I’m in the midst of a lot of job interviews right now.  Of course, one of the many purposes of a job interview is to figure out how much I know about development.  That’s a difficult thing to get across in a conversation (which is why I have also been asked to do code tests).  But it has gotten me thinking about how to quantify my knowledge and skills.

My experience as a historian in academia helps out here.  When I first studied history in college, I assumed that by the time I had a degree in history, I would know a lot of history.  I would know a lot of names and dates and be able to tell you the accomplishments of each king of England.  But when I graduated from college, I didn’t feel like I actually knew much history. Continue reading “How much do I know?” →

I have been thinking really hard about what I want in a job.  Here are the major must-haves:

• WordPress
• Remote
• Long-term stability
• Challenges, so that I can learn and grow
• A great team of supportive people, who will help me learn and be fun to work with
• Reasonable compensation, including benefits

Continue reading “My Dream Job” →

They say that if you aren’t embarrassed by the code you wrote six months ago, you’re doing it wrong.  (Or sometimes you hear six weeks, or some other timeframe.)

This is totally true for me.  On one hand, it is mortifying to me that potential employers are looking at my code – I want to look over their shoulders and point out all of the things that I know I could improve.  On the other hand, I find it immensely gratifying to look at the code I wrote more than a few months ago and to see how far I have come in such a short time.  To me, it’s like being an archaeologist and uncovering layers of a city: each layer represents new advances, new knowledge, new technologies.  I can look at old code and see just how primitive it is compared to what I am doing now. Continue reading “Embarrassed by the Code I Wrote Six Weeks Ago” →

I have been a successful freelancer since 2009.  There is a lot that I love about freelancing: the independence, the ability to pick and choose my projects, building good relationships with clients, working from home.

But there are also some things I don’t like freelancing.  I don’t like the fact that I spend about half of my time running a business: marketing, emailing potential clients, administrative tasks.  I wish I could just focus on writing code. Continue reading “Why I am Job-Hunting” →