a little advice

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Im nearing completion of my CIW foundations course,aiming toward a career in web design.
http://www.ciwcertified.com/jobroles/default.asp?comm=CND&llm=2
after this i plan on taking the next steps to earn the master ciw design qual. http://www.ciwcertified.com/certifications/mcd.asp?comm=CND&llm=2

im wondering what else i can do to get a foot in the door to the industry.
alons,i feel(may be wrong) that the above qualification alone may not be enough,and would like any advise as to what else i could study to add to my knowledge base.
im thinking along the lines of any other respected certification/training from microsoft or any other well known company. i basically want to learn as much as possible over the next few years to set myself a good base for designing,building and maintaining web sites or anything around this field.My ciw includes a foundation in networking topologies,protocols etc and has given me a good understanding of this area too.
there seem to be so many different opinions and learning tracks out there that i dont know where to head after my ciw is completed to master level.
any help or advise would be much appriciated.

thanks.

 

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Regarding a career in webdesign, any employer (or client if you decide to set up your own company) will want to see a portfolio of your work. If you can't show people any examples of your work why should they hire you. So I would advise you try and do as many websites as you can. You could try and contact local charites / youth groups / churches / small businesses etc. You could either do these for free or tell them that if they aren't happy with the finished site, they don't have to pay for it. This way they have nothing to lose.

This should enable you to build up a decent portfolio which should help you attract more (paying) clients or help you get a job with a web design firm. It also helps get your name around these organisations / businesses - don't underestimate the power of "word of mouth". If you create a good site for someone there is a good chance that at some stage they will be asked or tell someone about it, hopefully they mention your name et voila more work for you (hopefully).

A good site relating to all aspects of web development is www.sitepoint.com

Just some of my thoughts.

 

He's quite right you know.
Some kind of portfolio is a must. It is possible to complete the CIW course and never actually do any web design, which would be a bit pointless.
If you can't get anyone to give you a chance to have a go, then you'll just have to pretend.
I wouldn't set my hopes on getting a job after just doing the foundation, as the full course gives you a better collection of skills.
Unfortunately there's a real lack of decent web design courses out there, which is why everyone seems to plump for CIW.
Get a couple of books and play around with some stuff, it'll help.

 

Wes - theres a project that was given to me to produce a website for a Social Networking Orgnisation but i may not have the time to do it (and web development isn't something i really want to get into)..... It doesn't pay that well but its something u can add to your portfolio, pm if you're interested....