It is no secret that tech industry jobs are becoming more sought after. The last 50 years have seen a boom in tech-related jobs, creating new and unseen job roles like UX designer, UI researcher, web developer and software engineer. Those working in the technology sector are likely to have competitive salaries, good career prospects and job security. Working in the sector also comes with the benefit of being remote at most times- an opportunity taken advantage of my those that prefer to earn and travel at the same time.
Why Learn Web Design?
One of the best things about upskilling in tech / web design is the fact that it is something you can quite easily learn through courses, videos, and hands-on experience. Yes, you may need to know some theory, and a degree in a relevant subject may be listed as a desired part of the tech job descriptions, but ultimately the person who can do the job well and can provide evidence of working on a project will stand in good stead.
Upskilling in Tech
People move into tech from pretty much any background, due to it’s new and ongoing learning nature. It cannot harm you to learn just a bit more in a field you may not have explored before. Furthermore, with degrees previously leading to a job in the sector, tech jobs are more open to self-taught and course-taught applicants.
I can attest to this myself – I studied English Literature at university and – like many students- found myself wondering how I would find work when I did eventually graduate. I saw that many roles I was interested in required an advanced level of technical ability that we simply were not being taught in the degree and realised I will need to upskill before I graduate to land a job in a sector I wanted.
This, coupled with all the disruption that COVID caused, resulted in my applying to online and digital volunteering roles that would enable me to learn the necessary hard skills needed to land a job in these roles. I started off with becoming a student ambassador, online tutoring primary and secondary school students, and starting my own blog, but the role that I found most interesting was working with websites.
A Bridge Between Multiple Passions
Over COVID, business suddenly needed to adapt to an online marketplace – those without an online presence would ultimately suffer. Websites can be found on both and large scale (think major corporations) as well as small scale (such as personal individual blogs). Working with websites was a way to combine my love and skill for writing with my passion for creativity and design. The experience that truly unlocked this for me was the PODTech Web Design Internship -a free course that both teaches and provides hands on experience on web design with a real client. Since the internship I have found employment in a Communications role in which I work with websites and social media on the daily.
More About the PODTech Web Design Course
The PODTech Web Design course is in collaboration with The Prince’s Trust. The course is open for learners aged between 16-30 who are not in full time education or work.
During the programme you will:
- Design and create your own website using web-building software.
- Gain knowledge about marketing and engaging with customers online
- Develop your IT skills
- Meet likeminded people and build confidence and motivation
- Receive up to six months of ongoing support after the programme to help you find employment, education training or self-employment
- Have lunch and travel expenses provided.
Join the 2022 Course
- Taster day= 30th Nov
- Programme= 1st-5th Dec
- Email: southeast@princes-trust.org.uk
- Phone: 0800842842
Find out more and sign up here:
Testimonials
“The 2022 internship was a flexible 3-month programme consisting of a 2 day course in web building, and subsequent weeks that allow interns to hone the skills learnt in the course by creating and developing websites for clients- according to their individual business or organisational needs. The course started off with the basics and builds upon the information to more complex and detailed aspects of web design. I decided to volunteer because of my interest in marketing and website design, which started when I began my WordPress blog and wanted to learn more about setting up and optimising a WordPress website.
During the process I have not only learned how to generate a good quality WordPress website and practiced creating one in the course, I have also been part of a team generating a website for a client to suit their organisation’s needs. In this project, I have been given responsibilities and a real say in the design of the website- from the images and colour schemes used to the overall wireframe design of the webpages.
I now feel much more confident in my abilities to create a custom website to a brief for myself or a client, and have also learned about SEO (search engine optimisation) and UX (user experience) , which involve making the website rank higher on google through the use of keywords and phrases, and creating a well-formatted webpage that translates over to phone readership well. I believe this skill is very useful for the current time and can be applied in a wide range of roles and even hobbies. I would recommend this internship for people looking to start their own business ventures.”
Imaan, Editor of REACH local Magazine. Communications Assistant at Oriel College, University of Oxford.
“Simon has been a great support with getting the start up element of my website up and running. He was available for any enquires, very friendly and extremely knowledgeable in his field. I would definitely recommend Simon. Thanks for helping me learn and gain confidence in website building!”
Katie Enchanted Forest Therapies
“The courses offered by Simon have been amazing, more so as they are free! As a technophobe, I find it very difficult understanding all the the technology along with the new language used; it just becomes gobbledegook! This course has made it easy to understand not only the language but also the way it works.”
Manse Bushcraft and Ancient Skills School (Oxford)
“I was completely out of my depth when it came to website building . But I came across Simon’s PODTech website design course. It taught all about the security a website can have. I learnt how important it was to have a consistent colour scheme, when creating a website. The coursed enlighten me to how Elementor works, how it can make your site more eye catching to your audience. Upon completing the course I have gained the confidence to create my own business website . The course was really useful and helpful. I would highly recommend it for anyone wanting to create a website.”
Beth L J Creationz
“I feel very blessed to have worked with Simon for over a year now. I had a small amount of knowledge about websites but since working with Simon, I now feel confident to manage my website and make changes because he spent the time to teach me and listen to what I needed. Nothing is ever too much, I now consider Simon a friend and look forward to continuing our working relationship in the future.”
Hayley Hemp Harmony
“I’m the founder of a volunteer-based initiative that helps university students in Lebanon. We have very limited funds so getting support and advice from PODTech on how to develop our own website has been an invaluable help and we are so grateful that companies like PODTech are making technology accessible to everyone.”
Christine Chamoun, founder of the student initiative Atamanna.
Email Simon if you are interested in this opportunity: Simon@podtech.org.
If you are interested in Website Design and Digital Branding in Oxfordshire, and would like a custom made website to meet your business and organsational needs, see here.
If you are interested in a FREE beginner HTML and CSS course, see here for more info.
