You might not remember, but it wasn’t that long ago that web design was one of the hottest degrees, drawing tons of students with the promise of abundant work thanks to businesses flocking to the online space in search of new customers. Of course, the market became saturated with web designers, until award-winning professionals practically had to beg for jobs. Going into your college career, you can learn a lesson from this occurrence. Specializing is smart, but when it comes to professions in cyber space, the more you can do, the better.
You need to diversify your talents if you want the best chance to succeed in your chosen career. In this respect, web development, or creating websites from the ground up, is the new web design degree, and it incorporates not only layout and design, but also creating sites that are optimized for mobile use, set up for ongoing SEO, and made to attract modern consumers. When you choose this major you stand to gain a lot of benefits.
- Play to Your Strengths
Kids these days grow up with computers, tablets, smartphones, and other computing devices. As a result, you’re already somewhat familiar with the hardware and software involved in a career in web development. If you love the marriage of technology and creativity inherent to careers in the online world, web development can offer you both in spades.
- Continue Learning
The onward march of technology ensures that you’ll never get bored with a job in web development. New advances in hardware and software are practically a daily occurrence, so there’s always more to learn. As a result, you’ll definitely have to continue your education well beyond your college years, staying abreast of what’s trending in your industry. This just means that you’ll enjoy a career that offers new challenges and rewards.
- Flexibility
Web developers have many options for employment. You could end up working full-time for a web development firm or joining a single corporate entity to build, manage, and support their website. You could also work from home as a contractor, taking on any number of clients. You might end up building and/or maintaining sites for your clients and you could even grow your business to include other employees. The point is that a degree in web development gives you options for a stable, traditional job or a more flexible, self-controlled work environment, depending on what you prefer.
- Growing Job Market
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in web development are projected to increase by 20% between 2012 and 2022. This is great news for college grads interested in finding gainful employment after graduation and still having career opportunities several years down the road.
- Livable Wages
Salaries for web developers vary widely, with the average median salary clocking in at just over $63,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is because there are so many different way to use a degree in web development. Depending on where you work, you could make more or less. This definitely bears some consideration – before you attend New England College and begin to take on student loan debt, you want to make sure you’ll be able to repay it after graduation.