Website design and development is a hugely competitive industry with thousands of well-trained and experienced designers and new ones graduating each year. As a result, there is great competition for those seeking employment. Fortunately, it’s a growth industry, but it’s not growing THAT fast. The important thing is to give yourself any advantage over your competitors that you can when applying for jobs. A solid portfolio goes a long way.

variety

They say variety is the spice of life, but in this case variety is the backbone of a good portfolio. Not as catchy but completely true. What employers want to know above all is that you are more than a one trick pony. A good site template is not made by a developer. Take the time to put together some really well-designed templates in a variety of styles, from retro sites to elegant layouts. This will show employers that you are not limited in your creativity.

Experience in at least two server-side programming languages

In addition to useful client-side web design, a developer must be able to provide a comprehensive server-side web design experience. Server-side scripting allows for much greater depth and complexity in a website while alleviating the requirements on the user’s PC by focusing on the server. The programming languages ​​involved allow the website to access its data sources ranging from simple information output to streaming video. It is vital that a developer has a good understanding of at least two of the PHP languages, ASP and ColdFusion.

Ability to use XML

It is always helpful to have additional skills that you can provide to a potential employer. While XML is not strictly part of a website’s design, it is a very useful tool to help a website. Primarily, XML is useful for data identification, storage, and structuring. One specific use of XML is the layout of a sitemap. XML’s hierarchical structure and its ability to define your own markup makes it very useful for this.

Artistic Ability in Photoshop, Flash, etc.

The ability to use Photoshop and Flash well provides a platform to greatly enhance the aesthetic appeal of a website. However, the key to using them well is not simply the complexity to which you can apply them. The point is to be able to apply them to improve the design of the website and make it more fluid. Any SEO company will tell you that the design and content of the site will be the most vital part of keeping customers, so this is what employers want.

Aside from obvious technical skills, it’s vital to show enthusiasm for the job. If you are passionate about what you do, please let them know. If you can show some personality and style in your app and especially in the layouts, then you have a much better chance.