Workshop days can be portrayed as a strong aspect by some training academies. After chatting with most computer industry hopefuls who've attended a few, you'll begin to see a common thread - they are viewed as a difficulty to be 'got round' because of many things:

- All the travelling required - many journeys and often hundreds of miles a time.

- Weekday only accessibility for workshops can be usual, and with 2-3 days to book off work, this can be difficult for the majority of students who work.

- And don't forget lost holiday time. Usually we're lucky to have four weeks vacation allowance. If half of that is used up on workshops, then we haven't got much left for ourselves.

- Workshop days can 'sell out' fast and often end up larger than is ideal.

- The pace of the workshop - workshops can have trainees of mixed aptitude, therefore tension develops between students that want a quicker pace to those who want to go a little slower.

- Don't forget the increased expense of driving or several days bed and breakfast either. This can run to hundreds and even thousands of pounds extra. Work it out - you'll get a shock.

- You should never risk even a small chance of letting yourself be side-stepped for advancement or income boosts because you're getting trained in a different area.

- It's not unusual to feel awkward about asking questions in a room full of other attendees - so we don't appear ignorant.

- If you occasionally work away from home, it's a fact of life that workshops sometimes become difficult to get to - but unfortunately, they've been paid for in advance.

For a far more flexible approach, exploit pre-made workshops at the location of your choice - taking them when it's convenient to you - not anyone else. Training can take place wherever it suits you. Got a laptop?... Then you could get a bit of fresh air in your garden as you study. Any problems and make use of the 24x7 support. You have the ability to do the elements as many times as you need to prep for an exam. You also don't need to take notes as you have access to the class forever. Even though there's no way this can remove every problem, it definitely removes stress and makes things simpler. Plus you've got less hassle, costs and travel.

The key factor to emphasise is the fact that training itself will not make you a web designer; it will simply educate you on the methods. All through your training and study, you need to spend time building & developing as many web sites as possible, to practice and build your portfolio. A hobby or interest is a good starting point, or simply your favourite dog or cat, or a holiday-resort you particularly enjoyed. Start to build interactive sites and create 'traffic' to them. This will all seem much more constructive on your Curriculum Vitae, & in your portfolio, than a qualification from 'Adobe' will!

What is the reason why traditional academic studies are less in demand than the more commercial certifications? The IT sector now acknowledges that to learn the appropriate commercial skills, official accreditation from such organisations as Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA often is more effective in the commercial field - saving time and money. This is done by honing in on the actual skills required (alongside a relevant amount of related knowledge,) as opposed to spending months and years on the background detail and 'fluff' that degree courses can get bogged down in (to fill up a syllabus or course).

As long as an employer understands what they're looking for, then they simply need to advertise for the particular skill-set required. Syllabuses are all based on the same criteria and can't change from one establishment to the next (like academia frequently can and does).

Many of these tasks can and certainly do cross over obviously, we use several freelance web designers who each cover the majority of the above tasks. But, you will need time to develop that amount of expertise. The ideal professional web-design training program therefore must instruct on a number of things: A basic introduction to web-design, and then how to use Adobe Dreamweaver and have a fundamental understanding of Adobe 'Flash'. The languages of HTML and 'CSS' should be taught next, with a certain amount of e-commerce instruction provided here. Some database & 'SEO' knowledge is vital, & a knowledge of the programming language 'PHP' (rather than the more complex ASP.Net) for you to create 'dynamic' web sites. All of this is merely to reach a level of technical ability whereby you're able to deal with a broad enough variety of web-sites. The actual physical skillsets have to develop first of all, before you can elevate them to a more natural and flowing style - similar to the time you learned to drive your car. Most people can get through a manageable training course of this nature inside a yr - assuming part-time study & practice of close to 400-500 hours. Careful planning to get the appropriate training course for you is a good investment in your future - skilled career advisors can help you to sort the best way forward before you get started.

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