Member Avatar for Pablo149

Hello everyone,
I am in the process of breaking into the web design field, and there's something that has me puzzled. In most areas of IT, there is usually some sort of certification involved; it might not be "necessary", but its extremely helpful to have. For example, if you want to get work as a PC technician, having an A+ cert usually gives you a leg up. I am wondering, is there anything similar for website design? I only ask because Ihave tried searching for something along those lines, and I'm getting strictly nowhere

cheers,
Pablo

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by AleMonteiro

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Short answer: hiring managers hire demonstrable work, not papers. A clear, focused portfolio of real projects — with process and outcomes — beats generic certificates 99 times out of 100. ’s advice about getting work to build credibility is exactly right, and ’s point about pairing visual tools with front-end chops is practical: learn through projects, not just tests. For structured learning and practice projects that map to real job skills, MDN’s Learn area is a reliable, up‑to‑date starting place. MDN Learn. (developer.mozilla.org)

What to put in a portfolio (practical checklist):

  • One‑line project summary (goal + your role).
  • Problem, users, constraints (what you were solving).
  • Process (sketch → wireframe → prototype) with 1–2 images each.
  • Decisions & tradeoffs (why you chose that UI/flow).
  • Outcomes and metrics (conversion, load time, accessibility fixes).
    Aim for 3–6 deep case studies rather than a dozen thumbnails; anonymize NDA work and keep a PDF deck for interviews. For examples of how to structure and present case studies, see this practical guide. How to build a successful portfolio. (interaction-design.org)

Skills and tooling to prioritise: design/interaction thinking and a modern prototyping tool (Figma is standard today), responsive layouts, basic JavaScript for interactions, version control (git), accessible design to WCAG standards, and measuring performance with Lighthouse/Core Web Vitals. Host live examples (GitHub Pages or similar) so reviewers can click through working demos. Figma. (figma.com) WCAG overview. (w3.org) Optimize Web Vitals / Lighthouse. (web.dev) GitHub Pages. (pages.github.com)

Where to show and find work: a clean personal site plus portfolio on networks like Behance or Dribbble gets visibility; contribute small real projects or open‑source fixes (code + design) and list them. Start with low‑risk paid gigs, write short scopes and simple contracts, and iterate your portfolio after each project — hiring follows evidence. Behance · Dribbble. (behance.net)

Practical next step: pick one small, finishable project (landing page or simple web app), document it as a case study, publish a live demo, and repeat — that compound portfolio is what will open the doors.

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Member Avatar for AleMonteiro

Certifications may help but I don't think they are essential at all.

What gives you credit on the web is what you have done for the web.
If you have a beautiful and fufilling portfolio it will be credit enough.

Of course that a pretty portfolio doesn't mean much if your clients and users complain about you and don't give good recommendations.

If you are starting, get a few small jobs with your friends and acquainteds. Don't charge much, in the begning it's more important to get experience and portfolio.

Good luck.

Member Avatar for Member #1106139

I agree with Ale. One is needed to establish a reputation of deliverable designs. You can start off by doing some free lance projects for your fellow students, colleagues and some minor projects for real clients once you are able to do these and decide how to handle various usability issues well enough you'll be able to step in as qualified web designer. Of course skills in one or more of those graphic tools like photoshop, ilustrator, some html & css knowledge, and of course you need to know about jquery & javascript too this is necessary too in my opinion.

Member Avatar for Pablo149

Thank you Ale and Dany; this is actually very encouraging. I already know a good deal about HTML and css, and a certain limited amount of experience with JavaScript. I enjoy learning about this, and really don't need an instructor or a formal setting to do so.

I am wondering though, besides building sites for friends and family, are their place online where you can demo your talent? I'm already signing up for Thumbtack, but I was wondering if either of you had any other suggestions?

Member Avatar for mattster

w3schools go a great set of certifications, but as mentioned, by no means essential to work.

Instead of Thumbstack, makes a forturne for its authors and developers.

Member Avatar for AleMonteiro

Envato is really nice, I never published anything, but I bought a pretty Adobe After Effects template and a great song to go in the background. Works wonders.

About w3schools certification, I'd say it's nice to test yourself. I got 96% in JavaScript and got really excited about it =)

commented: nice one! +4
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