The Pros and Cons of Being a Professional Web Master

It’s not a requirement for you to be an Information technology or Computer Science graduate in case you aspire to be a professional webmaster.  Many employers may require their applicants to hold a Bachelor’s Degree before they qualify for a job vacancy. But there are also jobs that mainly require experienced staff – and one of these jobs is being a webmaster. Web masters require programming, web design, database management and recently SEO and social media optimization skills, and these can be acquired through study and experience. If this is your dream job – we will take you through the pros and the cons of being a webmaster.

Here are the main advantages of being a professional webmaster:

1. Flexible working hours

Since most of the webmasters are freelancer, they can enjoy the luxury of doing their tasks at their selected time. They can have some time for their hobbies or doing other stuff that they love to do.

2. Work from home

Being a professional freelance webmaster, gives the professional an opportunity to work from home. This requires discipline but is a good way to also be close to family especially if the family is young.

3. On the job Satisfaction

The job of a webmaster is tiring and demanding. However, since it is project based, professional webmasters take pride in completing complex tasks and meeting clients’ needs. That brings with it, job satisfaction.

4. Remuneration and Benefits

The remuneration for a professional webmaster may not be easily quantified into a range and can mean payment based on completion of the project, time worked and the complexities involved. The benefits will also depend on the skills, level of professionalism, certification and tenure. The more expert you are in this field the more money you can earn. Being diligent and passionate leads to more productivity and better pay.

Here are the disadvantages of working as a professional webmaster:

1. Many hours of overtime but no overtime pay

This can happen if the webmaster is mainly a freelancer. Most of the time, he or she will be paid a “fixed price” or by project basis. This forces the webmaster to improve on skill and efficiency in order to make more within the given time frames, so that they can maximize their earning potential.

2. Little time for rest

In a busy outfit, the professional developer may have to work long hours running thousands of trials and correcting errors to ensure that the website is perfect. In case the professional webmaster is working alone, they can easily get ‘burned out.’

3. Unhealthy work habits

Professional webmasters are sometimes required to work more than 8 hours a day. Especially for a passionate and perfectionist webmaster, that could not just stop working unless expected result occurs. To curb this, webmasters must have discipline in taking regular breaks and resting.

4. Professional Impression

Some clients may shun working with a professional freelancer, and so at times this can result in loss of business prospects. To avoid this, professional webmasters set up consulting firms where they partner with other freelancers on a project by project basis, lending credence to their ability to work in professional teams.
These are just some of the pros and cons of working as a webmaster. Aspiring webmasters must be ready to learn and passionate about setting up and maintaining websites.

By Dr. Ataollah Etemadi