http://jobview.monster.com/getjob.aspx?JobID=78463592&JobTitle=PHP+Web+D...
I have selected the position of a PHP web developer as my targeted career advancement for this class. This job is offered by a small startup company in Indianapolis, Westlake Design. According to their website, they develop creative identity and branding solutions for Fortune 500 companies. Their client list includes names such as Eli Lilly and RCA for which they have produced an array of multimedia projects for.
I selected this position as a potential target for my career advancement because I meet both the experience requirement of the ad, and my skill-set in general matches well with the description. This position will be the perfect “next step” for my experiences in web development. For two years I have been the lead web designer at a local internet service provider and worked side by side with the lead web application developer. In all projects we used PHP as our server-side programming language, so I have both extensive knowledge of PHP, and how to effectively design around it. With my design skills I basically “rebranded” the ISP and gave them a flexible web presence. This job will allow me to do the same for Fortune 500 companies, a very exciting advancement.
According to the job description, this position would work with the lead PHP developer as an assistant developer, and would be involved in all aspects of the development process including client-side scripting, server-side programming, and support for clients after implementation. Also expected is the participation in brainstorming, scoping, and prototyping. With my experiences on the job, and my training at Purdue, I could be a valuable addition to the developer staff at Westlake Design.
The requirements section of the job ad dives into the technical acronyms (Languages, skills, training) a potential candidate would need to possess to apply. The first requirement is a minimum of two years experience which I possess. Next, on the client-side requirements is “Standards based and accessible CSS/XHTML”. All websites which I’ve created in my past two years have met W3C CSS/XHTML standards, including “doctype” declarations and proper character encoding. On most sites I even included links at the bottom verifying my code was standards compliant. Another client-side requirement listed is experience with Javascript. I’ve worked with several Javascript codebases including mootools in the past, and have written custom scripts for things such as data validation. Also listed is some experience with Flash and actionscript. On earlier versions of the site developed for the ISP I worked at we implemented a flash presentation that demonstrated features of our services, and did include basic actionscript. The final bullet under client-side requirements is knowledge of browser compatibility issues. I have spent countless hours researching best practices for creating content that looks and functions correct in as many browsers and versions as possible.
The next subsection of the job ad lists the server-side development requirements. The first bullet is of course, experience with PHP, and possibly ruby on rails. I haven’t personally coded anything in ruby, but I’ve seen demonstrations of it. Next is a workable knowledge of MySQL / SQLite – views, procedures, etc. With both hands on experience in MySQL itself, and an extensive knowledge of database technology in general learned at Purdue (DML, DDL, SQL, Oracle), I easily possess a “working” knowledge of the subject. Also listed in this section is a familiarity with object oriented programming terms and concepts. I have extensive knowledge of object oriented languages: C#.NET and Java, and have programmed for both desktop and web environments with them.
After investigation of this position, I feel I would be a valuable addition to the development team at Westlake Design, and would like an opportunity to demonstrate my skills as a web application developer.
Instructor Comment
You have here already begun the important work of clearly articulating your skills and their requirements. I think highlighting this good strategy. In addition, the examples you offer here give you a solid menu of content to select from as you write your job application letter. Picking concrete examples that demonstrate all three of the things you wish to highlight is your next step. In particular, you will want to avoid simply saying you have these skills; you want the reader to see your expertise and knowledge in the examples you provide. It is the easiest thing in the world to say you have a skill. It is much better (and harder) to demonstrate that through your writing. You write, "All websites which I’ve created in my past two years have met W3C CSS/XHTML standards, including “doctype” declarations and proper character encoding. On most sites I even included links at the bottom verifying my code was standards compliant." This example does a good job of demonstrating your expertize even though you don't actually say "I am an expert." In the letter you will want to develop this with more specific details about a particular instance.