are doing everything right.  I took more of a 
"dive-in" type of approach and it is not the best way.  Your training will 
put you ahead of a lot of the competition in this field, you just need to 
gain experience in practical application.  Start your own company and 
develop a web site for it.  Better yet, start a web site dedicated to Java 
or HTML technologies and become an "expert" in your field.  Highlight these 
experiences as well as your training in your resume.

Additionally, a well-constructed resume is very important.  I recommend 
using a functional resume rather than a chronological one.  I used to teach 
resume writing skills and I would be happy to offer you (or anyone else) 
help with it.

Take heart, you will get a job!  And as another list member mentioned, once 
you're inside, you'll realize the huge potential you have for growth in 
this field.  Web development (especially e-commerce) is very, very hot 
right now.

Hope this helps!

Danny Griffin

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