What should I do?

[c1vineoflife]

Hi, I'm pretty new to the Site Point forums, so if you haven't seen me around, my name is William. Well, I'm in college right now and I need to decide what I'm going to do as far as my career goes. I really enjoy web design and such, and I would really love to do it as a profession. Now, my question is:

Am I going to be able to put food on the table as a web designer?

Is it hard to find work as a web designer? Is it hard keeping work? Also, do any of you suggest that I look into a different profession (something that has to do with computers)? I just have a real passion for computers and I want to do something with them. Thank you so much!

[worchyld]

Depends on how much you eat and how big your table is.

[Lil_Red]

To be honest, I think there is a glut of web designers. There's an extremely low barrier of entry to do the work so a lot of people are doing it.

[JakeCop]

Don't let everyone put you off here mind. There is a glut of web designers, but most of them are bad. Web design is a combination of coding knowledge, design or artistic ability and a knowledge of userbility. A marketing knowledge also helps.

You can make a very good living from it, but I would have thought that, if you're just starting out, the most important thing you'll need is contacts. There are a lot of untapped clients out there, and if you have contacts in your local area you'll do OK.

[Egor]

If you talk freelance, there's a LOT of work around. Make great lookin' stuff and the work will find you.

As for full-time studio jobs, there isn't too many around (at least not web design on it's own). I'm focusing on graphic (print) design more now as it looks like a brighter future.

[c1vineoflife]

Don't let everyone put you off here mind. There is a glut of web designers, but most of them are bad. Web design is a combination of coding knowledge, design or artistic ability and a knowledge of userbility. A marketing knowledge also helps.

You can make a very good living from it, but I would have thought that, if you're just starting out, the most important thing you'll need is contacts. There are a lot of untapped clients out there, and if you have contacts in your local area you'll do OK.

What do you mean by contacts? Also, what should I major in for web design? Is it "Computer Information Systems"? Thank you all for your replies. I really appreciate it.

[aspen]

There are plenty of older threads on the future of web design, web design as a career, and whatnot where we have discussed this issue in depth. So rather than offer another lengthy explanation, let me just say...

No. A job with a low barrier to entry that can be replaced by smart productivity software, automated services, or people in third world countries, is not a secure job and if you want financial security you need to take a more traditional route with your education. Get a graphic design degree and master HTML/CSS/Photoshop on the side.

[worchyld]

I wasn't meant to be "putting you off", meerly it was a philosphocial question.

Computer Information Systems doesn't sound to be web design. The best thing you can do is ask the lecturer (by telephone or otherwise) about the course, what do you want to actually know and how will this course help you?

I would find a course that is business-focused. Remember, your business, whatever it is, will have to be business-focused at one time or another.