lorax - 1:07 pm on May 25, 2012 (gmt 0)

Back when I first started in this business 16 years ago, a webmaster could easily do it all. That was before Google came out and Javascript really took hold - heck Netscape blew up when the wind blew west. Anyone that was in the business back then probably remembers how easy it was to play with rankings. Remember the site Google Dances? That was fun.

But now the skills required are far more numerous and each takes significant more effort to learn and master. There are dozens of new script languages, development platforms ways to manipulate what someone sees online, how we track them, and what else we may be doing.

So many different touch points and ways monitoring, creating, hacking, deleting, recording, and abusing data and the delivery structures that I now look at webmastering as I do doctoring. There are general practitioners and then there are specialists. But you need to get the general practical knowledge before you can become a specialist. Too many jump right into a specialty and miss getting a solid understanding of the rest of the skills.

IMHO - if you're going to get into this business you need a solid understanding of the basics of how the web works - really works including the tech structure, black hat/white hat, basics of HTML, HTTP/S, FTP, SMTP, POP, DNS, VoIP, etc.. Both as a user/developer and as a security enforcer. It's taken me 16 years to get to a point where I feel I can at least talk somewhat intelligible about a narrow slice of all of the skills required. I'm on the edge of my knowledge with the rest.

I have to wonder if universities will ever get to the point where they can actually provide relevant instruction on the skills needed. The courses I've reviewed and the students I've spoken in front of were less than what I was expecting. Maybe I expect too much from the up and coming but I don't think so. There's a lot to learn in this field and an SEO/SEM course is nice but it isn't the magic ticket to a career in this business that some colleges would have you believe. It's just too easy to shoot yourself in the foot and many do - often without the slightest clue they did.

SO I propose if colleges and universities really want to get in on the education of our future webmasters, then develop curriculum for graduate levels instead of a hodgepodge of courses under a computer science degree. The first step in moving the web forward and ultimately wielding the power of the web for good is a proper education.