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I have an interview for 'apprentice web developer'

I'm 38 and have applied for some apprentis roles this year. LOL. :facepalm: Heard zero back. But I start a job next month. :cool: After nearly 2 years on the rock and roll. The guy wants to meet you. That's gotta be half the job done. Get a feel for web dev stuff over the weekend. Don't get over wraught with all the technologies and alphabet soup. HTML and CSS are pretty easy to learn once you get the concepts. There are loads of reference books you can find.

I don't know if people still use Dreamweaver. Which is a What You See Is What You Get editor. But you can start just with notepad for knocking up a basic site. But yeah, just get a feel for what it involves before trying to get your head round the coding.
 
I always assumed that DotCommunist was destined to join the digital cognitariat.
 
DotCommunist said:
...a chance to get the grounding to break out of min-wage jobs has to be grasped...
Click to expand...

Yes, an apprenticeship could be a great opportunity. Obviously, it all depends...

In the short term, however, it can mean a miserable hourly rate. The normal National Minimum Wage is currently £6.31 per hour, but if the worker is an apprentice the minimum is £2.68 per hour.
 
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Good luck with it DC .. sounds like it could be good, age should not be an issue, as mentioned, there is no need to even mention your date of birth on your CV as it is now illegal to discriminate on age.

eta: I developed websites for a few years, if I can learn how to do it I am sure you can!
 
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No worries on helping with the CV.

You can download a trial version of dreamweaver, free for 30 days from macromedia.com.

Might give you an idea of what's involved in web design.
 
I got myself off the dole 16 years ago by learning to do web development. The industry's changed quite a lot but it's still a decent way to work part-time / part of the year and have a nice life.
 
Most professionals working in web dev at the moment are completely self-taught (since universities mostly do proper programming, and schools are shit), so there's nothing stopping you from becoming a relatively competent web developer in short order with the aid of a few books and reading up on the web. The best way to learn, though, is to get building stuff yourself - only when you can see how to break things can you work out how to fix them.

Assuming you have a computer of some sort, download and install XAMPP (or MAMP if you're on a Mac). It's a full-stack development platform, so you can try out everything from PHP and MySQL to HTML/CSS/JavaScript on your local machine.

One of the best 'teach yourself' resources at the moment is Codeacademy - http://www.codecademy.com/ If you're going to be a web developer, you probably want to start off with HTML, then CSS and JavaScript.

Good luck. :)
 
Web development can be a challenging, interesting* job, the most horrendous thing about is is the lack of standards between browsers, although it's better than it used to be!

* if you like problem solving that is.
 
DotCommunist said:
I have heard nowt yet tbf. But given its a personal connection rather than a stranger like, I can expect a dear jon if nothing else- so silence is not neccesarily bad news
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Good luck whatever happens. And job-wise, keep pulling the handle on the one-armed bandit.
 
I had a bash at the web dev thing some years back and got sidetracked by hitting a few unrelated bumps in my life and never got back to it. If you're going to be developing in anything more than a simple production 'bolt and build' stylee it's going to take a lot of commitment (learning programming is an exercise in gaining humility through pain, frustration and small breakthroughs) but you've got smarts on your side.

Best of luck with it - and stop worrying about the age thing - 31ffs!, you're a wee bairn! :)
 
xenon said:
I'm 38 and have applied for some apprentis roles this year. LOL. :facepalm: Heard zero back. But I start a job next month. :cool: After nearly 2 years on the rock and roll. The guy wants to meet you. That's gotta be half the job done. Get a feel for web dev stuff over the weekend. Don't get over wraught with all the technologies and alphabet soup. HTML and CSS are pretty easy to learn once you get the concepts. There are loads of reference books you can find.

I don't know if people still use Dreamweaver. Which is a What You See Is What You Get editor. But you can start just with notepad for knocking up a basic site. But yeah, just get a feel for what it involves before trying to get your head round the coding.
Click to expand...
I thoguht that the whole point of hiring an apprentice was to get the governemnt to pay their low wages. Think this only works if you're under a certain age.

Agism is illegal unless you are willing to take the government's script.
 
it has come to nothing unfortunately- he's taken someone else on. And I have a thursday appointment with the CMHT to address issues so maybe it was trying to leap before I can walk etc.

he has said he'll consider me for roles in future.

on the whole legalese thing- it's a bod from mums church, all very informal etc.
 
DotCommunist said:
it has come to nothing unfortunately- he's taken someone else on. And I have a thursday appointment with the CMHT to address issues so maybe it was trying to leap before I can walk etc.

he has said he'll consider me for roles in future.

on the whole legalese thing- it's a bod from mums church, all very informal etc.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear that you didn't get the job. Hope your meeting on Thursday is helpful.
 
stuff_it said:
I thoguht that the whole point of hiring an apprentice was to get the governemnt to pay their low wages. Think this only works if you're under a certain age.

Agism is illegal unless you are willing to take the government's script.
Click to expand...

There are different rates for apprentices, under 21, under 25. Can't remember off hand. The highest rate is still something like half min wage, very roughly though. Ageism, disabledism. Who knows why you get rejected when you never get a reply in most circs.

I'm still actually waiting for a start date for the job I got and signing on meanwhile. :hmm:

DotCommunist said:
it has come to nothing unfortunately- he's taken someone else on. And I have a thursday appointment with the CMHT to address issues so maybe it was trying to leap before I can walk etc.

he has said he'll consider me for roles in future.

on the whole legalese thing- it's a bod from mums church, all very informal etc.
Click to expand...

Bad luck mate. Good to have the contact though.

If web dev stuff does take your fancy, well a lot of IT TBF, the good thing is you can with sufficient motivation just sit at a PC and teach yourself, books, online etc. And do bits and pieces for peple to get some experience.
 
DotCommunist said:
it has come to nothing unfortunately- he's taken someone else on. And I have a thursday appointment with the CMHT to address issues so maybe it was trying to leap before I can walk etc.

he has said he'll consider me for roles in future.

on the whole legalese thing- it's a bod from mums church, all very informal etc.
Click to expand...
Maybe it just wasn't the right time for you to to take on a new role, but it absolutely sucks that you didn't get it :(

Good news about the CMHT appointment though - onwards and upwards.
 
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