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.

The construction of the website only scratches the surface of the skill set required though – to drive traffic to the site, maintain its content, and work with dynamic database-driven sites, you will need additional programming skills, such as HTML, PHP and MySQL. It would also be a good idea to gain a good understanding of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and E-Commerce.

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!

Take time to understand how you feel about career development, earning potential, and whether you intend to be quite ambitious. It makes sense to understand what (if any) sacrifices you’ll need to make for a particular role, what particular accreditations they want you to have and where you’ll pick-up experience from. Prior to embarking on a particular training course, trainees are advised to talk through specific market needs with an experienced advisor, so as to be sure the training program covers all the bases.

Searching for your first position in IT can feel more straightforward if you’re supported with a Job Placement Assistance service. At the end of the day it’s not as hard as some people make out to find employment – as long as you’ve got the necessary skills and qualifications; the growing UK skills shortage sees to that.

Work on polishing up your CV right away however (advice can be sought on this via your provider). Don’t wait for when you’re ready to start work. Being considered a ‘maybe’ is better than being rejected. A surprising amount of junior support jobs are offered to people (who’ve only just left first base.) Generally, a local IT focused recruitment consultancy (who will get paid commission to place you) will perform better than any recruitment division from a training organisation. Also of course they should be familiar with local industry and the area better.

Just make sure you don’t invest a great deal of time on your training course, and then do nothing more and leave it in the hands of the gods to sort out your employment. Stop procrastinating and get out there. Invest as much time and energy into securing your new role as you did to gain the skills.

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.

It would be wonderful to believe that our careers will always be secure and our work futures are protected, but the growing reality for most jobs in the UK currently is that there is no security anymore. Of course, a quickly growing market-place, where staff are in constant demand (because of a big shortfall of commercially certified people), creates the conditions for proper job security.

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.

Commercial qualifications are now, without a doubt, taking over from the traditional routes into the industry – but why is this the case? With a growing demand for specific technological expertise, industry has of necessity moved to specific, honed-in training that can only be obtained from the actual vendors – in other words companies like Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA. This frequently provides reductions in both cost and time. Many degrees, as a example, can often get caught up in a great deal of background study – with a syllabus that’s far too wide. Students are then prevented from getting enough specific knowledge about the core essentials.

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.

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.

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