Preparation for Employment

Job Title: WEB DESIGNER LEPFTS/132949
Location: MANCHESTER CITY CENTRE
Hours: 5 DAYS 9AM - 5:30PM
Wage: £14,000 - £16,000 PER ANNUM
Work Pattern: Days
Closing Date: 12/10/2009
Pension: No details held
Duration: PERMANENT ONLY

Description

The position is ideal for a University graduate looking to kick start their career in web design with opportunities of working their way up within the company. We are seeking an enthusiastic,motivated,creative hard working individual to work with our current design team. The role will include the day to day management, maintenance & design of our ever expanding portfolio of web sites and involvement in our email marketing program. Experience using Adobe Photoshop & Dreamweaver are a must along with XHTML & CSS. Knowledge of Flash would be an advantage. No work experience necessary but strong knowledge of the above applications a must.

Original advert can be found on: jobcentreplus.co.uk

I have chosen this job advert because it is one I feel I could apply for upon finishing the HND. No prior experience in the industry is required (something that I noticed a lot of employers wanted) making it ideal for someone just coming out of education.

The only experience desired is with Photoshop, Dreamweaver, XHTML and CSS, all of which I have used throughout this course. Knowldege of Flash is considered an advantage for this particular role but is not listed as essential, and I have used Flash on a previous course so it would not be completely new to me.

I have had some problems with XHTML and CSS whilst on this course, but I feel I’ve already improved and my skill as a coder would now be sufficient for this job.

Other skills they list are enthusiastic, motivated, creative and hard working, all of which I believe apply to myself. As I’ve said before, I do need to work on my creativity when it comes to designing (as I believe my creative talents lie more in writing) but in spite of this I still feel that I am a creative individual, and with time I can bring this out visually as well as through my creative writing.

If I were to apply for a job such as this after the course, I would mostly concentrate on my creativity in preparation. I think the other skills they list have always applied to me, and the practical skills I have learnt through the course.

In terms of my creativity, I think to improve I need to be looking for more inspiration, enabling me to produce more creative designs and build up a better portfolio to show to employers.

The advert also states that I would be working with their current design team. While I may not come across as very sociable at college, this is down to some things going on in my personal life at present. However, I feel it would not be a problem when I am ready to go into the working world.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t find it particularly difficult to work as part of a team, and my time management (in terms of meeting deadlines) is excellent meaning I would not let the team down and would be quite capable of sharing the workload. I also think I have good people skills which have been improved through my part-time job as a checkout operator at Asda, where I have been nominated for the ‘Above and Beyond the Call of Duty’ (ABCD) award on several occassions for good and friendly service.

If I improve on my creativity I think I’d stand a good chance of getting this job.

Therefore, to summarise, I will work on improving my creativity to a more professional standard by looking for more inspiration in preparation for employment in a similar role. I will also ensure my skills at XHTML and CSS are also of a professional standard through lots more practice.