How to transition from a "Web Designer" to a " Web Developer"?

Hello, I am having hard time finding employment as web designer/ and would like to know the best way to get into more of a web developer role?. I hear these things all the time, job-hopper(a lot of past jobs are contract,its not my fault they only want you for a 3 month contract, am I supposed to go work at the gym), so I really want to stay in the internet field,and I already can code XHTML/CSS. and some basic server-side stuff with .net and cfml and basic sql, so why not , (Every job I have seen now requires a CScience degree from university(their is no more easy way in to web dev, its cs or cis degree and every, i mean every job requires some sort of skills with .net, in my opinion, has become a standard over the past 2 years or so), but could any IT/computer related degree get you in,?And how can you have 5yrs experience when most jobs are contract, some want a designer, a developer, or both? Hard to know what to go to school for,when job requires differ. skill sets


Any thoughts?

How to transition from a "Web Designer" to a " Web Developer"?
there are companies out there who are willing to train people. if you are up to it then you can apply there. altough usually a trainee gets lower than someone who already has experience. you actually have an advantage because developers are sometimes asked to modify the pages they have. so you will have an easier time with that. however, a developer has lots more tasks such as programming depending on the requirements given and even producing documents and diagrams. designers focus more on the website design and apperance and that's about it while developers enhance these designs and add some functionality to them. they take care of data flow and storage also
Reply:I guess A developer develops more complex stuff like PHP or Java driven sites and actually writes specialized scripts for large companies, whilst a designer just creates web pages from his/her own creative ideas and pre-designed scripts. It's a close call. I agree that University degrees sound a bit off putting, but it's done in a effort to keep standards high. Ten year old kids can design web pages very well, but a lot don't understand many technicalities associated with good web design. In the same way most kids can draw, and draw well, one has to get a college or university degree to be an architect or graphic artist.





If you can't get back to college to get the necessary degrees or diplomas, you will have to prove yourself as a good web designer. Just remember that most of our best artists never went to art school! Design web pages, be proud of them and add you name as web designer and include a contact email address. Sooner or later someone may contact you. Another way is to advertise on shopping mall notice boards or do pamphlet drops in commercial areas. I can offer you a free site with all the space you will need at http://www.at3host.com Just sign up and begin creating great sites.

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