Web Design and E-Commerce

This is simply the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. It usually involves some/all of the following activities: e-tailing; gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts; Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - business-to-business exchange of data; use of e-mail to reach prospective & established customers; business-to-business buying and selling, and the security of business transactions.

It is becoming an integral part of many businesses and jobs exist both within end user companies (e.g. financial institutions, retailers and service providers) through to specialist agencies and consultancies. An understanding of business is as important as an understanding of technology.

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Web Development & Design

The word 'design' in this context goes beyond the technical design of a web page. To gain entry to this field, you often need to have a creative design background. Designers need to understand both sides of web page creation - design and development - to know what is technically possible. A good understanding of HTML and JavaScript is important. Flash 5 is useful and understanding of Actionscript an advantage (used to generate Flash movies).

Keep up with industry news and developments - think broadly about other internet platforms e.g. TV internet, games consoles, mobile internet (tablets, smartphones and Apps etc). There aren't really any qualifications you can take to become a 'professional' web developer/designer; employers will often expect you to have a portfolio of work to show what you can do.