We often receive emails from talented web design candidates, including those recently graduated, changing career path or highly experienced, asking what we look for in someone joining our team. Being situated on the borders of Leicester, Nottingham and Birmingham means we attract interest from all over the UK – and beyond! To answer some of these questions, we’ve put together a few answers below:
What software should I learn / what software do you use to create your websites?
We mainly use WordPress as the content management system (CMS) for our websites. However, this doesn’t really impact what can be designed. WordPress offers a great CMS experience for clients and very flexible for us to work with. These benefits and many others have led to our decision to specialist in WordPress development.
Some great examples of WordPress sites we’ve built include Baitworks which is an eCommerce site using WooCommerce, Pest Stop Boys or Embryo Angling. Nevertheless, we’ve also built sites using other systems like Webflow and Shopify which each have their own set of perks.
Check out Awwards for some inspiration.
What do you look for in an applicant’s portfolio?
In terms of an applicant’s portfolio, we look for diversity in the projects they’ve worked on, use of best practices and examples of creativity. We work on a mix of projects and no two briefs are ever the same. Therefore, we need to put on a different “hat” each time we work on something new (which isn’t an easy thing to do). For example, you may be working on a more corporate, lead generation site one day and then a highly creative storytelling site the next.
Are there any skills that are particularly important for an applicant to have?
Communication is really important across our whole team – building a website can take several months and you have to work closely with a project manager, developer, the client and any other stakeholders. A web design project involves a lot of discovery elements, workshops, presentations and discussion and to get things right. Therefore, being a good web designer generally requires good interpersonal skills and lots of experience working in a team!
Herdl featured in Web Designer Magazine
If you’d like to learn more about our web design services or would like any further help and advice, contact our team and we’d be happy to help.