Ladies and gentlemen, this week I'm going to write a bit about some sort of a guy. We know him as a "Webmaster", think he's a fat lifeless geek who does something with our website or websites we try (in vain) to work with. So I'm going to elaborate a bit about this newly created profession. I'm going to refer to a few questions:
1. What is actually a "Webmaster" and what's his daily routine?
2. What are the qualifications for being a webmaster.
3. What are the advantages of this job.
4. What are the disadvantages of this job?
5. Summary - who should consider this career path seriously?
What is actually a "Webmaster" and what's his daily routine?
A "Webmaster" in its basic meaning is a person managing a website. As simple as that. But if we wish to elaborate a bit, we could say that the webmaster's job consists of:
1. Build websites, including picking up the technology for them and entering contents to them. Nowadays most of the websites are built on site "baking" platforms (such as: Joomla, Wordpress, Blogspot) and the webmaster should be familiar with working with them.
2. SEO - search engine optimization i.e. promoting the website to appear as high as possible on Google and other search results, as this is the main source of traffic for the website.
3. Serving customer support both to the owner of the website and its visitors, in order to improve its quality and answer questions regarding its use.
4. Security - forming a security policy for the website ensuring its survival and smooth running. Preventing hackers and viruses harm the website.
What are the qualifications for being a webmaster?
There are 2 main approaches for this question:
1. Study a BSc degree in Computer Science or in Information Systems for 3-4 years and then start working as a junior webmaster or a junior web developer. The advantage: improved learning capabilities and work discipline.
2. Study a short Webmaster course (3-4 month) and find an employer willing to hire you as an apprentice. The advantage: a short training track. The disadvantage: limited learning capabilities and not mentally prepared for this kind of work.
"Learning capabilities" - in computing, a professional is demanded to keep learning new material almost on a daily basis, as the computing field is infinite in size and challenges always pop up. Thus improved learning capabilities are an asset for long time work in the field.
"Mentally prepared" - Computing work require sharp capabilities like: long time concentration, perseverance in solving problems, working in teams or well organized work abilities.
What are the advantages of this job?
1. Playing your computer and your Internet for 45 hours a week on duty - bookkeeping? sales job? teaching? Playing!
This is a job in which you live online: get new content every day, look at other sites in order to improve your sites, watch Youtube video for getting ideas for your sites.
2. Young atmosphere - in this job you always feels young, whether it's because the majority of people are young (till 30 years old) or whether it's because the creative nature of this position.
3. Combining technical and visual skills - in this position you are both a programmer (a technical occupation) and a designer (a visual occupation), which is a rare combination between 2 almost opposite field.
4. Money money money - this is definitely a rewarding job, as in most countries the wages are about 50% higher than the average, which is a tempting figure to people suitable for such career.
What are the disadvantages of this job?
1. Not everyone is a geek - you know, there are people in this world, unnecessarily stupid or lazy, who would climb the walls if needed to work 45 hours a week in front of a laptop. Computing work still isn't appealing to most of the population thus such a career wouldn't be as popular as a law or finance career.
2. Age bias - this filed is relatively a young one, as the internet began its evolution in the mid 90's, so the average employee age is about 33-35 which means that 40+ year old employees might be a little old right now for this field.
3. Always learning - keep learning new ideas and notions is absolutely fabulous but not for everyone. Most people would put up perfectly with a routine job with no novelty and no new ideas every now and then. Thus most people would find it hard to deal with the rapid evolution of the internet world.
Summary - who should consider this career path seriously?
As in every case - this career path would be great for people who are attracted to its advantages and not discouraged by its disadvantages. Anyway, I can recommend that you take a career counselling in order to check your tendencies and capabilities thoroughly and not choose a career based on the decisions of your peers.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Friday, July 25, 2014
Graphic Design Career - What It All About?
Ladies and gentlemen, this week we're going to have a little discussion about a not-so-well-known profession which millions of people around the world make a living from and which deserves our attention when approaching a debate about career choice.
I'm going to discuss a few points in this article:
1. What does this profession consist of?
2. What are the advantages of this profession?
3. What are the disadvantages of this profession?
4. Who should consider this as a career?
What does this profession consist of:
Graphic design is actually the visual expression of ideas and values i.e. putting what a company, an organization or an individual wish to express into a visible implementation. The graphical design field consists of 2 main sub-fields:
1. Imprint design - this is the graphics put on a paper: logos, advertisments, symbols, banners, or page layouts. This refers to how should these objectives look in order to promote the idea they stand for. Who would buy a car of a brand that its advertisments look ugly or obsolete?
2. Online design - this is the graphics put on Internet pages, where the appeal to the eye is crucial to the very survival of a site due to the sharp competition between websites and the fact that a website must make its visitors come back again and again.
What are the advantages of this profession?
As it sounds, this career may offer a few advantages for people who are suitable for using them wisely:
1. Independence oriented - working as a graphic designer is perfectly suitable working as a freelancer or other form of self employment, as it technically based on your wits and a laptop. You don't have to rent a workshop or an office as you can perfectly work from your room at home. Even if you work for a company on a regular basis, it seems plausible for you to do most of the work from home.
2. Age bias proof - working as a graphic designer doesn't seem to be much influenced by the "40 years old crisis", as professions based on the esthetics world tend to be exempt from an age bias due to the fact that the requirements for these professions develop slowly along the years so 50 years old designer are commonly better than 35 years old ones.
3. Creativity - yes, this job is not as ordinary and routine as working as a bookkeeper or a post office clerk. Here you need to come up now and then with new ideas of how o present things to your customers. You can't do the same every week and every month. The ability to come up with new ideas on a regular basis is creativity.
4. Possible short training time - alongside 4 year academic tracks, a designer may get the basic training needed for the job market by attending a short term course of a couple of month. It's true that such short training courses wouldn't make the next Picasso, but still it might train a person well enough in order to start working at the field.
What are the disadvantages of this profession?
Ironically, the advantages of this career yield its disadvantages:
1. Most work is as self employed 1 person team. For some it's a great advantage but for most it's a disaster. Wake up when you want? Come up with new ideas? Working alone? dealing with customers? I bet at least 80% of people would freak out in such an environment.
2. Short training time also means: almost everyone can enter this field as its entrance barriers are quite low. This means that never can occur a state of manpower shortage in this field, which mean that you'll never find employment easily and your life will probably not be a garden of roses.
3. Income - this career isn't basically for very ambitious people financially as it seldom offers wages higher than the average and in many cases designers struggle to pay the bills. Therefore, you should think carefully whether you're willing to put up with this side effect.
Who should consider this as a career?
The answer for this is extremely obvious - people who like the advantages of this career path and can put up with its disadvantages. Every career path can be great for the suitable person or horrible for the unsuitable one. There's no good or bad answer for this. But do yourself a favor - think if you see yourself in this career for at least 20 years. A career choice is not for 5 years, but for decades.
I'm going to discuss a few points in this article:
1. What does this profession consist of?
2. What are the advantages of this profession?
3. What are the disadvantages of this profession?
4. Who should consider this as a career?
What does this profession consist of:
Graphic design is actually the visual expression of ideas and values i.e. putting what a company, an organization or an individual wish to express into a visible implementation. The graphical design field consists of 2 main sub-fields:
1. Imprint design - this is the graphics put on a paper: logos, advertisments, symbols, banners, or page layouts. This refers to how should these objectives look in order to promote the idea they stand for. Who would buy a car of a brand that its advertisments look ugly or obsolete?
2. Online design - this is the graphics put on Internet pages, where the appeal to the eye is crucial to the very survival of a site due to the sharp competition between websites and the fact that a website must make its visitors come back again and again.
What are the advantages of this profession?
As it sounds, this career may offer a few advantages for people who are suitable for using them wisely:
1. Independence oriented - working as a graphic designer is perfectly suitable working as a freelancer or other form of self employment, as it technically based on your wits and a laptop. You don't have to rent a workshop or an office as you can perfectly work from your room at home. Even if you work for a company on a regular basis, it seems plausible for you to do most of the work from home.
2. Age bias proof - working as a graphic designer doesn't seem to be much influenced by the "40 years old crisis", as professions based on the esthetics world tend to be exempt from an age bias due to the fact that the requirements for these professions develop slowly along the years so 50 years old designer are commonly better than 35 years old ones.
3. Creativity - yes, this job is not as ordinary and routine as working as a bookkeeper or a post office clerk. Here you need to come up now and then with new ideas of how o present things to your customers. You can't do the same every week and every month. The ability to come up with new ideas on a regular basis is creativity.
4. Possible short training time - alongside 4 year academic tracks, a designer may get the basic training needed for the job market by attending a short term course of a couple of month. It's true that such short training courses wouldn't make the next Picasso, but still it might train a person well enough in order to start working at the field.
What are the disadvantages of this profession?
Ironically, the advantages of this career yield its disadvantages:
1. Most work is as self employed 1 person team. For some it's a great advantage but for most it's a disaster. Wake up when you want? Come up with new ideas? Working alone? dealing with customers? I bet at least 80% of people would freak out in such an environment.
2. Short training time also means: almost everyone can enter this field as its entrance barriers are quite low. This means that never can occur a state of manpower shortage in this field, which mean that you'll never find employment easily and your life will probably not be a garden of roses.
3. Income - this career isn't basically for very ambitious people financially as it seldom offers wages higher than the average and in many cases designers struggle to pay the bills. Therefore, you should think carefully whether you're willing to put up with this side effect.
Who should consider this as a career?
The answer for this is extremely obvious - people who like the advantages of this career path and can put up with its disadvantages. Every career path can be great for the suitable person or horrible for the unsuitable one. There's no good or bad answer for this. But do yourself a favor - think if you see yourself in this career for at least 20 years. A career choice is not for 5 years, but for decades.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Civil Engineering - Should It Intersest You?
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my article about the important field of Civil Engineering. In this article I'll answer a few principle questions:
1. What is actually "Civil Engineering"?
2. What are the advatntages of this career?
3. What are th disadvantages of this career?
4. Who is this career suitable for?
5. What are the requirements for acquiring this career?
What is actually "Civil Engineering"
This term refers to the world of construction: buildings, roads, bridges, railways or tunnels.
Civil engineer is a professional for designing construction, i.e. how should a structure be built physically, taking into account the physics of materials involved in construction. The engineer is responsible that a building would be built stable and strong enough to make it resistant to many challenges: winds, earthquake, storms, material aging impact or weight burdens.
The unique side of civil engineering is that most of the work gets done outdoors in construction or paving sites, as the engineer is responsible to supervise the construction works, in order to make sure that the actual work gets performed by the plans and by the regulations.
What are the advatntages of this career?
1. Working outdoors - many people aren't keen on working indoors, mainly in front of computers. Civil Engineering is the main alternative (among technical fields) for working mainly outdoors: in construction sites, paving or excavation sites.
2. Working with people - unlike most engineering jobs which deal mainly with tools, materials and computers, Civil Engineering deals mainly with managing projects and people, as the main focus is on the human factor and not on the technical factor.
3. No age bias - technical fields are infamous for having a sharp age bias, as mature workers (mainly 45 years old and above) find difficulties in finding proper employment. Civil Engineering, as being management oriented, is somewhat different in this aspect and engineers generally can find employment till retirement age.
4. Self employment prospects - in nowadays' unstable job market, being able to be a freelancer or an entrepreneur can be a career saver. If you don't get what I say, ask an unemployed electrical or mechanical engineer aged 45 or more and you'll get a straight answer.
What are th disadvantages of this career
1. Medium occupational stability - the construction & infrastructure fields is the most dependant on the Supply and demand curve, thus it may have periods of high demand for workers and periods of low demand. This means that civil engineers may work 40 years in the field but out of these years they may be unemployed for 5-10 years.
2. High level of responsibility - civil engineers are liable both for their signatures and for the implementation of proper construction at field. No other kind of engineers have such level of liability.
3. Long hours - civil engineers work relatively long hours, as they work at least 50 hours a week. This is caused by the fact they work outdoors and they commute many times to long locations. Additionally, the peaks of workloads cause frequent weekly long hours of work.
Who is this career suitable for
1. Outdoors people - people who prefer to work outdoors: travel a lot, meeting a lot of people and staying long hours on open space. People who would be bored to death staying in an office running computers and telephones.
2. Amateurs of unorthodox life - people who strive for a lot of changes and a lot of challenges. People who the term "9 to 5" makes them feel bored and frustrated. people who the term "computer" reminds them of the term "geek". People who don't care working sometimes 12 hours a day.
3. Entrepreneurs by nature - people who need desperately the option of starting their own business, should it be a freelancing service or projects initiation. People who wouldn't stay in careers which let them be only employed and not employers.
What are the requirements for acquiring this career?
1. Academic track - 4 years of BSc studies in Civil Engineering in an accredited university. This track requires good capabilities in mathematics and physics and motivation to put in about 40 hours a week in studying.
2. Attraction - due to the fact that Civil Engineering is a demanding career, I wouldn't recommend it to people without a basic attraction to the its characteristics: mainly working outdoors, managing and dealing with people and long working hours.
1. What is actually "Civil Engineering"?
2. What are the advatntages of this career?
3. What are th disadvantages of this career?
4. Who is this career suitable for?
5. What are the requirements for acquiring this career?
What is actually "Civil Engineering"
This term refers to the world of construction: buildings, roads, bridges, railways or tunnels.
Civil engineer is a professional for designing construction, i.e. how should a structure be built physically, taking into account the physics of materials involved in construction. The engineer is responsible that a building would be built stable and strong enough to make it resistant to many challenges: winds, earthquake, storms, material aging impact or weight burdens.
The unique side of civil engineering is that most of the work gets done outdoors in construction or paving sites, as the engineer is responsible to supervise the construction works, in order to make sure that the actual work gets performed by the plans and by the regulations.
What are the advatntages of this career?
1. Working outdoors - many people aren't keen on working indoors, mainly in front of computers. Civil Engineering is the main alternative (among technical fields) for working mainly outdoors: in construction sites, paving or excavation sites.
2. Working with people - unlike most engineering jobs which deal mainly with tools, materials and computers, Civil Engineering deals mainly with managing projects and people, as the main focus is on the human factor and not on the technical factor.
3. No age bias - technical fields are infamous for having a sharp age bias, as mature workers (mainly 45 years old and above) find difficulties in finding proper employment. Civil Engineering, as being management oriented, is somewhat different in this aspect and engineers generally can find employment till retirement age.
4. Self employment prospects - in nowadays' unstable job market, being able to be a freelancer or an entrepreneur can be a career saver. If you don't get what I say, ask an unemployed electrical or mechanical engineer aged 45 or more and you'll get a straight answer.
What are th disadvantages of this career
1. Medium occupational stability - the construction & infrastructure fields is the most dependant on the Supply and demand curve, thus it may have periods of high demand for workers and periods of low demand. This means that civil engineers may work 40 years in the field but out of these years they may be unemployed for 5-10 years.
2. High level of responsibility - civil engineers are liable both for their signatures and for the implementation of proper construction at field. No other kind of engineers have such level of liability.
3. Long hours - civil engineers work relatively long hours, as they work at least 50 hours a week. This is caused by the fact they work outdoors and they commute many times to long locations. Additionally, the peaks of workloads cause frequent weekly long hours of work.
Who is this career suitable for
1. Outdoors people - people who prefer to work outdoors: travel a lot, meeting a lot of people and staying long hours on open space. People who would be bored to death staying in an office running computers and telephones.
2. Amateurs of unorthodox life - people who strive for a lot of changes and a lot of challenges. People who the term "9 to 5" makes them feel bored and frustrated. people who the term "computer" reminds them of the term "geek". People who don't care working sometimes 12 hours a day.
3. Entrepreneurs by nature - people who need desperately the option of starting their own business, should it be a freelancing service or projects initiation. People who wouldn't stay in careers which let them be only employed and not employers.
What are the requirements for acquiring this career?
1. Academic track - 4 years of BSc studies in Civil Engineering in an accredited university. This track requires good capabilities in mathematics and physics and motivation to put in about 40 hours a week in studying.
2. Attraction - due to the fact that Civil Engineering is a demanding career, I wouldn't recommend it to people without a basic attraction to the its characteristics: mainly working outdoors, managing and dealing with people and long working hours.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)