Web Designer Jobs

A web designer is responsible for the design, layout and coding of web pages. A web designer is also an information architect, who plans how the content will be managed and displayed.

A web designer is responsible for dealing with the more sophisticated websites that handle online enquiries, search engine optimisation and web hosting and they also account/project manager, co-ordinating all these aspects over different projects.

Web designers should be creative and imaginative and have good written and verbal skills. Web designers enjoy working with computers and also have a good knowledge of how the internet works. Web designers enjoy solving problems and must be able to meet deadlines and work in a team.

This is still a new and rapidly developing area of work, with growing opportunities in fields such as 'e-commerce' (e.g. online shopping). Typical employers include specialist and internet service producers, publishers, graphic design companies, private companies with in-house websites and public sector organisations.

Web designers should have a degree, HND or HNC. A degree requires at least two A levels/three H grades and five GCSEs/S grades (A-C/1-3). An artistic background with a relevant qualification in IT can be very useful. It is important to build up a strong portfolio of experience in designing web pages and this may compensate for lack of formal qualifications. There is no upper age limit for starting in this work.

The majority of training is done on the job, with short courses (in-house or external) to cover technical training on specialist new systems and new code.

In large companies and organisations there may be opportunities for promotion to project manager level. Many internet/web designers work on a freelance or contract basis.