This is a warning to young budding web developers going into the field of web development. The business of web development is never really talked about. We talk about the technology a lot, but the business itself is left alone for fear of… what? I don’t know really.
The first thing that took me by surprise upon my entry, three years ago, into the “Digital Agency” world was the fact that some people that work with the web don’t use it very much. There are quantities of web developers that don’t have websites, don’t maintain personal projects, and don’t partake in the vibrant community.
This was a massive shock to my system because I, being naive and passionate, thought that everyone else in this industry would have at least a spark of a passion for this stuff or at least an interest which materialises in more than doing it, begrudgingly, from 9 to 5.
This isn’t a universal truth, of course, but what I’ve discovered is that those lacking in passion tend to gravitate towards either agency or non-web corporate roles. These individuals tend to know their niche’s technologies but only as well as they absolutely have to. They’re fine copying and pasting as long as it makes the boss or client happy. There are no gurus in the passion voids.
The entire process is ugly to begin with. Getting hired. If you can, you must make every effort to avoid dealing with recruitment agencies. I won’t cast any judgement on the validity of the recruitment industry as a whole, but I will say this: their motive is to fill the role. They rarely give a damn about passion, fulfilment or your desire to have a positive effect on the world while leading a good life. They couldn’t give a shit. They want the commission. They want to sell you to the client. You’re their whore.
If you want to float between vacuous advertising projects, where the sole objective is to maximise market share and profit for the end-client regardless of ethical inclinations, then you’ll probably be fine. You should stop reading and ring a recruiter now! If, on the other hand, you care, then you will want to take the time to find a better role, where the employer’s passions are in-line with yours.
I am not trying to generalise here. There are some, no doubt, awesome digital agencies that care passionately about the technologies they work with. This is why this must all be judged on a case-by-case basis.
Just beware of the passion voids. If you’ve an ounce of interest in what you do, you’ll want to steer well clear of them, lest your soul be forsaken to the clutches of vapid monotony.
Thanks for reading! Please share your thoughts with me on Twitter. Have a great day!
Having had to fail 2 candidate’s trial days consecutively because they’re passionless, thanks to a useless recruitment agency, I completely agree.
Yep. I also got disappointed when I found myself working with passionless people. But I guess, at the end of the day, this is like any other job. Some people do it for the money, some people do it because they love it.
Sadly I think this is the case for most jobs, the worse thing is when your unable to apply that passion to the job your either because its not commercially viable or internal politics spoiling creativity at all costs.
I’m 10yrs in and i’m still not proud of anything i’ve done commercially…
Everyone who can earn money by doing what he/she loves and is passionate about, is a happy, lucky man/woman in life.
Actually, I mostly have met people in this area (frontend engineering) and I’m thankful every day that I can count myself into that group.
And by the way, nice article 🙂
That’s a nice post and I agree with most of it, except in the first part of it where you are describing who are passionless web developers for you.
I think that having a personal website, running a personal project or portfolio, or taking part in a dev community doesn’t make a developer more passionate than another one that would be less involved.
Cheers
As somebody who owns a digital agency I can see your point but don’t entirely agree with it.
In an ideal world there would be an endless pool of passionate web developers available to hire and they’d all be realistic about what they wanted to earn, we’d never have to deal with parasitic recruitment agencies and we’d have clients queueing up at the door who are also passionate about what we do and willing to pay us enough to do every job properly using the best technologies without having to cut any corners.
Needless to say it isn’t a perfect world and sometimes recruitment agencies are the only way of finding good candidates, those talented candidates aren’t necessarily passionate about what they do and clients rarely want to pay you extra to use cutting edge technologies and do everything the way you want to do it.
Life’s a bitch eh? But I’m still passionate about technology, have some great developers working for me and (sometimes) we get to work on some really exciting projects!
From your point of view James there is a more positive way of looking at it. You may not enjoy working in an environment where everybody isn’t as passionate as you, but those with passion always rise to the top.
I worked with an amazing placement agency to get my current gig. They work on equity for the most part, so they have a vested interest in the success of the companies they work with.
Nice post, nice blog too. I stumbled upon your site over a year ago, and have enjoyed reading your stuff ever since.
I’ve been working in the web space as a developer since 2000 and I have to say that my passion for the profession has come and gone over the years. Right now, there’s so many areas I’m curious about that I would like to play around with but it’s hard to find the time. Those who get by just copying & pasting often don’t even know just enough, those are usually the people whose work you look at and think ‘why did they do that?’, or ‘I can’t believe they’ve done it that way!’. If I come across people like that, I try to help them, if they’re not interested then you give up trying. I think I fit somewhere in between you and the copy & pasters. I’d like to think most agency developers are in the same boat as me 🙂
Anyone can develop but not everyone an be a developer.
— Issued in public interest
I can sympathize – but once you’re over that shock that not everyone got into it cause they care, you may find that you can be sooooo much better than anyone else can even imagine. Also – keep in mind some of those passionless drones actually have passions in something totally ‘other’ than their day job.
@Tanguy, I think the level of participation speaks quantities about passion. Even if it’s just commenting on a debate, like this, it still means there’s a notable level of interest. You’re probably right though. There are, no doubt, other expressions of passion within this field, but listing them all would be pointless.
@Jon, I don’t think we can throw around the “in an ideal world…” thing. It just doesn’t work, because perceptions of what an ideal world would be vary greatly. Back to the point though, you did mention my main problem with working in *some* digital agencies — you’re limited entirely by the clients. Some clients know what they want and are knowledgeable about the technologies involved, but what I’ve found is that, the bigger the client, the more their requirements are diluted with the ignorance of managers and bosses who rarely know the first thing about the tools, the standards, or the technologies being used. You mentioned that it could be looked upon positively by seeing that those who are passionate can rise to the top. For me, though, that isn’t an incentive. I want to do work I’m passionate about. Career prospects mean nothing. Also, it’s not just about the environment you work in.. it’s also about the work itself, and the clients you’re working for. Some clients suck. Some work sucks. If I’m being paid to make something but I still think it sucks then, for me, it’s not worth it, even if it will enhance my standing, career-wise.
@Tommy, I didn’t really mean to cast judgement on the “drones”, as you called them. What really matters, for me at least, is an environment where the technology is the important thing. Profit motives suck the life and fun out of almost everything. It’s a great shame that so many people cannot do what they are passionate about for work/money. I realise that I’m lucky in that respect.
James, I think you need to come to terms with the fact that for some people there is more to life than Javascript.
I love how passionate you are about what you do but I think as you get older you’ll understand that some people’s passions are their children, their houses, their hobbies etc. and that they need to earn money to (a) survive and (b) fund the things they are passionate about.
You say that “Profit motives suck the life and fun out of almost everything” but that’s just incredibly naive. Profit pays people’s wages, which allows them to pay their mortgages and buy the stuff they need in life.
I thank you for this great post, it makes alot of sense, I have been unfortunate enough to have experienced the wrath of a bad recruitment agency, bad advertising of the position just to fill the position and as you said just to get their cut, I’m glad you are shedding light on this matter, for those that have passion for the industry and in hope of encouraging and maintaining the creative integrity of the web development industry.
@Jon,
I don’t think you fully appreciate where I’m coming from. It may be easier for you to argue from your position by thinking that I simply don’t understand yet, but I do. My financial situation is not simple … and is in fact, at times very precarious, as is the situation of friends and family. I fully understand the reality of having to survive.
I find it incredibly condescending of you to suggest that my feelings are simply due to my lack of age/experience. This is the problem with your argument. You’ve turned it on me, as if the entire validity of this post rests on my principles and concerns when, in fact, the content was centered around the broad topic of passion and doing what you love and not letting people with ulterior motives get in the way. I didn’t even mention JS in this post. You really think I don’t appreciate that people have different passions?
I haven’t cast any aspersions on you nor your understanding of this matter.
And, it’s not incredibly naive to believe that profit sucks the life and fun out of things. In my experience it’s true. It is perfectly reasonable to do what you love while making money without the primary aim to be making money. Also there is a difference between normal profit, and super normal profit. Once motives shift to the latter, I feel, it does indeed suck the life/fun out of things.
James,
I don’t mean to sound condescending, but I genuinely think you’ll feel different in 10 years time. What makes me think this? Well, I thought exactly like you when I entered employment 10 years ago.
I got out of it by starting my own company and not having to work for somebody I didn’t like. From reading your blog over the last 2 years or so I think you sound headstrong enough that you’ll probably end up doing the same. It doesn’t fix every problem though and sometimes you still have to work with people who don’t give a toss about what you’re doing.
Again, I don’t want this to sound condescending, but I think if you do eventually set up your own agency, or freelance or whatever, you will be forced to understand the commercial pressures a little more.
Sometimes, running an agency sucks.
@Jon, So when you initially said, “I see your point but don’t entirely agree with it”, what point were you referring to? Because it seems that we do actually agree. You’ve seen the same problem and have chosen to solve it by heading up your own company. The problem persists though.
Indeed, the problem does persist, but you learn to live with it.
The point I thought you were trying to make was that you have to avoid places that employ passionless developers. I think where we agree is that we both dislike passionless developers and passionless clients (and don’t get me started on recruitment agencies).
Where I disagree is that I don’t think they can be avoided (not even by starting your own company) and that over time I’ve come to understand that for some people their 9-5 is exactly that and that their passion begins when they leave the office and (for them) that’s fine.
@Jon:
I hate it when people do this “Oh you’ll change your mind, I had the same views when I was your age”. Just because YOU changed your views doesn’t mean everybody will. Not everyone is like you.
It’s incredibly condescending, patronizing and ageist and people that do it should be ignored IMO. I admire James for being able to politely reply to you, I’ve personally given up on trying to reason with people that think age is an achievement and they are allowed to be disrespectful to anyone that’s younger.
Oh, and saying “I don’t mean to sound condescending but…” doesn’t make anything you say any less condescending. It just makes you look like you don’t know what “condescending” means.
By the way, EVERYBODY can have a spouse and kids. I prefer to be a bit more selective when choosing my passions.
KTHXBAI
@ Lea: /signed 😉
cu, w0lf.
I get your point, I just think it reads more like a bit of a rant against the money men that are out to curb your enthusiasm, than a valid observation of what makes a passionate developer. You are right that it is naive to measure a developers passion by their contribution in the form of a personal site/blog et al. The point I took from Jon’s comment was that it is about priorities (the age argument doesn’t hold any water, as Lea rightly points out… Rather sharply ;)). The time it takes to maintain a personal site blog etc comes at a cost, that cost for me would be at my children’s expense. I choose to spend my time with them, does that make me a passionless developer? No, I love my work, my job, and especially JavaScript. Beware of misguided assumptions.
@Ian, as I mentioned, maintaining a blog is but one expression of passion. As you know, it comes in many forms. You are correct — this post was very much a rant against the money men, most of whom are a drain on human creativity and expression, and only seek to further personal goals through exploitation of human needs via grossly inefficient production levels and what they think of as amoral marketing techniques.
People get hired without personal websites? Really? My last two employers both mentioned my blog and github account as prime reasons for why I was hired.