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Web Jobs |
You can point your mouse at a URL (Internet address - the kind
you increasingly see nowadays everywhere - www.soemthing.com),
and send virtual flowers to your sweetheart on her birthday specially
if you can't send her the real kind, or log onto another site
and buy yourself some CDs to listen to, while you curl up with
a book you bought online. You can catch up with the latest news
around the world on the Internet, or find out more about the latest
packag deals from the corporate websites of cellphone service
providers.
It's really nice that you can do all this and more just by spending
a few minutes in front of your computer, but these services don't
magically appear on the Internet. There are thousands of people
in the background who put these services on the Net for you to
use and enjoy - that's the Internet industry for you.
At a very basic level, there are two lines of business for Internet companies:
- Website solutions: creating and maintaining websites for other real world corporates (like developing the Tata website or the Maxtouch website)
- Content and service provider: Content provision involves offering the Internet surfer news and the like, while services could be things like free email, free homepages, online contests, ticket bookings, etc.
And if you're planning to get a job in this industry, there's
good news for you - there are jobs aplenty. Even better is the
fact that you needn't know programming to get into an industry
which was earlier the exclusive domain of computer nerds. A quick
look around the Internet industry shows that people from all backgrounds
and walks of life have easily made the transition to web builders.
If you've got your heart set on an Internet related job, chances
are, there's one just waiting for you. Gone are the days when
someone called a "webmaster" would handle entire websites
- right from creating the content, to designing, creating and
maintaining the website. In today's era of specialisation, that
same job is split typically into four distinct job profiles: copywriter,
graphic designer, programmer, and sales & marketing.
The web is very different from the print medium - while people
would read Shobha De's latest book in its print version, they
would not spend time reading it online. The same applies to any
writing on the Internet. So putting a print brochure of a company
on the Internet as is, makes for a very bad website. Since surfing
itself is an activity that encourages people to quickly move from
one website to another, copywriters are needed to write compelling
copy for the Internet, to catch and retain the interest of the
surfer. Copywriters need to be able to turn even the most boring
bits of information into something that the reader would spend
his precious online time on. A good example is the webpage on
a corporate website that talks about the company, it's founders
blah, blah, blah. A good copywriter would be able to turn that
into something interesting, with a style that catches the attention
of the casual surfer as well as gives the serious information
hungry surfer whatever details he's on the lookout for.
All text and no images makes a website a very dull one. Well created
graphics make a website attractive and give it a life of it's
own. Creativity, design sense and the ability to handle computer
imaging packages are essential in becoming a good graphic designer.
Once again, graphics on the Web are different from the print medium,
so being a star in a DTP firm does not automatically mean you'll
do a good job on the Web; on the contrary, there's a lot of un-learning
that will be required. Ananth Appathurai, CEO, India On-line,
believes that some of the best designers are those who have meddled
and tinkered with graphic packages on their own and have learnt
on the job. As far as professional qualifications go, a degree
in Fine Arts coupled with a certificate in a Multimedia/Graphics
course would help you net that job.
An Internet programmer has come a long way from the time where
he was required to know HTML (language used to write webpages).
Today, with the software available, almost everyone working in
an Internet organisation knows HTML. Which means that the Internet
programmer of today requires firm technical knowledge - like being
able to write Java applets, CGI programs, or database related
programming. Quantum Link Communications, has over the last couple
of years started paying more attention to Internet programming
and application development. They've developed software called
the Postmaster that allows companies to give unique email addresses
to all their employees with just a single VSNL account. What background
are Internet programmers expected to have? Ajit Menon, Director,
warns that QLC is rather stringent as far as recruitment goes
- they look out for people who are basically engineers, with a
further qualification from at least an NCST/C-DAC/CMC - which
translates into a hard-core programmer. But the rewards are worth
the effort - the PostMaster - written purely in Java - was the
first Indian software to get 100% Java certification earlier this
year.
Aaaah - the bread and butter of the organisation comes in because
of this much maligned species - the sales and marketing team.
To put it simply, their main job is to get work for the above
three categories of people to use their expertise. Which means
getting orders to develop and maintain corporate websites. During
the website maintenance phase, the sales and marketing chappies
often double as the client servicing team. For Internet companies
that offer content and news to Internet users, the sales &
marketing team earn revenues by selling banner advertisements
on the website, based on the traffic to their website. Qualification
wise, a person with a good sales background, and a thorough understanding
of the Net fits the bill. Besides the usual things expected of
a sales and marketing professional like a pleasing personality,
dress sense, and good communication skills.
Quite a few companies these days have a separate position of a
project co-ordinator - a person who handles the flow of a web
site and who co-ordinates between the marketing and the development
team. According to Macrina Benjamin, Project Co-ordinator, Netventures
Communications (I) Pvt. Ltd., the responsibility of a project
co-ordinator includes completion of each and every project as
per schedule (made by the Project Co-ordinator) and ensuring that
all the entire project team of designers, copywriters and programmers
deliver projects as and when planned. A project co-ordinator is
usually a systematic and methodical person with good communication
skills and managerial ability.
Another small breed of Internet professionals are Internet journalists
- people who develop content exclusively for a content based website.
Rediff On The Net is the first Indian publication on the Internet
without a corresponding print counterpart. While most publications
in India put their printed content on the Internet, Rediff On
The Net has a team of journalists who work exclusively to report
news and write features on Rediff.com, as and when stories break.
Making the switch to Internet journalism requires the traditional
journalist to be conversant with HTML to be able to directly file
his story or news as a webpage, allowing news to be instantly
updated on the Web, instead of introducing delays via a separate
team of people who convert news items to webpages.
While all the job profiles mentioned above have varying requirements,
one common requirement for anyone applying for a job in the Internet
industry is exposure to the Internet. Shailesh Joshi, VP, Operations,
Rediff On The Net, goes a step ahead and looks out for people
with a passion for the Internet, besides expertise in their respective
field.
All said and done, a job in the Internet industry is not for everyone.
A passion for the Internet is a must - and that love is what makes
the long hours (often 10-12 hours a day, some all-nighters), and
unreasonable deadlines worth it all - that's job satisfaction
for you. As for salaries - well that's another area that's vague
and covers a wide range, depending on the size of the organisation,
and the applicant's experience and expertise. Suffice to say that
salaries are usually in keeping with the average salaries in other
industries - an Internet programmer would earn as much as he would
in a software development firm, while a sales & marketing
person would earn as much as his counterpart in say, the consumer
goods industry.
- Decide. From where you are right now, there are many career options open to you. Is the Internet high on your list of career options? How determined are you to get into the Internet industry? If the Internet industry is all you've set your sight on, go all out for it. Do as much work on the Internet related to your line of interest, meet people doing the kind of work you'd like to do, develop contacts.
- Portfolio. If you're applying for an Internet job, it makes sense to showcase the work you have done on the Internet. Create a personal homepage with your resume, exhibiting some work you've done in whatever line you're planning to apply for a job in. Homepages are easy to create and free - create your online resume at Rediff Personal Homepages (http://members.rediff.com/).
- Shortlist. Jot down the names of Internet companies that have the kind of jobs that you're interested in. Visit their websites (if they're an Internet company, they're bound to have a website), and learn more about them, the work they do, and the job requirements they have. Most of these websites have a "we're hiring" section that you can easily go to. Others ask you to send in your resume to them via their website. In that case, put your homepage address, so they get a detailed sampling of your work.
- Search. Visit recruitment sites on the Internet that offer thousands of jobs from all over the country or even all over the world. Most of them offer you a simple search interface that allows you to use certain criteria to find the job you're interested in. Other sites allow you to list yourself for a fee, so that prospective employers can find you. Don't depend only on these services but evaluate the effectiveness of these services by getting in touch with people who have used them.
- Persevere. The Internet industry is changing everyday - new technologies and products are talked about every other day. Update your skills and as long as you love what you're doing - it'll be fun.
Lyndon Cerejo was a Programme Strategist with Rediff On The Net when this was written.