Job description: What does a web developer do?
The profession of the web developer is one of the newer job profiles and emerged as organizations increasingly discovered the advantages of a web presence for themselves. Web designers, as web developers are also called, are the creatives in the WWW and ensure that a website optimally stages an offer, a service, or an organization.
In customer orders, Web developer websites create and maintain them. The web designer first defines the style for the web design with the customer, creates the basic structure of the page with all navigation hierarchies based on this, and then equips the website with images, graphics, animations, and videos. The range of tasks of a web developer now even extends to the development of mobile apps.
Apart from the fact that a good website must have a comprehensible structure and user guidance, web design is primarily about working out exactly what values a company or provider stands for, optically, graphically, and textually.
Web developers must therefore have a keen sense of the needs of their customers, understand exactly what makes the client tick and what he understands by a perfect website. That means: In addition to creativity and aesthetic flair, the job also requires listening carefully.
Sometimes it is also important to be able to read between the lines. Clients cannot always pinpoint their needs exactly. Others have very vague ideas about what to expect. A bit of tact is therefore required to read the customer’s wishes from the eyes.
It is also important that web developers work closely with the customer throughout the entire creation process. In this way, processes can be smoothed and adjusted again and again during the current project.
A web developer is also among job titles such as web designers, website creators, webmasters, online Producer, WebProducer, web developers or developer of web-based software solutions known and have very good chances on the labor market: The Internet industry has unparalleled in recent years boom experienced so good professionals are always wanted.
The work-life balance varies from job to job and depends very much on the industry in which you work.
Education: How do you become a web developer?
There is no one classic way to become a web developer. In principle, the profession is not protected, so anyone who wants to can call themselves a web designer. Some career changers have never completed relevant training or a degree but have acquired their knowledge themselves. That can be quite successful. The most common route, however, is via related training paths or courses of study.
For example, through dual training as a media designer. This can be completed in the following areas:
- Advice and planning
- Conception and visualization
- Design and technology
Budding media designers get to know the areas of web design, image processing, typography, and desktop publishing in the various specializations during their training. With increasing professional experience and further training, they can succeed in taking on more responsibility and working as media designers, who usually have project responsibility, while media designers tend to work for them.
In the area of consulting and planning, budding media designers learn to look after customers professionally and to coordinate a project professionally. In the focus on design and technology, young professionals are instructed to process images and graphics with the help of special software and to maintain production systems. Those who devote themselves to the topics of conception and visualization, on the other hand, learn to select images that fit, design templates, and create diagrams or illustrations.
The alternative to dual training is to attend a university or technical college that offers three-year bachelor’s degrees such as “digital media” or “media informatics”.
Course contents are for example:
- Design methods
- Design applications
- Typography
- Photography
- Graphic design
- Video games
- Usability
- Project management
- Strategy development for larger and cross-media communication projects
- Media production
- Marketing
- Communication management
- Business administration
Employer: Who is looking for a web developer
Web developers can work in completely different areas in which they design and maintain websites:
- In advertising, media and PR agencies
- In graphic offices
- In publishers
- At television companies
- In the exhibition and congress sector
- In the software industry
- In-game development
- In simulation
- In the entertainment industry
- In virtual engineering
- In industrial production
- In robotics
- In the information and technology industry
Salary: How much does a web developer make?
The income of web developers is completely different and depends on the region, the size of the employer, and the professional experience. With increasing professional experience and depending on your negotiating skills, after a few years, you can get more.
Map of web developer salaries
The darker areas on the map show where web developers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
- Median Annual Salary: $69,430 ($33.38/hour)
- Top 10% Annual Salary: $124,480 ($59.84/hour)
- Bottom 10% Annual Salary: $37,930 ($18.23/hour)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Entry Opportunities: The Prospects for Web Developers
Budding Web developer ever to focus well to very good prospects in the labor market. Today no company can do without an Internet presence. In this respect, the need for well-skilled workers is growing steadily.
Application: How do web developers score
When working as a web developer, it is important to have a good mix of hard and soft skills. This includes:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
- Macromedia Flash
- HTML / HTML 5
- CSS Javascript
- Ruby on Rails
- PHP
- Creativity
- Communication skills
- Readiness for lifelong learning
Career: The development opportunities as a web developer
The career prospects are diverse. Many web developers go into business for themselves after their training and open their creative agency. This is associated with a higher risk than in a permanent position, but usually also opens up good income opportunities.
Those who prefer a permanent position can pursue a classic career: from team member to team management to division management. The path to management is also not ruled out, depending on the industry in which a web designer works.
