“I’m no angel, but I’ve spread my wings a bit” ~ Mae West

When hiring a professional, people usually like to know about one’s qualifications and certifications. We want our medical doctors to have degrees and the proper state certifications, the same goes for attorneys, teachers, architects, and the list goes on and on.

What about hiring a web developer? Is a particular college degree necessary to qualify one for the job? Is there a “certification” that insures expertise?

Having a college degree certainly suggests a level of professionalism and tech related degrees may be helpful, the industry standards do not require any particular degree. Rather it is the ability to demonstrate knowledge and creativity that is essential. Most of this knowledge can be gotten from books, courses, and on-the-job experience.

In the “dark ages” when I was in college in the late 60’s, personal computers and the Internet were only a dream. Sure, there were classes in COBOL and FORTRAN, but …… (Well, the less said about those dinosaurs, the better … remember the come from loop?) And sad to admit, in those days women went to college to find a good husband and perhaps picked up a useful part-time career while there. So I majored in Elementary Education (teaching) and in my spare time hung out at the Engineering Building where all the good men were.

After teaching for 15 years I discovered a wonderful blend for my creative artistic talents and my new-found love of computer technology. In those early days, classes in web design were scarce, but the Internet was in its infant stage and HTML relatively easy to decipher on one’s own. My knowledge and understanding grew along with the newly developing technology and I delighted in keeping up with the latest trends and staying on the cutting edge.

I found that the organizational skills I gathered all those years working as a camp director, as a teacher, as a scout leader, as a Customer Service Rep, and even as a wife and mother of 3 kids, were all so valuable in my new career. It is not enough to just design the graphics and write the code, for it is just as important to a web site that the developer be able to help the client evaluate his target audience, set marketing goals, and then coordinate and assemble the materials for the project. These are skills that are not learned in 4 or even 6 years of college, but rather they are gathered and polished through years of experience and practice.

So while I do not hold a degree in technology, I do indeed have the skills to teach many of the classes for those degrees. And along with those years of experience has come the wisdom and maturity to understand the value of honesty and integrity in whatever job I contract to do.