1. Job Choice – Webmaster Alex Haslam

2. Skills I need Webmasters need a large variety of skills in order to show that they’re above the rest and become employed: Webmasters need to be able host servers and maintain those servers for the website they are monitoring. They also need to be able write back up procedures in case those servers fail and keep contact with the servers to ensure they’re always running. I would obtain this skill by studying the Web Design course at University, as it is covered in the Syllabus and covered as a practical skill. Anyone who wishes to be a Webmaster also needs to have research skills. No matter how well qualified you are, each new website you work on requires new knowledge and to obtain that, Webmaster’s need to be able to research the new developments in website design. I have already obtained this skill after completing the OCR National IT course in Year 9 and having done BTEC IT in Year 10 and 11. I will also develop it further by studying Level 3 IT in Sixth Form. Having inter-personal communication skills are also a requirement for Webmasters. As designing a website for a company requires a lot of communication between the Webmaster and the company’s staff members. It is also important because you need to speak with the host of your website and constantly communicate with them to ensure the website is up and running. Being able to relate to people is also part of this skill, as without the ability to think through someone else’s perspective, you won’t be able to create a website that attracts a wide audience. This skill is one I intend to develop over the years as I will need to branch out to find new friends and probably on the course at University, where you inevitably design a website as an aspect of the course.

3. Characteristics I need Webmasters need a variety of personal skills in order to be successful in their work. Webmasters also need to have patience in their work as designing a website takes a lot of time and effort in order to create one that the company you’re working for can be proud of and will gladly display their image on. This skill is one I already have learnt and can apply them to any work I am currently doing. Another personal skill that I would need to pursue this career would be perseverance and dedication as being a Webmaster can have its setbacks as there will be obstacles that occur when designing a website, such as website crashes and sometimes bad hosts of servers. All of these are roadblocks in a Webmaster’s career but can be overcame if they persevere. This skill is one that everyone knows, but is overshadowed by someone’s laziness, which I am not. In order to be a good Webmaster, I would also need patience as designing a good website takes a while to make. While it would be easy with a website system like Weebly, companies much prefer a website to have their own address rather than have “.weebly “ in the address as it looks unprofessional and companies prefer their website to create a good first impression on potential clients. So being able to and creating your own website from scratch greatly aids the probability of employers choosing you to work for them. I already have the skill of being patient due to many years of living with older siblings and having a docile personality.

4. Why I would be a good Webmaster There are numerous reasons as to why I’d be a good webmaster. Webmasters are often times frequent web users themselves that know what web users like themselves want to see in a webpage. I often find myself surfing the internet and come across a variety of webpages and know what people like to see on a website, and what people do not like to see. I also like the flexibility of the job for Webmaster’s as they have different employment options, such as working for a company and only that company, or work for companies as a part-time employee, monitoring and maintaining multiple websites of those different companies. I also have good access to this job in this current age as young people such as myself can study the course at University and gain a degree in it.

5. Why I chose Webmaster as a career The reason I selected Webmaster to be my career choice is because of the interest I have in a job such as that. There are many parts about a Webmasters job that I would like and enjoy. One such part is the employability of Webmasters, as companies need people to maintain and develop sites all the time. I also like the different employment options Webmasters have as that means I could indulge in the different types and figure out which suits me the best. One such example of the employment options Webmasters have that attracts me is the ability to freelance between companies. This means that I could work from home while earning multiple wages from different companies as I maintain and construct their websites, without being tied down to work with one individual company. I also like the idea of a career in a job based around the internet, which is something I spend many hours on and think I would be able to design websites very well as I encounter so many different websites when I browse the internet. I also believe that being a Webmaster is something I could do well due to my ability to research and keep up to date with current advances in web designing due to my research skills, and I have the patience to design websites from scratch, as opposed to the supposed disappearance of patience in the current generation.