Should you choose web development as a career in 2022-2023?
What matters the most to online businesses is their website. They can’t compromise with the quality and functionality of that website in the least bit. It is their way of reaching out to their customers, telling them about their offerings, and making them take action.
This is why a lot of businesses that initially thought against building a website and in favor of continuing with their physical presence have realized how important a website is for getting in touch with more people and selling more. This is where web development comes in. Businesses need to hire qualified and experienced web developers to do the job for them.
As we are seeing a continuous rise in the number of businesses going online, the demand for web designers and developers is also increasing by the minute. However, you need to be different in the sense that you should be able to help businesses create a unique presence online. The competitive nature of the market demands business websites to understand buyer behavior and be developed in a way that makes buyers decide in favor of buying from that business.
So, where do you stand? Do you think you have the skills? A career in web development is a promising career with great prospects as you move ahead. You will also have numerous web development career opportunities to choose from at different stages in your career. Before moving any further, let us first discuss who web developers are and the responsibilities they are required to fulfill.
Who is a Web Developer?
In simple words, a web developer is responsible for the programming and coding of web-based services and websites that happens at the back end. It is often quite difficult to clearly differentiate between the roles and responsibilities in different web positions, such as web developers and designers.
However, we can safely say that web developers are more technically inclined than their web designing counterparts who are more focused on the look and feel of a website. The projects that web developers are involved in vary in complexity. They could be asked to work on simple web pages one time and multi-layered e-commerce web applications the other.
So if you are considering a career in web development, you need to be ready to work in a challenging environment where deadlines are a common phenomenon.
What does a web developer do?
The responsibilities of a web developer include talking to clients over the phone or meeting with them to understand their requirements. It is very important for web developers to get clear answers to questions like what a client wants their website to do for them.
What features does a client want their website to have? If you start working on the website before speaking to the client, the website won’t even be close to what the client expects you to deliver. You will be required to redo it. Waste of time, isn’t it? This is a lesson that every budding web developer needs to learn sooner rather than later to make successful strides ahead in their respective careers.
You may be asked as a web developer by your employer to work on both the front and end of websites. Or you may be asked to work on just one of the two aspects. Some developers use Adobe Photoshop to work on a website’s design while others are responsible for using programming languages like CSS and HTML to write the code.
We are telling this to you to let you know that you need to be well-versed with all these aspects and that you should learn the skill that you don’t have. You are also required to have knowledge of web applications, software programs, and design principles. As a web developer, you can work a full-time employee with a company or a part-time consultant. You can even work as a freelancer. Here are some important responsibilities that a web developer fulfills:
- Use PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other such languages to design websites
- Build and test web applications
- Collaborate with web designers, graphic designers, and other professionals
- Troubleshoot website problems
- Update and maintain websites
Why should you choose a career in web development?
The web is going to get even bigger and better with time. Web developers will continue playing an important role. So having the skills to develop websites has several advantages.
Job flexibility: The job of a web developer is highly flexible. You are allowed to work the way you want to. If you are a team player, you can work full-time, or you can even go solo by working as a freelancer. If you are into something else and earn some passive income along with your primary job, you can work on a part-time basis as well. You are free to choose whatever suits you best!
It’s easy to begin: Even if you are not willing to be work with a company on a full-time basis, there is still plenty that you can do as a freelancer. All you need is the right skills. There are several online courses that provide you enough learning material and access to lectures and live learning sessions from industry experts. You can join one of these courses alongside your job. You can choose your own learning schedule and learn at your own pace. Look for courses or online learning platforms that provide placement assistance.
There are always more skills to add to your resume: HTML, JavaScript, and CSS are the basic skills that you can’t do without as a web developer. However, if you are passionate about it and want to further your career, there’s plenty more to learn as well, including AngularJS, Ajax, PHP, Ruby, and more. If you are just starting out, you don’t need to worry about these additional skills. However, to advance in your career, you will need to learn these skills.
There are job opportunities aplenty: There are more jobs than you think in web development. Whatever happens, online businesses will continue to build new websites or redesign existing ones to stay competitive and relevant. Web developers will never run out of jobs.
Hope it helped you!