The Angry Web Designer

Every once in awhile I’ll scan the CraigsList board to see if there are any interesting web design contracts or jobs; and lately, it’s been looking rather bleak. What’s more annoying however, is the fact that some of these job posts list ridiculous pay for highly skilled positions. I suppose people could be happy that jobs are even available - but reducing someone’s normal salary by a third (or even by a quarter) is absolutely ridiculous.

Some of my favorite CraigsList failed ads for web design positions;

1. ASP/VB 6 Programmer - $14-$16 an hour
2. “Web Designer needed A.S.A.P!!” - $12 an hour
3. “Entry level Web Design Position” - $10 an hour
4. “PHP web assistants(s) needed” - $10 to $15 an hour
5. “Graphics Specialist (Mid) $18/hr ” and “Graphics Specialist (Junior) $15″
6. “Joomla Expect to Redesign / Add / Mod!” - $10 an hour
7. “Technical Support Tier I Representative” - $11 to $13 an hour

The really funny thing is, these ads expect skills such as;

• HTML / CSS
• LAMP (linux, apache, mySql and php)
• VB
• JavaScript / AJAX
• CAD
• GIS
• Flash
• SEO / PPC

WTF?? A person who has only 3 of those skills should earn at LEAST $20 an hour - and that’s modest.

I suppose this is the reason the web is so darn ugly - you get what you pay for!