Getting a job ain't always easy, especially in this state of economy. But people are starting to realise that there's a big gap of unemployment in the IT sector because there aren't enough experienced or qualified individuals to take on all these jobs. For me, starting a career in web design wasn't easy, but everyone has to start off somewhere; so I'll tell you how I eventually got to where I am in my career.

The Freelancing Lifestyle

I was always interested in web design & development, I gained all my knowledge from trial and error or self study. School was never really my sort of thing and there was a time where I studied at Repton School Dubai which is located in the United Arab Emirates. With a lot of spare time on my hands after school, I would use it to perfect my skills and eventually I found my first freelance project on Freelancer (at least it was known as GetAFreelancer at the time) and it wasn't even a web design related job. I had to create forum accounts and make posts on the forum to make it look as if it's active, and I've seen quite a few people try this as well because it can be effective for new forums to get people talking. I spent a couple hours everyday doing this and eventually completed the project, getting my first bit of written feedback too.

This would make myself look much more employable as a freelancer because I have feedback from another person complimenting my services. I eventually found small web design projects and then later on moved onto bigger ones as I gained good feedback from various clients. This kind of work could be done from anywhere as long as you have a good laptop and Internet connection, fortunately I was using a Mac at the time so I had a lot of professional software at my disposal. With all these websites you've created you can then think about creating an online portfolio where you can showcase your work and skills.

The Start of SohailTech

That's when SohailTech came to mind, as a web designer, I have the knowledge to create my own professional brand and online presence using a website. In the year 2007 at boarding school, I had the domain name registered by a hosting company I worked with for free as an Account Manager. I was young at the time so I used to play around a lot, always looking for bigger projects and ways to increase my skills.

As the years went by, my logo changed a couple of times, I eventually started getting familiar with PHP, dropping my Flash skills to use jQuery and overall trying to make my websites more efficient making sure they do exactly what the client wants their website to do, if not better. Then in 2010 I completely re-designed the website using WordPress, incorporating everything I had learnt over the years.

Where I Stand At The Moment

I eventually moved to the United Kingdom and found a couple of clients in my local area including a real estate company who needed a website to manage their properties online and overall make their business more efficient. I worked at their office everyday and this my one of my first large projects. I was a bit short on the qualifications side so I attended an Advanced IT Apprenticeship for IT & Telecom Professionals in September 2010 which lasted for 5 months and I got my CV looking much better with the CompTIA A+ PC Technician certification and the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist along with a Microsoft Outstanding Improvement Award 2011 which I received at the end of my course with Zenos for my hard work.

I am now looking for different career opportunities but with all this experience and work, I decided that I would only want to start a career in web design and starting off by finding a role as a Junior Web Designer was definitely the way to go. I have already had a couple of interviews which went well and with my CV and online portfolio of work, things have been going really well. Freelancing can either help you start off, or could score you a career. But gaining experience in a full time job will only help you in finding that dream career.

Why Would I Want To Be A Freelancer?

Well, I would like to go full-time as a freelancer, but everyone has to start off somewhere. In order to gain the kind of clients that will satisfy you with full-time work, you will need to prove to the world that you're a top web designer that doesn't require a job and you will be able to happily work from home or pretty much anywhere in the world with a nice salary. Just don't forget any taxation laws, for example, in the UK you will need to register as self-employed with HMRC and make sure you satisfy any outstanding taxes or you could be in trouble. Otherwise in places like the UAE, you don't have any tax to worry about. All it takes is initiative, dedication and an optimistic mind.