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Working Abroad Job Vacancies Job Hunting Guide Voluntary Work Working Part-time and Temping Useful Job Hunting Resources Working in Somerset Wages and Employment Rights Website Designers in Somerset CLCI: CAV CRCI: D There are millions and millions of websites. All need to be designed, built and maintained. This is where website designers play a vital role. Some people design their own websites or merely build sites as a hobby. Others make a living doing it as their main job or as sideline. These people could be running their own business or working for someone else. To find out more look under the above CLCI/CRCI headings in your careers or Connexions library. THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WEBSITE DESIGNERS IN SOMERSET In Somerset you could be running your own web design business from your own home or from business premises. You could be working on your own or as part of a team effort. Or you could have a number of designers working for you. Alternatively you could be working for someone else’s web business. This might be a small firm employing a handful of people. Or it could be much bigger. The business could be located in a town, a village or in the country. You might work for a company or organisation that has its own website. Alongside other duties you might look after the website as part of your job. HOW DO I GET STARTED?   Get work experience when at school to see if it’s the career for you   Go to college/sixth-form full-time to do general qualifications (such as A levels) or a specific graphic design, multimedia or computing course   Start as a trainee – or apprentice – with a website business and go to college as part of your job USEFUL QUALIFICATIONS   Good GCSEs in subjects like maths, English, art/design and IT can be a useful starting point   A levels, Vocational A levels and BTECs can be a big help. Design, business and IT are particularly good subjects   Specific web design skills are important (including up-to-date knowledge of computer languages and the very latest software) More about qualifications, courses and training can be found in Moving On (published by Connexions Somerset) DO YOU KNOW? More and more universities are doing web design and multimedia courses. These often lead to good careers! WHAT IS THE PAY LIKE? Around £80 per week (maybe more) if starting as a new employed trainee or apprentice (but such openings are rare). Experienced people earn around £15,000 or more. Long-term earnings can be much higher (sometimes depending on how hard you’re prepared to work). FINDING A JOB   Connexions centres   Job centres   Through applying for work apprenticeships   School and college careers notice boards   Speculative letters/visits/emails   Newspaper and industry publications adverts   Adverts displayed at premises and on industry/company websites   Job offer after work experience   Word of mouth   A Guide to Job Hunting gives tips on CVs, interviews and job letters. To view click here OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS WORK   Not all jobs ask for specific qualifications. In some cases skills and experience will be more important than actual qualifications   Where qualifications are needed some businesses may ask for higher qualifications than others. As the industry develops it’s worth getting better qualified   If looking at college courses it’s often better to do a graphic/multimedia design course than a general computer course   Setting up your own business is a real possibility in this area of work   The web design world is always changing so it’s vital to keep up-to-date by learning new skills and keeping an eye on things   You can impress future employers by showing them websites you have built for yourself and friends   If you’re enterprising you can start making money by building sites for people when you are still at school or college WHO DOES THE WORK? Sheena (20) lives near Glastonbury and did graphic design at college. This sparked off her interest in websites and, together with a friend, she started designing sites for all sorts of people. Now they’ll teamed up to run their own business building sites for local businesses and organisations in the area Gary (19) did A levels at college and designed websites in his own time. This helped him get a job as a trainee designer with a web business near Bridgwater. A part of his job he’s doing a higher-level course once a week at college and is going on all sort of company courses to learn about the latest software. More Info: A-Z Careers Careers information dates rapidly. Every effort has been made to ensure information is accurate but please check details before making firm decisions. Make text larger Make text smaller Text Only Display Privacy Policy/Terms of Use