A question asked by many aspiring Web Designers concerns whether or not they will need to become certified in elements of the web design process. This can be a difficult question to answer because it varies greatly depending on the kind of work a designer wants to pursue, and it depends on the kind of training a designer needs to complement their existing skills.

It is also potentially challenging because there are multiple ways to become certified, and it is possible to become a certified professional in a design tool as opposed to becoming a certified designer. Read on to learn more about the different types of certifications available and the advantages of being certified as a Web Designer.

Web design is a fairly unique career path in that it offers professionals a number of different ways in which they can advance their careers. Whether you want to specialize in specific elements of the web design process or you simply want to climb the career ladder working as a generalist designer, you’ll be able to find a career path that works for you.

While many Web Designers do have two-year associate or four-year bachelor's degrees, there is no formal education requirement for the position. Many job listings will specify whether or not they are looking for someone with a college degree, and having a degree will certainly improve your job prospects, but lacking a degree won’t shut you out from finding work in web design. In many cases, assuming you have the technical training, a specialized degree won’t even be that much more advantageous than a more generalist degree.

No matter your education level, there is a path for you to find a career in web design. While the path will be obvious for students with degrees in web design, this isn’t the only way forward. Read on to learn more about the most common web design degrees and ways to position yourself on the job market without a specialist degree.

Aspiring designers and creative types may be interested in web design but are unsure if it is the right career path for them. In general, web design work is great for creatives who are hoping for a structured work environment where they can flex their creative muscles and make use of a wide variety of different skills in their regular work. Web Designers, particularly in their early careers, will work on a variety of different projects and be tasked to balance a number of different aspects of the design process, ranging from visual design to programming. There are a few things to consider before entering a career in web design, and these are important questions to ask before committing to a long-term career plan.

Working in web design is a great way to find reliable work in a growing industry, particularly if you are willing to specialize your skills and have a good grasp on the creative part of the job. Every second, three web pages are launched, and that number is only expected to grow, meaning that Web Designers will continue to be in high demand as companies and organizations become more attuned to the importance of their digital footprint.

Since most major web design studios and companies that employ in-house web design teams are located in major metropolitan areas, aspiring Web Designers may be seriously considering relocating to another city in order to find a job. This is an understandable impulse, but it also carries a tremendous risk, particularly for designers who don’t yet have a stable job in the city they are moving to. One way to approach this concern is to research and explore the different qualities that make a city ideal for Web Designers and then look at the kinds of jobs on offer in those cities.

Web design is an incredibly varied career field, and as a result, there are a lot of different job titles and specializations that will impact your responsibilities and job requirements. These different job titles are important to research because they will shape the day-to-day work of a Web Designer, and importantly, it will affect their starting salaries. Specializing in web development, for instance, means that you will work with more programming projects, but you won’t need to worry about learning design skills.

Since web design is such a varied profession, salaries are likely to vary rather significantly across specializations, and they will be contingent on things like education, experience and location. It is important to consider the potential for long-term salaries when looking for a web design job, particularly if you are interested in deciding whether or not to specialize in a given field of the industry. Learning more about the factors that go into your salary can help you make a more informed decision about your potential career path.

Aspiring Web Designers might be interested in learning the day-to-day workflow of designers so that they can judge whether or not the field is right for them. Most Web Designers work for companies or firms and will have fairly stable workday schedules. While the work will vary depending on the stage of the project you are working on, it is possible to map out a relatively consistent work schedule. Specialist Web Designers and more advanced designers (such as team leaders) will have different day-to-day responsibilities. 

Students interested in learning more about the day-to-day jobs of designers can read on to help make a more informed decision about whether or not this is the kind of career they can see themselves in.

Simply being trained in web design isn’t enough to ensure that you are able to find a job. Candidates will need to use their portfolios, cover letters, and resumes to demonstrate a fairly varied skill set to hiring managers. Not only will they need to display that they have sufficient technical skills in web design tools like Figma, but they will also need to demonstrate skills such as coding and graphic design proficiency. Plus, they’ll need to be able to demonstrate that they possess a number of different soft skills that are important for design studio work.

Some of these skills will be technical skills that you learn in a professional training program, and you’ll demonstrate these skills in your portfolio and resume. Other skills will be creative design skills since it isn’t enough to know how to use a tool, rather, you need to demonstrate that you can use it well. Aspiring designers will also need to demonstrate technical coding skills, though this may often be in the form of a technical skills interview.