The key resources used by web designers are their design environments, with 'Adobe Creative Suite' (presently in version 4 as of '09/10) being essentially the most popular commercially. Whilst 'Adobe Flash' provides access to interactive & animated 'graphical' content, Dreamweaver is the software which builds websites. Dreamweaver could be considered a glorified Word Processor in a great many ways. Text and graphics can be layed (according to certain rules) & then a basic inter-activity can be established by way of page-linking. HTML ('Hyper Text Markup Language') program coding is developed in the background with Dreamweaver, as with any other web design-environment. 'HTML' is a 'script' which basically draws & controls the web page displayed on your monitor. Its the language of web browsers. Paired with HTML are the lay-out 'tag' 'languages' like XML and CSS. Because these 'tag' 'languages' are standardised, the smoother and more efficient results perform effectively on a number of different platforms. The idea is that the page will appear identical on any internet browser, whether it's Mozilla Firefox, 'Internet Explorer', 'Safari', 'Opera' or whichever. Consequently though you're laying graphic-blocks and text, in the background, 'Dreamweaver' is converting what you're doing in to 'code'. It's vitally important to have an in-depth understanding of these types of 'languages' to be able to be a website designer at the commercial standard.

The sometimes daunting task of getting your first job can be made easier by some companies, via a Job Placement Assistance facility. Because of the growing demand for appropriately skilled people in Britain at the moment, there isn't a great need to place too much emphasis on this feature however. It isn't such a complex operation to get employment as long as you've got the necessary skills and qualifications.

Get your CV updated straight-away though (advice and support for this should come from your course provider). Don't wait for when you're ready to start work. A good number of junior support jobs are offered to people who are still studying and have still to get qualified. At least this will get you into the 'maybe' pile of CV's - rather than the 'No' pile. If it's important to you to find work near your home, then you may well find that a local IT focused recruitment consultancy can generally serve you better than the trainer's recruitment division, as they're going to have insider knowledge of local employment needs.

Essentially, as long as you focus the same level of energy into landing a job as into training, you won't find it too challenging. Some trainees strangely conscientiously work through their learning program and then just stop once they've passed their exams and would appear to think that businesses will just discover them.

Many trainers provide mainly work-books and reference manuals. Obviously, this isn't much fun and not a very good way of taking things in. Our ability to remember is increased with an involvement of all our senses - experts have been clear on this for many years.

Modern training can now be done at home via interactive CD and DVD ROM's. By watching and listening to instructors on video tutorials you'll take everything in through the expert demonstrations. Knowledge can then be tested by using practice-lab's. Don't take any chances and look at some examples of the kind of training materials you'll be using before you sign on the dotted line. You should expect instructor-led video demonstrations and interactive audio-visual sections with practice modules.

It's usually bad advice to select online only courseware. Because of the variable quality and reliability of your average broadband company, you should always obtain physical media such as CD or DVD ROM's.

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