Topic: First full time web gig (Page 1 of 1)

Wow not to much traffic here lately so i thought I'd share some cool events for yall...

I had a final interview today for a company as their new "web & graphics" guy. I was really stoked as their existing site really needs help.
Has anyone ever had experience with something like this? You know, "I really want the job, blah blah blah, oh yeah, btw your site sucks."?

Should I just go in swinging off the bat or just endure the horrific code and lack of structure? When asking me questions their main concern was getting meta tags in the right place for search engine placement.

Overall seems like a fun, easy gig, 9-5 M-F, decent $$$. (guess i should be gratefull to get any work at all eh?)

congrats on the gig! I got a similar gig about 2 years ago. The guys that I was working for were real cool. They were my age and real laid back. So, I just went in and did a re-design using some web standards and their content.

I think if you went in and kind of explained to them that yes the meta tags are important for the search engines, the code however is important to make sure that the viewers can read the web pages. If this is something that they are concerned with (which they should be) then they "should" be cool with you heading up the code as well as the design.

I knind of went in to my last job saying something like "The current site works, but, with the technologies that are out there now and the problems with all the different browsers, it would be of good interest to the company to have thier site comply with coding standards". They were very cool with it since I explained to them that some people might not be able to get to the site and if they do, they might not get the full experience.

Later,

C:\

cool.... i been running through different ways of explaining it to them... biggest concern i have is that every page is static, so if the menu were to all of a sudden change or they decide to take out an element, i have to search each page and remove it. I may simply convert what they have to php for simplicity.... my wife told me "why create more work for yourself???" and i sort of agree.

It is often better to ask a question than to tell them how something should be done.

Why is this code repeated on every page? Wouldn't it be better to generate this code from a template?

What would you recommend as a server side option for the site?

There are often business concerns that you might not be aware of around a situation which makes asking a question a better option. At the same time you have to earn the right to offer your advice, it is not something that you can easily jump right into.

It is definately a good idea to take a position, but do not do it in a confrontational way. Let them feel like they have come across the right solution instead of you giving it to them. You might find that even though you give them a 100% correct solution they might not want to hear it.

How would you feel if someone who worked for you came in and told you that your website sucks, even though you are very proud of it? Most likely not all that well, even if they were correct.

If you work with them towards improving it and always towards making it even better you can't go wrong.

Dan @ Code Town

Rob, what exactly is your job description? If you've just been hired as the company's webmaster, tasks such as updating the code should fall under your duties.

I'd take a more aggressive approach than WarMage. The fact that you've been hired as a webmaster should be proof enough that you've earned the right to make suggestions, the important thing is to be polite about them. No one wants to hear their company sucks. Instead, let your employer know how excited you are to be working with them and give them a list of ideas that are floating around your head. Ask your supervisor what they think and what they're looking for you to do.

quote:

---

Jestah said:

I'd take a more aggressive approach

---

Absolutely.
Warmage's approach is more suited to a large corporate environment where you're the new guy in a department of tech guys.
It sounds like you have been hired as *the* guy - so be the right guy. Give them an honest brekadown of where they are vs. where they need to be.

I have found that it is hard to get employers and/or clients to understand the significance of properly coded webpages, and efficiently setup templates. It has been very helpful to me to use analogies appropriate to the business they are in, and correlate the drive for quality that they put into all of their other efforts (as most of the time, this drive suddenly seems to go away when they get to the website end of the business).

Awesome! Congratulations RR!

Thanks for the suggestions guys! Really!!! Yeah, Jestah is more accurate as far as enviornment goes. Theres a small marketing department and 2 graphic guys. (1 print, and 1 web) and I'm the web guy. I've run through several conversations in my head how I could "suggest" the site get updated (or redone) to something that would make my job alot easier. In the existing site, there are alot of borrowed scripts and code from other sites (like dynamicdrive) and so forth, so it appears that the current webmaster probably doesn't do too much on his own.

I know alot of you have probably gone through this before, and to be honest, prior to this all my webdesigning has been for personal usage, or to promote one of my recording artists. I'm really excited about this though.

(thanks steve!)

There is another aproach possible, copy the complete site to an offline location, make al the changes you want in one or two example pages. Show them what you did and ask how they like it. First to your direct colleque then in an informal way to your boss. Make sure you have something to show and that whatever you show looks good. And explain why you want to alter the site. But don't get into too many details regarding the code. They probably will answer you on code questions with things like: "Ask the IT department/guy" or "we hired you to solve this thing". Management usualy doesn't want be bothered with the finest details. But if you can show them a good site they might as well give you 'Carte Blanche' for a general overhaul from the site. Also ask the graphic guy about the maintenance from the site in the past.
Are you replacing someone or are you filling in a new function and was the maintenance done by one of the other guys?
This could give you some clues about how to go on with the site.
If there is an IT department ask them about the code, there might be some database/internal network functiononality needed on the site.

According to the posts above i think the company you are working for is not that big and communication lines are pretty short. So just talking about the website with different people should be easy enough.

Good Luck
with the new job.

.........................................................................
:: Develop yourself, develop your life, develop the world ::
.........................................................................

thanks rinswind... actually I am replacing someone and the entire graphics department consists of 2 guys. (I'm one of them). I didn't meet any IT people yet so not sure how they handle that. Biggest task for me is learning how to use Photoshop, etc. on a MAC.

Good idea for the site suggestion. I may try that. And to answer about code, I don't think anyone else there has any clue about code. (good for me as I don't know as much as I should.. hehe....)

"learning how to use Photoshop, etc. on a MAC. "

Ahhh. It's MUCH better on a Mac.
Especially the "etc" part.

Have you try to do SEO work for promoting a website rank?

[Edit TP: spam removed]

(Edited by Tyberius Prime on 06-08-2011 09:44)

Congratulations for the interview Rob.

[Edit Petskull: Spam Removed]

(Edited by Petskull on 06-13-2011 09:37)