On Almost Failing a Web Skills Test

On a recent job interview (that ended well) I was asked to complete a web skills test. They wanted me to bring in my own laptop and create a webpage “from scratch”.

They gave me a .jpg and told me to turn it into a webpage. Oh boy.

First off, I hardly ever code websites on “my own laptop”. Yes, I love OSX and Coda but since I work in Windows and code w/ DW, it’s not that familiar. (Yes, I admit, I got the Textmate program with an educational discount.) Secondly, who knows the perfect page structure right off the bat? I don’t. When given a design, do you immediately know the perfect semantic page structure? No. You don’t.

It comes to you as you work with the page, as you move it around. What you thought were the headings were REALLY list items as you went along. And of course you have to change the wrapper ID.

As you work with a layout (or design) you change the code as you go along. It’s called coding a web page. So getting back to the skills test…

Yes, I thought I blew it. Yes, I STILL got the job. It goes to show you that if you know the basic structure of an HTML document, you’re worth hiring… 

Posted by Jesse on 09/01 at 02:25 AM