The difficulties for young people in the web industry and how to overcome them

With the web industry growing each day, more young people are showing interest. The younger designers & developers are bringing fresh ideas, different perceptions on society and most importantly, a blank canvas.

They’re here to be taught; and they want to be.

Everybody is always seeking to learn their entire careers, but the start of your work life is the best time for it. You have no bad habits to break, you’re more intrigued and curious than ever, and you want it.

At the start of your career you want to make it. You want to be the best. You want to be recognised for what you do. You just need that opportunity, which is so hard to get. The first problem.

Problem One: The opportunity

Almost every agency will require you have some sort of experience. Almost every person starting in the industry will have none. Straight away, people will be thinking it’s impossible to start. This really isn’t the case.

Although agencies will be looking for on-job experience, don’t limit yourself to that. Get a weekend job, even if it isn’t design related in any sense. A lot of recruiters will naturally assume that you will be immature and have little work skills if they were to employ you.

A weekend job, or part-time, will teach you the essential skills needed to fit into any workplace. For example, I worked in a cafe every Saturday for a little over a year. Although I wasn’t doing any design, I learnt how to act at work, how to speak to people who were not my age, how to deal with angry customers, how to get to work on time and how to be confident.

This year of experience greatly contributed towards me landing my first full time design job. I was able to conduct and sell myself correctly in order to give the employer the sense of trust and the immature idea was wiped completely. They viewed me as an older applicant and I created the opportunity for myself.

However, you might not even have the opportunity to get an interview. It’s not going to come straight away, but you need to be able to prove to others that you are the right person to invest in. You are an investment to them, you might not be able to produce straight away, but you will over time.

The only way to get them to invest in you is to invest in yourself. You need to be putting in as much work as possible. When you finish school, college, university or whatever you do, get home and get working.

Start some side projects.

This is absolutely key. Side projects are perfect for you to show future employers, even if you never actually launched them. It will showcase your ability to find a problem and solve it whilst catering to real world problems.

Build a social media presence.

If you are lucky enough to get an invite to Dribbble then post as much work to that as you can.

Networking is key.

Some people may not agree with this statement, and although it isn’t positive in some ways, you will be viewed more professionally if you have a large social following. Likes and follows cause a great sense of achievement, but it takes a while to build an online following. Proving you have the commitment and ability to do so will show your employer that you are serious about this and you have the patience.

You know it isn’t easy at the start, but if you stick it through you know there will be a great outcome. You don’t quit when it doesn’t come to you straight away.

Problem Two: How you are treated

Lets say you have managed to land a job. Amazing! You should be proud, but do not let your guard down.

What I write after this is not here to scare you as you might never experience it, but you should be ready just incase.

The work only gets harder now, and I’m not just talking about the physical work. You start your job, but some of your colleagues are giving you a hard time.

A lot of people will view you as a kid.

They’re probably thinking why am I working alongside someone so young? They’re threatened. When people feel threatened, they often act maliciously, they want you gone.

Do not cave whatsoever.

People at work will have ‘banter’ with you, but keep it as banter. Do not let them cross the line.

Expect people to joke with you, but if someone is taking it too far then politely ask them to stop. If the individual is continuing with the behaviour then you need to act upon it. Speak to somebody, if there is a HR officer then speak to them, there will be somebody for you to speak to.

No matter how amazing your job is, you will not be truly happy if you are mistreated there. It does not make you weak to speak to somebody. It does not make you bad to complain about somebody. It is not caving if you speak to someone about it, it is the opposite.

Sometimes it can be management mistreating you. If this is your first job, then you might think it is normal for management to be degrading towards you. It is not. Firstly, speak to higher management. If there isn’t any higher management or they do not action it, leave.

No matter how amazing you think it is to work there, physical and mental health always come first. You should be happy when you go to work, you should be able to relax when you go to work, you should be able to have fun when you go to work.

Do not put up with someone mistreating you just because they have more power than you. Keep your head up and find another place. You leaving will be a bigger hit to them than you retaliating and they will instantly regret treating you that way because they’re missing out on your brilliance now and even more so in the future.

This way my first Medium post based on my past experiences and opinions! I would love to hear what you guys think!