Need Web Developers/Designers Help!

f you have a career in Web Development or Web Design I need your help!

I have a school assignment due.
I need to investigate a specific career in IT by interviewing someone in the field

I would appreciate any responses to this!

Here are the questions:

What is the pay/salary?
What are the education requirements for your job?
What are the advancement possibilities of your position?
What are the work conditions and location?
What type of people interaction is there?
Do you regularly use and electronic tools like: pagers, cell phones, etc.?
What programming language(s) do you use most?
Are there any other comments you have about this profession?

Thank you to any who honestly reply!

-Keith

Cant you just interview your school IT tech? ... i think thats what I did all those (ahem lies follow) 2 years ago when i was a young lad in short shorts....

Well you are going to struggle on that one a bit. A lot of web designers are freelance so you will get different answers and I mean totally different.

Salary: differs job to job - could be hundreds, could be thousands (I'm not disclosing my earnings, sorry).
Education: None - a good knowledge of web technologies and graphic design is important. A graphic design qualification is extremely useful.
Advancement: Good but very competetive. If you are at the top of your game then there is a lot to choose from - some choose to stay freelance , some don't(Douglas Bowman is at google for example and he's one of the best).
Work conditions: Usually good. Some work from home others in studios. They tend to be modern environments and to a decent standard in my experience. I work from home and it's loverly.
People Interaction: Lots. Speaking to clients, visiting them, convincing them not to have flashing javascript headers. Lot's of interaction with your clients and colleagues is essential to the success of the job.
Electronic tools: Mobile phone and laptop are essentials that I could not live without. You need to be contactable and you need to carry your work with you when you're out and about.
Programming languages: I use (X)HTML, CSS (though they aren't actually programming languages) as well as a touch of javascript. Backend developers will use server side languages (php, asp, ruby etc.).
Comments: It's great, your own hours, your own working conditions (outside in the summer - praise be to WiFi!), and if you can get regular work the money is good.

Pete.

I agree with most of the things pete's saying. Ultimately, however, success or failure has a lot to do with how much time and energy you are willing to put in, especially if you are freelancing. You also need absolute belief in your skills and creativity. That is the only way to convince clients you are the one for them.

Normally a web design will develop a specialty that they are extremely good at. You should try to learn and be familiar with the standard programming languages, but also try to develop that specialty, something that interests you, and preferable that you are good at.

For example my specialty is flash, Ryan Fait's specialty is CSS, and Rob's is SEO. Why is this important? Specialties demand higher pay!

So basically this is very smart, if you develop that specialty you can easily be sought out to do that job. Happens to me all the time, I want a flash website…Oh, let’s call Jacob. But I still find it REALLY important to learn XHTML/CSS and PHP…because they helped me develop my specialty in flash. Understand?