Is a web design degree needed in web design?

April 8th, 2014

Hi!

A very common question I get is: do you need a degree to become a professional web designer or programmer?

Short answer: no.

.. But there are a few things to consider.

Big Companies will want a diploma – for now.

If you plan on working for a big company or government, you will probably need some sort of degree to get in. The exception is if you have a lot of experience in the field. I am guessing since you are reading this, that you don’t.

That said, I think the need for higher education degrees will fade over the next few years given all the bad press that higher education gets these days. Already in tech schools and K12 school boards that I deal with, they are looking to get their students accredited by outside sources like, Cisco, Oracle and even little ol’ Studioweb!

🙂

… The industry is starting to realize more and more, that training from a private institution of nerds like KillerSites and Studioweb, typically means students will be very well prepared for the real world.

Small companies could care less about diplomas

On the flipside, small companies tend to ignore the pieces of paper you’ve collected from schools. They are much more concerned about your skills – imagine that! So if you want to get a job working for a small firm, you need to build your portfolio. That means start build sites and dynamic websites as soon as you can.

That’s why in Studioweb and our Complete Web Designer and Programmer packages, we have a lot of project based training. It’s something I learned when I used to box; a few rounds in the ring fighting, is worth months of hitting the pads!

… Same thing with web design and programming. Time to hit that keyboard!!

Starting your own web design business

If there is any place where degrees are absolutely useless – this is it! I’ve dealt with many clients over the years and not once, was I ever asked if I had a degree in web design or programming. Only thing clients want to see is your past work … and you’d better have a kick-ass web site too.

Hope that helps,

Stefan Mischook
killerVideoStore.com