Job Roles, Continued

Specialization

In the beginning, there was The Webmaster. This superhuman creature managed all aspects of a site, from the back end to the front end and everything in between. Try to find a webmaster in the wild nowadays and you'll find it's a bit tougher than it used to be. This solitary generalist is a dying breed.

It's much more common these days to find specialists. Take a look at the jobs posted on major boards such as ZDNet's Job Engine (http://www.jobengine.com) or Monster Board (http://www.monster.com) . Remember the days when you might have read something like this?

Wanted: Webmaster

Must have a minimum of 5 years experience with HTML, CGI, Java, Javascript, Shockwave, audio/video editing, GIF animation, and Photoshop. Must be familiar with all major platforms including Windows NT and Unix. SQL, C++, Microsoft products, and strong organizational and interpersonal skills required.

Technologists
Among technologists, it's a rare bird who claims expertise in more than a handful of the technologies in use on the web today. Instead we have people who specialize in PHP, ASP, Java, or some combination thereof. There are also an increasing number of content-related specialties, such as ecommerce specialist, business knowledge systems specialist (aka intranet/extranet specialist), or security specialist.

Designers
The same holds true for designers. The broad, vague term "design" has been carved up into islands: graphic design, information design, and interaction design, to name some of the more common ones. Though these specialties share some traits, they emphasize different principles and approaches. Some designers choose to specialize in web advertising (such as banner ads and infomercials) or in fields related to design, such as usability or site architecture.

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