Skip to main content

Skills Gap & Job Analysis



Another step that I took which helped me visualise the steps I need to take in order to get a job in the field I have chosen was to look into current web design vacancies. Understanding what skills employers seek from candidates would help me analyse my understanding of how prepared I am at the moment to get a job in web design and what I need to do to increase the chances of getting employed.

For the purpose I spent some time researching web design job specifications and came across a wide range of skills that are primarily required for the job. Here is a list of the vacancies which the content below is based on:

Based on the aforementioned vacancies, I made a list of required job attributes that employers in the web design field are most likely to look for in job candidates. Here are some of the most frequently demanded skills for a web designer followed by my view of how competitive I am in them (with scores from 1 to 5) and my opinion on how I can improve in the certain field.
  1. Have good working knowledge and understanding of CSS & HTML5 for creating online content

    • Level of competence -  4 (previous experience in constructing web pages for university projects that gained satisfying marks and feedback ; regularly practicing and improving current HTML & CSS skills by following online tutorials and trends for presenting online content (Lynda.com ; w3schools.com ; musefree.com)
    • Ways to improve - mastering my existing knowledge on web building programming languages by learning more about jQuery and Javascript

  2. Have experience in using Adobe Photoshop or other design packages
    • Level of competence - 3 (confidently using Adobe Photoshop for various purposes (academical, casual, work-experience related) ; successfully building online content from scratch by working with Adobe Muse & Dreamweaver for my own portfolio website)
    • Ways to improve - getting more familiar with Adobe InDesign - a valuable tool for publishing online materials  (posters,brochures,magazines) and creating appropriate layout styles ; improving current Adobe Illustrator techniques in order to be able to create specific ornaments and decorations for web pages

  3. Possess interpersonal skills and  have the ability to work within a collaborative environment
    • Level of competence - 3 (forming groups for previous and ongoing university projects with people with similar interests and design approaches ; maintaining a peaceful and productive workflow while being part of a group project)
    • Ways to improve - being more open to different opinions concerning the creative direction of the project ; ensure that people who don't voice their opinions as much are also heard and feel satisfied with the direction of the project

  4. Present a portfolio of original work showcasing all elements of design experience required
    • Level of competence - 3 (setting the foundation of my own portfolio website by choosing the following elements - parallax image technique for the separate sections of the website, navigation and logo (fixed to the top of the page) & images and font for presenting the content)
    • Ways to improve - research hosting solutions in order for the website to be uploaded online and accessible to everyone ; add responsiveness to the content so that it is easily displayable on various devices (PCs,mobile phones, tablets) ; think about appropriate ways to layout the key portfolio section that showcases my previous work in a professional manner

  5. Excellent presentation skills and ability to explain and sell ideas to clients and colleagues
    • Level of competence - 3 (previous experience as an assistant to an educational fair representing University of Portsmouth abroad (2013) ; doing small presentations as part of my ongoing university studies discussing design approaches and creative decisions for projects as well as presenting a favourite piece of online content and analyzing its distinguishing features)
    • Ways to improve - check feature events from Purple Door that could improve my presentation skills and confidence while talking in front of an audience

  6. Reliable planning and time management abilities to help meet deadlines & working  in a dynamic environment
    • Level of competence - 4 (successfully spreading work for university projects based on different factors - submission date, type of project (group/individual), type of artefact (digital/physical) ; set starting and ending points to the different phases of creating an artefact & keeping to them time wise ; review & hand-in the finished artefacts on time )
    • Ways to improve - look more into project planning methodologies and appropriate ways to organise my work on projects (reminders, sticky notes, Gantt chart)

  7. Understanding of Content Management Systems (CMS) and web hosting 
    • Level of competence - 2.5 (awareness of Wordpress and Joomla from looking into website creating approaches in the past ; seeing online tutorials for setting up a Wordpress based website and researching Wordpress themes )
    • Ways to improve - attempt to create a test webpage using a CMS, research ways of customisation, applying custom fonts and widgets ; look up hosting platforms, pricing and appropriate tutorials

  8. Awareness of Search Engine Optimisation Principles and cross-browser compatibility issues
    • Level of competence - 2 (have some knowledge on SEO tools but not much actual experience with using them ; experience with cross-browser testing and finding ways to ensure that when designing a webpage it is appropriately tested on different browsers with different resolutions)
    • Ways to improve - research SEO guidelines and tools ; work more on testing approaches (look into appropriate testing plugins, use different devices)
Also, most of the web design vacancies require some sort of relevant work experience in this area. I will talk more about this in the next few posts that will concentrate on my continuing  work with a web design agency on Isle of Wight called Bate Brand.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Signature Printing: Next Steps

During my next few meetings at the Bate Brand office Elliott asked me if I can start working on the footer section of Signature Printing as at that point we pretty much had most of the content for the homepage. All images were in place, the layout was approved and the animation that I had implemented was working well. Where text content was needed, I put placeholder text which would later on be changed by Bate Brand’s copywriter – Laura. For the footer I attempted adding a contact form, subscribe button and a small text box that contains address details and contact number. Mark then joined in and showed me how to customize the fields in the contact form and how to display a response message. Up to that point I and the rest of the team were pleased with the homepage. Subsequently, we decided that it was time to think about the rest of the sections in the main menu. I looked into other printing and print consultancy related websites’ navigation ideas more extensively and came up w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Implemening a Squarespace CSS Timeline

I showed Elliott the outcome of my attempts to incorporate a timeline that runs smoothly on Squarespace. I also did a lot of testing for tablet and phone mode (one of Squarespace’s features) and see how the platform responds to the code. Some of the codes did not perform as expected due to CSS segments that Squarespace does not support. However, I ended up choosing a timeline that had a modern look and a few options for customization – changing the icons and the background. Elliott was impressed with my progress as I also added more transition effects. Original CSS Code Customized CSS Code within Squarespace After doing a bit more testing I discovered that the icons don't show in an appropriate manner on mobile devices or any devices with smaller resolutions. As a result I decided to remove the icons but bring more contrast to the timeline items which joined by the animation effects would really make the content stand out Final Timeline Result Implemented ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Work Experience Outcomes

The following post will concentrate on my experience with Bate Brand and how it affected my work ethic and existing interpersonal and professional skills. Teamwork When I was introduced to Squarespace, I often had to reach to Bate Brand’s Graphic Designer to show me how certain tasks such as modifying the layout of a page, incorporating custom CSS or changing the template can be done. An example of that was creating a blog page for the Signature Printing website. I had difficulties showing a summary of the categories of the blog and Elliott demonstrated how this can be done with inserting a new content block under the Summary section In another situation, putting text content on the website had to be synchronized with Bate Brand’s copywriter who notified me whenever any changes to the information on the website had to be applied (making text short, adding new sections that were missing before) CSS When working on specific elements of the Signature Printing ...
Post a Comment
Read more