SetH
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Registered: 15th Jul 01
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Ok, I have been working in desktop/network support for about 7 years now. Bit of a jack of all trades support engineer to be honest, i have a couple of MCP`s and have done various learning tree courses in TCP/IP, AD, Exchange etc.
I am currently working as a contractor and getting reasonable rates although its a lot of monkey support jobs which I want to get away from.
Now my natural flair has always been in graphic design and using visual design tools for web such as dreamweaver, fireworks, flash and PS.
I really enjoy using these apps and can use them reasonably well, however i am very much a visual designer rather then a code monkey, my coding skills suck.
Now its been suggested to me by fellow contractors that i learn some web 2.0 skills, ie stuff like AJAX an CSS2?
I am trying to put a plan together to move more towards working on contracts using web skills within the next 18 months.
Any suggestions on what to learn, how to go about it etc?
Please only suggestions from people with knowledge and or experience of the industry, no keyboard warriors, thanks.
[Edited on 21-11-2007 by SetH]
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Aaron
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Registered: 9th Aug 04
Location: Cottingham, East Riding
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I think I know what you mean Stehington. I've worked in IT for 6 years and progressed up to being the IT Manager. The job is good and pays well but it can get a bit boring when nothing much is happening and every thing is working as it should.
I’ve been looking into doing some web stuff because I can be quite creative. Recently there have been many developer jobs pop up in my area.
My first suggestion would be to put some sort of portfolio together highlighting your best work in different areas i.e. web sites, business logos etc and maybe fire them off to a few companies.
[Edited on 21-11-2007 by Aj.]
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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If your coding skills suck then I would probabaly avoid AJAX.
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Steve
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Registered: 30th Mar 02
Location: Worcestershire Drives: Defender
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learn asp.net and php
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SetH
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Registered: 15th Jul 01
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quote:
Originally posted by James
If your coding skills suck then I would probabaly avoid AJAX.
Ok they suck more from a point of view that i have never really tried it, not that ive given it a go and im shit 
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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If you want to give coding a go and you interested in the web side of things then I would definetely recommend learning ASP.Net and C#
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Steve
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Registered: 30th Mar 02
Location: Worcestershire Drives: Defender
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QBASIC would be useful too
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Steve
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Registered: 30th Mar 02
Location: Worcestershire Drives: Defender
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GORILLAZ FTW
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AdZ9
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Registered: 14th Apr 06
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What Steve and James have said is good advice
I'm a graphic designer and do occasionally do websites, although i have no interest in the coding side of the sites and how they work, i do the design and thats it. If its a freelance job i do the design and if the client wants it made and hosted etc then i send it to a mate who does the coding and then he gets a cut of the pay for the site.
I lost interest in the coding/making site of the websites when i saw that every tom dick and harry was doing it, and i saw people get paid alot of money and make a monkey ass website which made me angry so i decided to just stick to the design side.
One day i may learn ASP and PHP so i can do standard stuff but its not on my list of priorities!
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AdZ9
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Registered: 14th Apr 06
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quote:
Originally posted by Steve
GORILLAZ FTW
On the subject of Gorillaz (the band) the guy who does their drawing/animations/videos went to my college and did same as I did was taught by the same guy, he did the drawings as a one off and then they stuck with it, now hes loaded because of it, just one drawing its mad 
May not seem a big deal but i went to a small art college to do my qualifications, so quite its good to see someone from there making it big  now if only that was me i'd be happier
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Steve
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Registered: 30th Mar 02
Location: Worcestershire Drives: Defender
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im reffering to this
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AdZ9
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Registered: 14th Apr 06
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Thought so :-(
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SetH
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Registered: 15th Jul 01
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Adz9 was just looking at norwich school of art and design. They do a degree in gaming artwork lol.
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AdZ9
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Registered: 14th Apr 06
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Haha now that would be ace i imagine, a guy who was in my class in the first year was amazing with 3DS Max and Maya and he got a job working with Sony, now he makes characters for games and does animation etc so jealous, looks like os much fun although alot of work and long hours he said!
I need to get out of my current place as its all corporate stuff so dont have to be to creative, been here 18months and i plan to go travellin for a bit next summer so i'll quit then with 2 yrs experience and then I can get a new job somewhere better when i get back i think!
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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SetH get yourself a copy of Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005. Even if you decide not to bother with ASP>Net or C#, it's an awesome text editor.
You can install AJAX extensions for it to allow you to create AJAX stuff really easily.
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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P.s. It's free too.
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Andrew
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Registered: 5th May 04
Location: Skoda Octavia Estate, Ford Puma
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If you get the right role then you are onto a winner SetH. My mate an I have both just finished uni, he's gone into software development and i've gone into networking. Both training and both on the same money. We ended up in our roles because we got offered to job and was applying for literally anything computer related. Both having to travel 80 miles a day too.
You need to think about when you first started off with your current role and if you are prepared to take a cut in pay and do training. Yeah it's more interesting at first but you do feel like a right prick sometimes 
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Laney
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Registered: 6th May 03
Location: Leeds
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What sort of contracts would you likely to be getting? Are you just planning on being a jack-of-all-trades or specialising?
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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In my opinion, learning how to use the latest web technologies, makes your life easier. Even if your just making a basic site.
Things can be so dynamic now that if once you've created the site, the owner wanted the nav bar yellow instead of green, done. If he wanted an extra button on the nav bar, done. Login / User Auth done... Admin CMS? done.
Even if I was making a basic site for someone now, I'd make it using something like asp.net, so that A ) I can easily allow them to update their own site without needing any coding skills and B ) anything can be changed across the whole site with ease.
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Steve
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Registered: 30th Mar 02
Location: Worcestershire Drives: Defender
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can do all that in php too, but yes id suggest learning both technologies
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Brett
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Registered: 16th Dec 02
Location: Manchester
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Gorrillas and Nibbles were the shit!
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drax
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Registered: 5th Feb 05
Location: Sittingbourne, Kent
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Id start at throwing away dreamweaver and sitting down with editplus or notepad, and learning html and css like its a second language tbh 
[Edited on 21-11-2007 by drax]
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drax
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Registered: 5th Feb 05
Location: Sittingbourne, Kent
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By the way, "Web 2.0" is a fad, a buzz word, something which describes a certain trend on the internet which is currently being used stupidly, and far too much.
Seriously, just sit down with photoshop, edit plus, and start reading some tutorials for basic html stuff, then move onto the W3C valid markup to keep it all symatic, Learn the box model, divs & css.
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