Forum Moderators: phranque
Cheers :)
I would recommend doing hobby sites for friends/family to gain more experience and have links to put on your cv. This will also give you a chance to experiment with different technologies and ways of doing things.
Also, read as much as you can. WebmasterWorld is a great resource and there are other good places on the net and books to read.
By all means do any courses you can, like Benihana suggested, but I reckon what employers are really looking for is proof of your skills by looking at your websites.
If you are a server person, then some of the Microsoft or Linux titles could be useful. If you are a heavy duty developer, Microsoft has some paths to check out.
Novell is now pushing a CLE (Certified Linux Engineer) program, although that appears to build on the Linux Professional Institute base.
Perhaps one of the issues with "webmaster" certification is that it means such different things - some webmasters are graphic designers or content creators, others are coders or database experts, and still others are primarily server admins. I'd recommend focusing on your strengths and perhaps achieving a specialty certification in that area. Conversely, you could pick an area you want to learn more about that and use the certification as an incentive to study.
Overall, I wouldn't worry as much about certification as learning and using the knowledge you gain.
I started a business for the main purpose of getting experience. I have now done about ten websites. The last three I did I used PHP, MySQL, CSS P tableless layouts with custom-built content management systems. I feel that I do a very good job for someone without any formal training.
How much experience do you all think I should get before applying for a webmaster job? Are there any other suggestions you have?
I'm wary of all of the certification programs because I never see job postings asking for certificates. Also, the programs are very expensive.
How much experience do you all think I should get before applying for a webmaster job?
Play it by ear. I think you kind of know when you are ready, but having said that if an opportunity comes along, take it. A lot of my friends have asked my why I don't work for myself, but I just don't feel ready for that and would prefer to work for a company at the moment, but in the future, who knows?
I'm wary of all of the certification programs
I think you are right to be wary. I think you can probably learn enough to be a webmaster without these, and you're right, I've never seen a job ad asking for them either.
