AVENIR.ZHENG 郑焕义

      在Css Globe上看到的文章，思量了很久，觉得文章内容还是很实用的，特别是最后getting experience部分，文章语言也比较简单，也许这半桶水的英语也能发挥些作用，呵呵，所以尝试翻译了下，希望对大家有用，很多地方可能翻译不到位，请见谅斧正。

      题外话，YY了很久翻译题目，担心猥琐流会被人说标题党，意识流又会被人说浮夸风，直译的话，文章又不仅仅局限在开发，所以，很无耻地用了当今最没创意的创意方法起了文章题目。

      You’ve just graduated from university, or college and you want to get a job as a web developer / web designer, but it turns out it’s much harder than you realised. So how do you get that first job as a web developer?

      当我刚踏出校门，期待着，明天就能成为一名网页设计师或者网站开发工程师，到处碰灰后，才发现原来现实并不如设想的简单，我不得不重新考虑，该做些什么，才能有一份网页开发的工作。

      Web agencies want, no, demand junior developers to come in and to be able to start work immediately and most graduates can’t do that. Of course, a junior developer will learn on the job and constantly improve and with the help of a good middleweight or senior developer above them, they’ll improve significantly more but they need to have the basics down first.

      目前，大多数网络公司只需要即插即用的人才，而我们，命中注定似得并不是那种人。然而事实摆在了眼前，“新鲜人”总是能在岗位上快速成长，不仅通过自我学习，还包括从有经验的工程师身上的学习和指导，有的时候，成长速度还大大超过大家所期望的，但这些，都要我们有最“基础”的保证。

The basics

The basic skills of a junior web developer will consist of:

• buying domain names and updating/setting-up DNS on those domains
• setting up a local web server with xampp or mamp
• building HTML/CSS templates from a Photoshop/Illustrator/Fireworks design
• backing up files in SVN
• installing/setting up a new website with the agency’s in-house CMS or open source varieties like WordPress/Drupal/etc
• keeping track of time and learning how long it takes to do key tasks

基础

      网站开发工程师的基本技能：

• 拥有个人的独立域名，并懂得设置DNS记录。
• 能用xampp或mamp配置本地服务器。
• 能用PS/AI/FW等设计HTML/CSS的模板
• 懂得利用SVN备份网站
• 使用CMS（内容管理系统）或开源代码（wp/drupal等）构建新网站
• 能跟上时代步伐并清楚每个关键任务所需要的开发周期

      When I went to university to study Computer Science, I certainly didn’t learn any of those basic skills in lectures or in projects. Some, I picked up in a placement year, where I worked as web designer for the local council, but for the most part I picked those skills up on my own in my spare time and so did everyone else in this field – we’re all self taught by blogs, books and podcasts.

      在我的计算机科学课堂或项目作业上，我根本没有学到上面的任何一条，而当我开始作为网页设计师在本地的政府机关实习时，我开始接触了一些，然后，利用课余时间，我跟大伙一样，通过博客、书籍、播客自学掌握了其中大部分的技能。

How I got my first job

      In my first year at uni (2001-02), the lecturer in charge of  industrial placements told us that there were ‘no jobs in web design/development‘, this made my heart sink. However, a year later when the work placements started to be advertised on the university notice boards at least half were for web based jobs. I decided then and there that I wanted to be a web developer and that such a thing was actually possible. Sadly, every placement I applied for wanted me to have experience which I didn’t have.

      After six months of trying to get a placement which involved lots of (failed) interviews, I realised I needed some hands-on experience to get any sort of credibility with interviewers, so I started to maintain the website (for free) of the charity that my girlfriend’s mother worked for. My CV  now had some experience and a URL on it. In interviews I talked about it to prove I had relevant experience, not to mention initiative and eventually with only one week before term was due to restart I got that work placement.

      Fast forward to my final year (2004-05), and in January/March, I sent out a mail merge to around 30 different Manchester, Cheshire and nearby web agencies informing them of who I was and that I was graduating in six months. Nothing much happened; I might have got three emails all of which saying thanks but they weren’t interested just now.

      Closer to graduation, I put my CV online with websites like reed.co.uk, cwjobs.co.uk, etc and starting applying for jobs – still nothing. With one month to graduation, I put my CV on Manchester Digital, and then I got an email which eventually lead to my first job at JJB Sports. By spreading myself out and trying different techniques I found one that actually worked!

我是这样获得第一份工作

      大一时（2001-02），我们的导师告诉我，“没有网页设计和网站开发的工作”，这让我一丝丝地伤心着。但一年过后，大学的公告里，却有至少一半的实习岗位是与网页相关的，那时，我便下定决心，一定要成为“网站开发工程师”。事实上，我确总是因为没有经验而被这些实习单位拒之门外。

      6个月以来，这些失败的实习面试告诉了我，经验是多么的重要，于是，我免费为岳母构建了她公司的网站，现在，我的简历总算填上实打实在的项目经验了。在面试中，我谈及了这次项目经验，而结果，不出乎意料，在开学的前一周，我把握住了这次机会。

      很快到了大四（2004-05），在一月到三月的时间，我发了接近30封统一格式的邮件给了30间不同的网络公司，公司大多在曼城，柴郡或附近。让他们都知道有这样一个六月份即将毕业的应届生，邮件大多石沉大海，只有3封礼貌地回复他们目前并没有计划。

      临接近毕业，我把简历放上了热门的招聘网站，然后继续求职，结果继续被鄙视。毕业前的最后一个月，我把简历上传到Manchester Digital，终于，如久旱逢甘雨，JJB Sports给了我第一份正式的工作。在不同地方，尝试了用不同方式营销自己后，我终于发现了其中的门道。

How you can get your first job

I wouldn’t hire someone who:

• has a hotmail/yahoo email address (tip: gmail, your own domain, mac.com, or anything else looks better)
• doesn’t have a website/blog/online portfolio or a twitter account
• has no experience whatsoever
• I’ve never heard of

      The last two points are the biggies. Experience is everything in this industry. You can get very far very quickly with no qualifications if you’re good as a web developer. A good education is brilliant but if the guy next to you has three year’s experience on his CV and you only have a degree then experienced guy looks better (in most cases).

      The last point – means you have to get your name out there, so apply for jobs, talk on twitter, try to network, try to learn some important people’s names. Everyone in this industry knows everyone else therefore, if you apply to agency X and don’t get the job but you impress someone then a guy/girl working at agency X might tell his friend working at agency Y about you. Of course, it helps to be memorable, like this guy.

你也能获得第一份工作

换位思考，要是你有以下特征，我也需要“认真考虑考虑”：

• 用hotmail/yahoo邮箱 译注：应该是指用很通俗的免费邮箱，像163、qmail、126。（提示：gmail、独立域名或者@mac.com都会让你与众不同。）
• 没有个人网站，博客，作品集甚至twitter账号
• 缺乏经验
• 默默无名

      最后两点很关键，在这个领域，经验说明一切，纵使没有学历证明，你也能在这个领域找到自己的位置。与有3年经验的工程师相比，你的学历显然相形见绌。

      最后一点告诉我们，你要主动加入这个圈子，当你求职时，多在twitter发牢骚，尝试通过网络建立社交圈子，尽量记住一些大人物的名字，这个圈子其实很小，大家都互相认识，即使你在A公司求职失败，也许哪天，A公司的人会跟B公司的朋友介绍你呢。这都能帮助你成为“大人物”,像他们一样。

Getting the experience

If you have no experience and therefore no commercial references, you desperately need to get some. If I were in that situation (again) I’d be looking to:

• set up my own website/blog
• set up a website for a relative’s small business
• work for free (or low pay) in a local web agency – making tea if I had to
• take a lower paid (than expected) job as web developer
• read books/blogs and practice web development as much as possible
• make some money while waiting for that dream web development job

      If you apply for a job with no commercial experience, but you have built your own website then you’ll instantly look much better than your competitor who has no experience and no website.

获得经验

      再次换位思考，如果我是你，或者说是过去的我，没有经验，没有商业项目，我肯定会：

• 建立个人网站/博客
• 建立小型的工作室类网站
• 免费（廉价）的给本地的网络公司打工 – 茶水生也在所不辞
• 接低于预期价格的网站开发项目
• 多学习，多实践
• 在遇到伯乐前，多做项目，养饱肚子。

      商业经验和你的个人网站是求职路上的两件重要武器，如果你两个都没有，你还能指望用什么来击败你的对手，god bless you.