You’ve just about given up on your current go-nowhere career and have finally decided that the dotcom world is the place you want to be. But where do you even begin? I wish there were a simple answer. The reality, however, is that there isn’t one.

The training and education you need depends on what career path you intend to follow. Do you simply want to do your current job in a dotcom-oriented company, or will your path require a new set of skills? Are you primarily interested in designing Web pages and working with graphics? Or perhaps you’re more interested in a technical position, such as server-side work. Either way, the skills and competencies you need are quite different and require different training paths.

In a nutshell, you need to figure out what type of Internet career to go after before you can begin to map out your training plan. Here are some questions that will get you on track:

1. In past jobs, what tasks have you enjoyed the most/least?

2. What tasks were you best at? Worst at?

3. What about a Web career appeals to you? Consider the following: the pace of the industry, wealth potential, the creative aspects, technology, startup culture.

4. Do you enjoy working in teams or alone?

Steve Heckler, president of Arlington, VA-based WestLake Internet Training realized early on that Internet skills would be in great demand. Ranked at number four on Washington Technology magazine’s list of top 50 fastest-growing companies, WestLake knows about the quickly changing demands of the Internet industry and designs its programs to keep up with the heady pace. That’s why classes such as Dreamweaver, Java, ColdFusion, and CGI scripting -- the core of many Web sites -- are among the most popular at WestLake.

You can think of Web sites as having three layers, says Heckler: The front end is what the user sees and includes HTML and Javascript code. The bottom part is the database. Most e-commerce sites such as Amazon and Ebay have complex databases that need to be able to store and retrieve information quickly. In the middle of those two is the database integration layer, which takes the results from the database and sends them back to the user. Each layer creates a work environment requiring different skills and levels of technical ability.

Some of the technologies that are used in that middle integration layer are Active Server Pages (ASP), CGI scripts, Java servelets, and ColdFusion. According to Heckler, they all do roughly the same thing, so which one you learn depends on what the company you work for or plan to work for uses. He says that ASP and CGI scripts are the most pervasive, but demand for CGI expertise is going down, while ColdFusion skills are more in demand. ColdFusion, a middleware product, is much easier to use than the other three, says Heckler.

The skills in this discipline include knowledge of HTML and/or an HTML editor (such as Home Site, FrontPage, Dreamweaver, GoLive), graphics packages (including Adobe Photoshop with Imageready, Paintshop Pro and Macromedia Fireworks), Flash, Javascript and perhaps Shockwave. Heckler is particularly keen on Macromedia’s programs since they are great for both left and right brain people.

Now if you’re a highly technical, behind-the-scenes type, development work -- which includes programming and the design of the database -- might be more appealing to you. Within programming there are two important disciplines: programmer and database designer (the more advanced positions are often have the title of engineer). Clearly, the database person should have advanced training in database design and modeling. Plus, he or she should have a solid knowledge of the specific database that will be used. This might include Oracle, Sybase or Microsoft SQL. Heckler advises people interested in DB development to go straight to the companies that make these technologies to find authorized training outlets. Such companies include Microsoft, Oracle and Sybase.

According to Heckler, those with a desire to program should have training in at least one of the following: ASP, ColdFusion, CGI Scripting or Java servlets/Java server pages. Once again, you should do research in advance to find out what technology your would-be employers are using. If you have absolutely no idea, Heckler recommends that you choose ASP because it’s so widely used, then consider learning one of the other three. "The people who are the most successful allocate two hours outside the classroom for every hour in class," observes Heckler. "They spend the time building a site for friends and relatives or volunteer. Employers want to see portfolios."

Finally, on the backend, there is the all-important network administrator who is responsible for the care and feeding of the server, backups, making sure that permissions are setup properly and overall server security.

There are a few other roles within an Internet company that don’t fall strictly within the three-layer model. They include:

• Project manager. This sometimes overlooked, yet important, role requires someone skilled in managing small and large-scale projects. As soon as you get beyond building a basic site, says Heckler, you need someone with strong project management experience. Vienna, VA-based MGMPConcepts.com offers nationwide PM training.
• Editor/Writer: Writing and editing for the Web is not the same as it is for print. For starters, you should know basic HTML and how to use an HTML editor. Plus, you should understand the fundamentals of information architecture.
• E-business manager: Are you more interested in the business/management side of the equation? Then consider an e-business training track. The nationwide training company HyCurve.com offers e-commerce planning courses at its training facilities nationwide. At WestLake, they focus more on the tech-based courses and are waiting for e-commerce technologies to gain enough market share before they roll out a course. Heckler thinks that a class in something like IBM’s Net.commerce isn’t too far off. "It’s still a pretty young market -- so no one has the visibility yet," he says.

Keep in mind that as the industry becomes more sophisticated, so will the technologies and skills you’ll need to learn. There will never be an easy answer, so the best you can do is to keep abreast of the trends, pay attention to the technologies that companies are adopting and make your professional development a top priority.