In case you were wondering, no, that's not me in the picture.

Call me old-school, but I find the whole “web ninja” moniker ridiculous. I guess when someone calls himself a ninja, he’s trying to imply that he has  mastered a wide array of skills that he uses when he wages war against websites. Wonderful imagery. Honestly – moving.

But I just can’t take people that refer to themselves as ninjas seriously, sorry.

I recently had to wade through a pile of resumes to fill a couple web designer jobs at Concordia University and ran across a handful of applicants who referred to themselves as “web ninjas”. Now I’m fully aware, there are some companies out there that have staff members with titles such as “Web ninja“,etc. That’s fine, I get it. These companies are avant-garde, cutting edge, and hip. Got it. Coo’. But when an individual writes “I’m a CSS ninja” in his cover letter – it makes me pause and wonder, “Can I take this guy seriously?”, then right after, it puts me into, “Let’s-see-how-good-this-ninja-really-is-mode”. Seriously, if you’re trying to apply to a position where someone like me is looking over your portfolio, the last thing you want is to make the employer ultra-hyper-uber picky. In my books, if you’re calling yourself a ninja, you better be perfect buddy. Some of you may be asking where my sense of humor went? Well, after you sift through a few hundred CVs, and just as many terrible portfolios from other “ninjas”, you lose a bit of your cheerfulness. Which leads me to my big three of applying to web designer jobs:

1. Consider the company you are applying to.
   Some companies are more relaxed than others. Always research the company you are applying to. Look up their client list and recent portfolio. You’ll get a feel of whether they’re open to black belts or not.
2. Be ready to back it up.
   Know that when you use titles like “ninja” and “guru” you are raising the bar to which you will be evaluated against and be ready to demonstrate your prowess.
3. Don’t overstate your skills.
   Never, under any circumstances, misrepresent your level of knowledge of something. I’ve interviewed applicants who essentially called themselves God’s gift to CSS who couldn’t execute a simple clear fix. Know, that most employers remember names and will never call you in again if you waste their time.

What do you think of designers who call themselves, “ninjas”?

With all that said, I’m not always right. This guy actually got the job he was trying out for.