Many smaller shops will hire you based on what you have done, not your years of experience or eduction - build something with a database, admin area, front end.

Many smaller shops will hire you based on what you have done, not your years of experience or eduction - build something with a database, admin area, front end. It doesn't have to be beautiful but it should be functional. If you can have done this, you can find a job. We've been hiring for six months in Minneapolis and I've lost track of the number of candidates who don't understand SQL injection, password hashing, MVC and other web development basics. I've even had two who couldn't write the simplest of programs (think FizzBuzz. Actually I gave one of them, literally, FizzBuzz. ) I can't speak to interns but I expect web developers, even entry level ones to be able to: * Slice a PSD into HTML/CSS * Build a site with a MVC framework * Write SQL without an ORM. * Write SQL with an ORM. * Be able to implement pre-written jQuery plug-ins * Be able to write custom jQuery plug-ins If they can write javascript without a framework, thats a bonus. If they understand design patterns, thats a bigger bonus.