A web developer is a professional who creates and maintains a website. These are professionals who put your business on the global scope by ensuring your business information is on the web where it can be accessed by anybody anywhere in the world.

The demand for web developers has risen due to the ability to work remotely. Software developers can now work for Silicon Valley companies from the comfort of their homes thanks to technology. In this article, we are going to look at the requirements, schools and salary of a web developer in Kenya.

You can become a self-taught software developer by just reading software development tutorials on the internet and watching YouTube videos related to web development or going to college or university and actually learning web development.

You can enroll for any of the following courses to learn web development in Kenya:

1.    Certificate/ diploma in web development

2.    Certificate/ diploma in software development

3.    Certificate /diploma/ bachelors in Information Technology

4.    Certificate/ diploma/ bachelors in Business information Technology

5.    Computer science.

Below are the admission requirements for doing the courses:

To join a college or university for the above certificate, diploma or degree courses, You would be required to hold a KCSE certificate with a D or D+ for certificate, C- and above for diploma or a C+ for a degree.

Here is a list of colleges and universities where you can find some or all of the above courses.

1.    Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology

2.    Nairobi University

3.    Kenyatta University

4.    Kimathi University of  Technology

5.    Kenya Institute of Management

6.    Nairobi Institute of Business Studies

7.    Thika Institute of Business Studies.

8.    Jodan College of Technology

Job opportunities

As I stated earlier, most web developers are nowadays working remotely for abroad companies. To get a job as a remote web developer, all you need to do is to apply through one of the companies offering remote jobs like Toptal, Turing or Crossover for work. If they find your Skills fit for the job, you will be required to do a series of interviews after which you will get the job if you pass the tests.

There are also web development jobs in Kenya that you can visit the Kenya jobs websites to see or social media platforms.

Salary expectation

Some remote companies pay as high as Kshs. 500,000 per month. In Kenya the salary would depend on many things like your negotiation skills, your web development skills, level of your education and the size of the company you are working for. Most companies pay between Kshs 40,000 and Kshs 200,000 per month. Additionally, you can create your own web systems and sell them to potential clients. A good example of a system you can create is a school management system. After creating the system, you would need to approach schools and demonstrate to them how using your system can smoothen the records management job in their school. Creating your own systems and selling to clients is more paying since you get to pocket all the money. Systems cost around Kshs 100,000 per client depending on the complexity of the system.