How to Start Your Career as a Website Developer in Nigeria

 

The tech industry is one of the most booming industries in the world, leaving web development as one of the most lucrative jobs around. To be candid, almost everyone who makes use of the internet enjoys the work of web development. Although, web development might seem confusing and unsettling to the eye, there is more to the existing knowledge we have about it.

When I had no knowledge of what web development meant, it was difficult to picture the importance of some ‘bunch of crazy looking’ codes. Anytime I saw people coding, I usually experience this headache on their behalf until late last year where I took a course on it and if I am being very honest, it was very exciting for me, after mathematics though. From the knowledge of web development specialization to knowing the importance and relevance of some basic tools, it was really very interesting. However, its simplicity does not guarantee a smooth sail. As you know, nothing that fetches one a lot of money comes that easy. It requires a lot of work and effort

In Nigeria, it is very easy to start a career as a website developer. Free internships and boot camps are even setup to engage people in this booming skill. Asides that, there are a lot of resources online that can be grabbed and used to understand the full course of web development.

 

What is Web Development?

Web development is simply the act to building websites for the internet. This term covers a lot and it demands high level of learning skills.

How exactly can you start a career as a website developer in our beloved country, Nigeria?

·         Research on Web Development

It does not make sense you do not have a brief knowledge of what you want to do. Considering such a field as a career is a big deal as it requires a lot of investment. Making research will enlighten you and make you decide whether you would really love to go through the investment or not.

You need to know the set of skills you require and you also need to check out what top web developers are doing (follow who know road).  

·         Learn the Fundamentals of Web Development

The fundamentals or basics of web development is everything. This provides a foundation for further learning as it determines how far you can go.

As you already know, even in Nigeria, being a web developer is competitive and it is not something you would want to take with levity but utmost effort. So, you need to know the coding basics, know how the HTML works, learn tools, know the importance of styling sheets, just to mention a few. 

Learning the fundamentals gives you room to understand the whole idea indirectly. 

·         Make decision on the specialization of web development you would love to work on

Knowing what works best for you is another thing you should never ignore. At least if you want to be highly relevant in this field, you have to do what you know you can do best. It is not little but it is just being yourself. 

In Nigeria, deciding of how to start a career as a web developer is something that requires a lot of courage.

So, you have to know, do you want to be a Front-end developer?

Or a back-end developer?

Or even both (full-stack developer)?

·         Learn the salient programming languages

There are a lot of programming languages, but there are also key programming languages you must have at the back of your mind. Sometimes, when web developers are hired, the knowledge of the programming language they have is very important, hence, the importance to at least know these key programming languages which are JAVASCRIPT, PHYTON and JAVA.

This does not mean that having knowledge about all other programming languages would be redundant but these three are like the most required and popular out there.

Still, you are still expected to make your research on it.

 

·   Practice consistently by building projects and build a portfolio

One of the keys to being a great developer is constant practice and taking up versatile projects in order to learn more and gain experience. The more you take up different projects, the more you have works to build your portfolio. You should always remember to take up several types of projects as it makes your portfolio look more interesting and appealing to the employer eyes.

Market yourself

After following the steps above and you are fully aware that you can really do this, always remember you would have to market yourself and put yourself out there. You would definitely use the social media and you would need to prove that you are worth any of your desired offer.

Although, there was a time where being a web developer requires you having a degree in relevant courses like computer science and the likes, it is not like that anymore. Anyone from any field can decide to choose this career and invest in it. I have a friend who is a Biochemist and is also a very brilliant web developer. So, you do not even have to bother about the academic qualifications before you thrive in the outside world or in the market. Basically what is needed is your uniqueness and what you have to offer. 

Another thing you should have at the back of your mind is that you must be flexible. New programming languages would keep developing over the years and you cannot just keep living in the past. Therefore, a good web developer is constantly ready to learn and adjust to whatever changes the system brings.