Internet and Web Training FAQ

What sort of Internet/web jobs are available and is there training?

Internet/Web jobs can roughly be broken down into several categories:

Web Design is concerned with how web pages and web sites look and how they work from the user’s point of view. There is a lot of cross over with fields like Graphic Design and Information Architecture and many of the same programs are used (like Adobe Photoshop for processing images or MS-Visio for creating flow-charts). Training is available in specific applications and also programs are offered covering more general topics in web design. Web design often starts crossing into Web Development when you start working with more advanced, interactive technologies such as Macromedia’s Flash, JavaScript, and DHTML (Dynamic HTML).

Web Development is concerned with actually building the web pages and/or systems to generate them. Web Developers write scripts to make content more interactive (both "client site" using languages like JavaScript and "server side" using languages like ASP/VBScript, PHP, and Perl). Web Developers often design and build databases to support more dynamic features such as online shopping, web site personalization, and information collection. Web developers often need to work directly with the web server, so developers often benefit from at least a basic understanding of networking and system administration. Many classes and certifications are offered to prepare developers for the many challenges of web development.

Systems Administrators and DBAs are also needed to set up and keep running the servers that run web sites and the databases that power their backends. Classes are offered to teach sys admins and DBAs the specific knowledge needed to do their jobs in an internet/web environment.

Producers/Project Managers oversee the development of the site, they manage the projects, and often act as the interface between the web team and the rest of the company. They might create copy or collect it from other places in the company and edit it for the web site. They often understand how to use HTML so they can make changes to the site themselves. HTML training or training in the software applications used to build and maintain the site are popular choices for people doing/seeking these sorts of jobs.

The larger and more complex a web site gets, the more people are needed to build and maintain it and the more specialized their jobs become. A complex project might have a "visual" designer and an information designer; a front end programmer, database programmer/designer, and a backend programmer; a web server admin and a database server admin. Of course, as the site gets even more complex these jobs might be filled by teams rather then a single person.

What certifications are available in the Internet/Web area?

CIW (Certified Internet Webmaster) is one of the most popular certifications in this area. CIW is offered at several different levels with different specialties (see our CIW FAQ for more information).

Additionally, many people pursue certifications in the technologies used to build and maintain website. Examples include the Microsoft certifications (MCSE for sys admins, MCSD for developers, MCDBA for database admins, and MCP), Cisco Certifications (CCNA and CNNP are two popular ones), CompTIA’s iNet+, Oracle’s OCP program, Sun’s Java and Solaris, IBM, Lotis, Linux, Macromedia, and Adobe.