Ask Trish

O'Reilly School of Technology Guidance Counselor Trish Gray answers your questions about your I.T. Career goals and how OST courses can help you reach them.

About the Author
In addition to helping students and I.T. professionals for 15 years, Tricia Mills Gray has been the Senior Development Manager of OST since it's inception as UserActive in 1997. She was the 2002 SBA Midwest Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and authored the OST PHP/SQL Certificate Series. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois College of Engineering.

Today's Column

I Went To College -- But Not in I.T.

Dear Trish:

I work for a Fortune 500 corporation, and a couple of years ago, I offered my assistance in doing updates to the global website for our internal team. I learned a little bit of HTML and Dreamweaver, and then was given the task of doing the updates for the U.S. portion of the global website. Shortly thereafter, we learned that our website would be migrated, and we had to completely rebuild our website from scratch in 8 months, using MOSS - Sharepoint 2007. I quickly came up to speed in the new forum, and not only did I rebuild the internal U.S. website (155 web pages, 302 stored documents, and 4,469 links), but I also assisted with the global website, and helped to ensure that we were able to meet our go-live date.

I found that I enjoyed the web work immensely, and it brought new spark and life to my job, offering a lot of mental stimulation. From this experience, I decided that I wanted to try to transition over to the web design field down the road, and I've since enrolled in the O'Reilly Client-Side Programming certification course. I am very nervous about this decision, however, especially with the current economy the way that it is. I am 44 years old, and although I do have 4 years of college, I do not have any type of degree. Is there any advice that you can give me, as to the best route to go, in order to achieve this dream of mine? I am hoping that I will not have to complete a 4-year degree in order to make this transition, and would appreciate any advice you can give me on how to "get my feet wet" in web design.

Thanks so much for your advice!

Barbara from Colorado

Dear Barbara:

Thanks for contacting me. I always stress that in Information Technology, experience is king -- so although it is certainly ideal to have a degree in CS or some other field, with your background it seems to me you should not have to do so. The main thing is to not only learn as many aspects of web design as you can, but to build a robust portfolio around what you have learned so you can demonstrate this experience to potential employers. The fact that you completely rebuilt an international website in your job will be incredibly valuable in this regard, in addition to the portfolio that you create within your OST courses.

Once you are armed with the experience you stated, your OST education, and the portfolio you build, then it's all about self-marketing. Make sure that you tailor your resume to highlight the particular accomplishments and website URLs that directly apply to the career you want -- the stats you listed for the international website are a tremendous start. Then while you look into jobs that are interesting to you, try building other websites that you think are along the lines of what the job descriptions specify. For instance, if you have a friend starting a business or organization, offer to create a website for her, and then list that website in your "Relevant Experience" section of your resume. If the jobs that interest you require skills in various tools, try using each tool to create a website and mention these tools when listing that site's URL in your resume. You may not be paid for your time during this period, but consider it an internship of sorts.

You'll also want to list your 4 years of college in your Education section, even if it's completely irrelevant to web design -- while I.T. employers care much more about experience, showing that you completed 4 years of college will indicate a level of maturity and commitment irrespective of the major. In fact, sometimes having a different major such as "communications" or "marketing" will catch the employer's eye even more than computer science, because he/she may be looking for someone with excellent communication skills rather than just a "techie". And in addition, be sure to list your Certificate of Professional Development through OST and the University of Illinois, because both O'Reilly and the U of I are greatly respected in the Information Technology world.

You are breaking into the world of I.T. for the best of reasons -- you really enjoy it! For this reason, I am confident that if you focus on gaining web design skills and experience, as well as marketing yourself properly, you can land a respectable job in this field within 6 months. No need for a four-year degree.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Thanks,
Trish

Previous columns :

• Landing a Web 2.0 Job
• So Many Perl Choices, So Little Time
• Our University Connection, and International Students
• Going from Big Corporation to Small Innovation
• A Programmer Feels Overwhelmed With New Technologies
• A Novice Wants to Break Into the I.T. Field
• Is Going Back to College the Answer?
• A Dedicated Mom Returns to the I.T. Workforce