i had an interview for a job in abj today. though originally the job vacancy wasnt ict related but when the interviewers cross examined me and learnt i read computer science in school. have once developed a salary calculator and happen to have designed a website before (though i told them it was only a static webpage) they requested that if i could develop a dynamic page and come with it tomorrow tuesday 20th, i'd be offered an immediate employment after screening (infact the webpage is my own screening). they infact asked me to go and get on it immediately.
now, d problem:
the static site i once developed was with dreamweaver and though i have been learning php (thanks to quadrillio's tutorials) i'm not certain how to begin this -developing d form. can dreamweaver effectively do this? and how? though the programming isnt much stress for me to write in subroutines, connecting to a db is an issue. the webpage should have a form that accepts data (basic info: staff name, staff id etc) and store in a db. my problem is the form which should appear in tree-like form. like and hierrachy of staff
plssss guys, i'm waiting for your responses. tanx

If you can't do it, tell them you cant but are willing to learn. Today you impress them with a form, tomorrow you get the job and your first task may be to build a web app and what do you do then?

There are many articles already written here and on other sites on how to create forms and submit them to an email, a database or a flat file. Use google.

The principle is the same across. HTML handles the look and feel of the form, while a scripting language handles the processing of the form. In the very basic scenario, what ties the form you see to the processor is the HTML Form 'action' attribute.

^^^ true talk

challenges help some to get better. at the very worst i'd try, 'never say never' is a motivator for me. besides, i'd have to learn it, if not now -another time which is worse. sorry to dissappoint but i'm going on with it. i'm not waiting to tell them i cant do it, i'd rather go with a trial.
it may be a chickenstuff for the gurus in the house to respond to but i'll be back with a success story -I ASSURE U!
cheers and tanx DualCore

I will advice you to be faithful with your employer, let them know your level of knowledge when it comes to web development. telling them you know what you don't really know is like biting more than you can chew. which always cause problem.

You telling them lie doesn't mean you won't get the job. just let me know If I can offer any other help.

They can even arrange for a training to fasten your learning.

I wish you best of Luck.

- SAFE.

the posters above have spoken words of great wisdom, i cannot add or remove from it.

I differ in my opinion a little^{(make una no swallow me o)}.
If u know u can catch in on php/mysql a little in the limited time, then its not over bro.
How did i learn php? i got a small contract and searched online for how to install php. It took me four days and after i delivered the junk i did, they were very impressed and gave me another project. i used php and sqlite then as that was the tutorial i got online. I might not had been a professional web developer today if i had just told them i'd never developed a dynamic site.

My first .net experience too was because i got a contract for a windows mobile phone software. i did it despite never coding vb or vb.net before.
It all depends on you bro, where there is a will, a way can be found and if you don't find a way, you can make a path.

D guy in questn can contact me one-on-one in abuja. i ll guide guide him 07031613377

I think Quadrillio is right, many times i have had to send some clients to him, simply because i don't know a language!

One time it was .NET, I never told the client i program with .NET and come up with a disappointment! Some clients prefer the truth be said, and that applies to employers.

In this case also, if you are a fast learning like lojik said, you may understand the workings of PHP fast and come up with something good, while you also tries to improve your PHP programming skill!.

@lojik, this is a different case. unless i am wrong, but the guy needs to learn some dhtml stuffs and defend it in less than 24hrs. As for learning on the job, we all do that. The last job i did that i used php/oracle, i was given 3 days to do it. I just did crash course on oracle (i know it is very similar to mysql and mssql), and i already know php and others, so i was able to make it on time. The issue with this scenario of this poster is the time limit.

@dhtml
If i know u well enuf, U wont give up before making an attempt. will you?
if he takes a crash course on php, then attempt the interview and fail , he would have at least started of with php. He can continue and then develop himself. But if he writes himself off without trying, i dont see anything he will gain.
#he doesnt have to lie to his employers. He takes a crashcourse (probably from a pdf or a website), then presents the project he was taught in his crash course as his work, he then tells the employers that he is still learning but now that there is a need for it, he can speed up his learning process.
Gbam! He gets the job.

Abi wen u were bidding for the oracle stuff, did u tell them you dont know anything about oracle?

Meanwhile, u still owe me an outstanding apology for that V/I stuff. Abi u dey wait make i ask?

i told them to give me 3days to quickly revise oracle and solve the problem. i knew i could quickly add to my knowlege in that space of time. but for this poster to learn some dynamic stuffs within 24hrs is a well rather different thing.
maybe he should learn what he can and be truthful to his employers, yes, that can work out.

true dhtml has said it all.during my interview they saw java in my cv and asked how good i told them i was just starting it and just the basic dont shoot yourself in the leg else you will be given a higher task you can't handle, be truthful

Now talking of java, i learnt java 2 sdk to an extent and was able to build few apps with it, for testing sake, but i never made any application for a client with it. but i have done and deployed applications with vb/vc++ and co. But i cannot say i am a java developer - just that i know some java.

Thanks all for the responses here. It remains for the poster to use the advices from here.

Sorry I've been and will still be away due to illness but never mind, I'll be back soon.

dont worry bro, we got you covered here

yeah, we'v got him covered here, each time boss gives him job to do, he has to run here cos u've got him covered, and u do it, at month end, he collects his salaries and goes away cos u'v got him covered (i dont have a prob with him goin away with his salaries o, make una no ovastand me).

I will realy advice that the guy be sincere with his would be boss, he could still get the job anyway dependin on how he presents his case.

*dhtml:

dont worry bro, we got you covered here

that statement was actually directed at omnipotens, i have said my mind about the poster already

@ poster, Nothing more to say as my peeps here especially the GURUS LOL! have said it all. Simple advise is Know your strengths and improve on it. Know your weakness and try to reduce them. Never create a "makebelief" scenario for people to judge you upon. Cheers!

i was waiting to hear from them before replying. courtesy demands i give you guys a feed back for your efforts.
well, i had once built a static page and knew html. so i used 'form' tags that accepted data entries like first_name, last_name, staff_id, etc to a database (didnt create d database) and included a simple php script that shows the time.i told them the extent i could do. i didnt have to lie. they checked online for d site i did. and they also gave me a simple prograaming task and said i could use any language to solve it but they wanted to see program flow (i broke them into blocks. yes, u all know subroutines). and they wanted a flow chart of the solution. flowchart na easykill.
they actually said they were ok with the form. d other guys for the screening were wondering why i had to go in with my laptop.

-they called moi! though originally the interview wasnt IT related, i am told i will be working in their it dept.

what i wonder is what i would have looked like to myself if i had gone there with nothing at all. i'd never had forgiven myself, turned out they only wanted to see my programming.they were more interested in my coding than the looks of the page itself.
they would have thought of me as simply not motivated. i had told that day i had not tried out a dynamic page successfully yet. and they still asked me to see what i can do.
tanks guys for your candid words. i appreciate.

@lojik -never say never bro. tanx

u are most welcome. If you are however interested in learning dynamic stuffs, well, you can always check out some of my archives on NL here - https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-216485.0.html

Nice one YD!

Got nothing to say cos they have said it all LOL.