Informatics graduate dubbed international web design diva

MANILA, Philippines - Jan Cavan is your average computer geek — or maybe not. That’s because out of the countless web designers based in the Philippines and overseas, only a few are worthy of being called a diva; fewer still can share the stage with design heroes like Doug Bowman, creative director of Twitter, in “The Future of Web Design,” New York.

We have heard many inspiring stories about people and their professional success — some made it big by being assertive and equipped when the opportunities arrived, while some didn’t follow through and ended up settling for mediocrity. In a fast-paced industry like web design and information technology, constant learning is the heart of success. And everything starts at school.

For Jan, snagging a job that she wanted after graduation was a challenge well met. In 2002, she took the Certified Internet Professional Program (CIPP) in Informatics, Cebu, while finishing a degree at a local university.

“I acquired a degree in Computer Engineering,” she recalls. “It never had anything to do with web design, except that it had this one class that asked us to do a website for our finals, but that’s about it. The core skills that I needed, I learned from the crash courses in web design that I took in Informatics and constant self-study.”

She was greeted by success in the form of a dream job offer only three weeks after getting her certificate.

Today, Jan works as a web designer — she is a professional blogger, geek, and the girl behind Dawghouse Design Studio. She is also a User Interface Designer at SendGrid in Los Angeles, California, a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) that delivers email on behalf of companies to improve communications with their customers, working for clients like EMI Music, Gowalla, Foursquare, Get Satisfaction, HootSuite, SlideShare and Carbonmade.

Her school Informatics Philippines boasts the highest employment rate among all the information technology schools in the country. In 2010, the TESDA Job Absorption Rate Review for IT training graduates reported that students who finish with Informatics Philippines have a 70 percent chance of getting hired within six months after graduation.

“I was in a dilemma over two things: pursuing what I wanted to do, or only taking on what seemed available,” says Jan. “Prior to graduation, I had already started applying for jobs even if my résumé was practically empty. Most of the time, I knew I wasn’t really going to get the job, and sometimes I had to turn down a full-time position as I was still in school. I still applied and showed up for the interviews anyway just to see how I measured up. Prepping proved to be really helpful in the end.”

Informatics also implements a unique ladderized program that equips undergraduates with IT career skills starting in their first year, paving the way for early employability.

Jan’s success started upon completing an online portfolio, which was well received by the design community. It was featured in several online design publications and later recognized by magazines and websites overseas.

“I remember walking into Barnes & Noble in Los Angeles and it was so cool to see my name in a magazine where I was featured. Also, my online portfolio doubles as a design blog where I write tutorials and share free resources with the design community, and that definitely helped me establish my name,” she adds.

The web team of US-based Public Broadcasting Service cited her as one of the world’s “Divas of Web Design.” Popular web design blogs such as Indeziner and Line25 have also named her one of the best female web designers in the world.

When asked if there is a formula to learning the business, as well as graphic and web design techniques, she says that the best way to learn is to teach. “There are lots of talented designers out there, but most of them either excuse themselves as too busy or too afraid to teach what they know.”

After conquering The Future of Web Design in New York, she is now prepping for another international web design conference.

“Do not lower your goals to the height of your abilities. Instead, heighten your abilities to the level of your goals. Work hard and keep learning new skills. Look for institutions and individuals that can help you in your career, the way Informatics helped me out as I was starting. The web industry is very fast-paced and you can never predict what exactly will happen in the next few years. Just keep on learning. Obsolescence happens the moment you stop learning.”

Visit Jan’s site at www.dawghousedesignstudio.com. For more information about Informatics Philippines, visit www.informatics.edu.ph.