HI,
I've been studying for the last 3yrs to get a job in the digital media industry. I'd like to be a web and interface designer and maybe a bit more as time goes on. I did a certificate in multimedia in Senior College dun laoghaire and then i went and did a 2 year higher diploma in ballyfermot college of further education and finished it just before the summer. Now that i have finished it i still dont feel fully prepared and confident to go out and work in the industry. I've enquired about doing some crash courses in flash, dreamweaver, photoshop and illustrator to try and refresh my mind a bit but other than that i dont what will make me feel prepared. i have been thinking about doing some programming courses aswell.

Has anybody got any suggestions or advice on courses or what i could do to get the confidence to get out and get a job in the industry????

Thanks,

Have you got a portfolio of previous work?

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The little advice that I can give is thus :

Build a portfolio of good quality items that represent what you can do. Don't worry about comparing yourself to anyone out there - it'll come with experience.

You want to focus on the design part? Then focus on that - By all means understand the design to development process so that you can see how things will go from photoshop(or whatever) to html/css, but focus on design if its what turns you on(for want of a better phrase.)

Being a great designer (and kinda crap devloper) will do you better than being an ok designer and ok developer.

Though then again - being a great designer and great developer would be good too....

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Flash + Photoshop + Dreamweaver + Programming + Databases + Hosting + Configuration + SEO + .. (and so on)
(each one of these can be considered a full time job by companies)

To start out with crash courses on them all is a no no ...

Get your own site up and running ...
Read tutorials .. subscribe to blogs ... read everything figure out everything .. I don't think I'd recommend going down the route you seem to be going ...
(starting everything at once)

Learn the basics of webdesign Again ...
Play wiht Graphics in your spare time ...
Take apart templates of others (open source or whatever) ... collect ideas on what you like ...
Get a project to work on ... your own site is a good one but motivation on it can be hard ... do a site for a charity or something similar ..

go from there ...

lynda.com can be a big help ... (as can sites for tutorials ... psdtuts.com ...)

find 4 - 5 good tutorial sites ... and ... read / play / learn ....

get active on forums ...

(thats my advice at any rate for what its worth)

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thanks everyone, i dont have a portfolio site yet, when i was in college i learned photoshop dreamweaver illustrator and flash(not so well) and i just wanted to do the crash course to get back into things, when i was in college i made a flash portfolio site that was ok but i really want to start fresh because i think im capable of better. do you guys think i should go freelance or try get a job in a company???

personal advice .. would be ... job in a company. .. mentor .... someone to ask questions of ...

give it a year or 3 ... and start out freelance

Get a job or go to college and whilst your there start making your own sites in your spare time. Make a couple of sites in a subject your interested in or a cool niche idea and use your co workers or lecturers etc to help you learn to develop them.

Sign up for adsense when you have a site finished and that will give you motivation to learn seo..

To work for yourself your better off having all round experience and a good few years of it.

being a designer myself. i can tell you very basic things. make a portfolio of the work you have done as a student. and take up some free jobs. so that will help in sharpen your skills, and this will give you immense confidence in getting into the big bad world of designing!