Self managed learning plan - What do I need to know?

In order to identify a new skill I must first consider what potential employees require against the existing skills I possess.

Developing a self managed learning based on something I don’t know already will be quite easy due to my limited experience creating websites. While I understanding how different web languages play their part in the development of a website I have only used XHTML and CSS.

Web designers today are required to possess a working knowledge of graphic design and web packages to manipulate images and text to create the basic layout. Utilising skills in e-commerce and server side technologies, such as PHP are all vital in being a truly great web designer.

Reading a few jobs adverts these are just a few of the preferred skills:

Graphic Designer
Photoshop
Illustrator
InDesign
Artist
Developer
Producer
Studio manger
Editor
Writer
SEO specialist
Programmer
Usability
JavaScript
C++
Flash
PHP
.NET etc.

In today’s job climate many employers can afford to be choosy, employing a person with the right attributes is easy due the amount of potential applicants. Choosing an applicant that perfectly matches the job specification while going the extra mile is a commodity.

I will standout from the rest and escape mediocrity by constantly improving my skill set and thus achieving my full potential. What do I need to know to become more employable?

Since I lack any experience in using server-side technologies I feel that my self managed learning plan should include PHP. I will create a website in XHTML that uses CSS to style the site and PHP to do something. Unfortunately because I am not sure why, what and when I should use PHP my starting point will be research. Research how PHP is used in existing websites and the potential benefits it has for its users.