In Search of Gainful Employment

[blrouley]

Just doing a cursory search on Dice, I found over 9200 jobs listed for Web Developer versus about 2800 jobs for Database Administrator.

Some history: I learned HTML when Netscape was at version 0.9 and I have been doing computer support work for most of my (not so illustrious) career. The pinnacle of my success was becoming an IT Manager for a start up company at the start of the tech bubble. I was the geek who built the network from the ground up - literally, the building didn't have walls when I was ordering the UPS and server racks and finding the right wiring contractor, and ordering new servers, etc. All that for about $70K a year plus stock options.
Such wonderful memories!
I was unceremoniously kicked to the curb when the bubble burst and have been in the mortgage industry for the last 4 years. Yow.

Now, I need to get back into tech and jobs for support people are in short supply. So, I am looking for the fastest way to get on board with web development.

Threads in this lounge suggest that knowing HTML is enough, but some job descriptions read like a shopping list of acronyms like this:
HTML, CSS, PHP, CGI, Perl, JAVA, JavaScript, MySQL, etc. I would add that some of them also sound like an ad for Adobe/Macromedia products - which I won't list here.
So, it seems that I have a lot of homework to do to get up to speed as quickly as possible. Perhaps a shortcut would be to specialize in some development tool that is widely used like ColdFusion.

Finally, the question:
If you had to acquire a skill that would get your "foot in the door" (even an entry level position - I am not proud), where would you begin? Adobe offers 2 and 3 day "boot camps" for learning their products. I am wide open to suggestions as to the quickest way to become proficient enough to provide a valuable skill set to some employer.

Thank you in advance for your help.

BR

[vishesh]

first of all search for online books and quick tutorials so that you can get a drift. Go to www.w3schools.com or search with gooooooooogle

[vishesh]

infact all the languages that you have mentional are not too tough and are easy to learn if you practice them well. its adviced to learn atleast one server side script such as asp or php. css is compulsory. you would soon know why is it.

[blrouley]

Thanks, man! By the way, I now have a support job with the Palm Springs Convention Center. It will make me stretch and grow, while I stealthily build my web development skills.

Thank you for your help.

Brian