As with any career path, there are a few different avenues to get your foot in the door of the webmaster industry, if this is your passion. It can be as easy as launching your own site. If you go down this track, just keep in mind that there is quite a bit for the professional webmaster to consider, beyond just how the website you are working on looks: contracts, pricing, legalities, freelancing, how to get clients, and how to keep existing clients.

Sometimes becoming a webmaster can be as easy as learning HTML or Dreamweaver, slapping together a CV and then applying for a job. But, the great majority of people aren’t that lucky. We have to work a bit harder to land that perfect job in the IT industry.

You may have to complete a two year diploma. Or go to university and complete a four year degree. This will come in handy if the sort of job you want is more complicated, or will include management of more junior staff. Through a university degree, you may also get the opportunity to undertake studies in English (which will help with content development) or even business management. Experience with computers is also (obviously) vitally important. Employers will look for new recruits who have knowledge of how to use specific software.

Things to Consider Before Embarking on a Webmaster Career

Contract webmaster work: many webmasters work on a contract (or even sub-contract) basis. As such, it means that they are subject to the needs (and sometimes whims) of their customers. No customers means no income. The thought of this can be slightly daunting, particularly when you are just starting out. You have to have good people skills and be able to sell your own skills to win new customers and keep existing customers.

Customers are part of a webmaster’s job: regardless of what industry you are in, customers make life interesting. One of the most difficult things will be trying to figure out what your customer wants (from colours, design and layout to budget). Customers might know exactly what they want, but might not be able to articulate this clearly. You might have to become a translator / webmaster. Managing their expectations will also become a big part of your job. Without technical knowledge, they will not be aware of what is and is not possible. It will be up to you to set them straight.

Contract webmasters can set their own hours: generally, contract (and even some permanent) webmasters set their own hours. If you are self-motivated, this is perfect. If not, this can be very difficult. You won’t have a boss standing over your shoulder, expecting results.

Websites are always live: there isn’t really too much you can do about this aspect of web development. The internet is global. And it is always ‘on’. As such, your customers might be as well. You might have a client overseas who expects you post content on their website at midday their time, which is actually 3am your time. Unfortunately, there is no way around this. Sometimes you will just have to suck it up. Either that or turn down international clients.

Webmasters get calls at all hours of the day and night: it’s Murphy’s Law – websites never crash at lunchtime on a Tuesday. They always have issues at 2am on a Friday. If you are a webmaster, then you will be contacted and you will have to rectify the problem immediately, regardless of the time. Get used to phone calls at all hours. Your clients won’t be happy if you refuse to work outside normal business hours. They will just find another service provider.

Designing websites is different from designing for print: web design can be difficult and very challenging. With print design, once the layout is finished and printed, you know that it is going to look the same to everyone. This is not the case with web design. You have to take into consideration different browsers, different screen sizes, different screen resolutions and so on. You have to take all of this into account. This can frustrate some webmasters. Unfortunately, it’s just one of those things that have to be done.

Webmasters must ensure their skills are current: if you want to stay competitive, and keep your clients happy, then you have to keep up-to-date with the latest internet technological advances. These change very regularly. This can be a full-time job in itself. If you are employed full-time for a large company, then this might be easy. Your manager might even spring for the cost of refresher courses. If you have your own business, you will probably be too busy servicing customers to worry about personal development. Unfortunately, it is an essential part of being a webmaster.

Website maintenance can be boring: every profession has its boring parts. Boredom is a part of life. One such complaint when it comes to be a webmaster, is that website maintenance (particularly for large sites) can be a full time job. You end up just fixing typos and hyperlinks all day long while exciting web design work goes to someone else.

Required Skills and Knowledge

Web design, development and maintenance are relatively new professions. They haven’t been around since the dawn of time like medicine, law and teaching. As such, the requirements to break into this industry aren’t as hard and fast as some other professions. Experience may be weighted as much as tertiary education. If you think you are suitable for a job, just go for it. You never know what might happen.

We have put together some really general areas of knowledge that are usually required for webmaster positions.

HTML: the way the industry is tracking at the moment, it is likely that the majority of companies will soon have tools to help webmasters create HTML. But you still need to know what HTML tags are, their function and how to fix them. Otherwise, you will be stuck when you have to convert someone else’s HTML.

Graphics: it is always helpful to be able to use graphics programs like the Adobe Creative Suite (or at least Photoshop). You don’t need to be a graphic designer, but you should know how to create a basic graphic. Chances are, if the website you are working on requires advanced graphics, then your company will employ a graphic designer anyway. Your skills are obviously better used programming the website.

Design: basic knowledge of sound design principles (both Web and print) is extremely handy. If you can design a website that looks amazing, then chances are, are deficiencies you might have in the programming area will be forgiven. But make sure you keep up with changes in design. It moves very quickly and what is amazing today will be so last season the next.

Writing: website content isn’t king (like it once was) but you still need to be able to write in fluent English and be able to construct a sentence. Make sure you use spelling and grammar checkers and get someone to proof read your content before it goes live.

Servers: understanding tools like databases, servers and ColdFusion and databases helps webmasters create more useful, easy-to-use websites.
What sort of salary can I expect?
After years of slow growth within the IT industry, Australia is now a great place for IT professionals. The current average salaries are:

Web Development $82,000
Web Design $83,000
Database Developer $87,000
Analyst / Programmer $88,000
Software Development $90,000
Network Engineering $100,000
Security Engineer $110,000
http://www.gostudy.com.au/latest-news/stipendi-nellambito-informatico-in-risalita/

The Future of Webmaster Employment

The number of jobs within the IT industry (including webmaster positions) is expected to expand much faster than the average for all occupations, forecast until the year 2020. With the growth of more businesses using the internet to do business (think of the growth of online shopping and e-stores), companies need webmasters to help them communicate with their customers. Webmasters who keep their skills up-to-date should have great job opportunities.