25 Years Working on the Web

Many, Many Moons Ago

This month marks 25 years (nearly to the day) since I started working on the Web in a professional manner. My very first exposure to the Web was prior to this role, some time late in 1995 or perhaps very early in 1996. But that early exposure was merely light dabbling, really only playing around and navigating the early Web. More than anything, it was me starting life as a user on the web, not yet a maker. I didn't dive in to really get familiar with the technologies that makes up the Web until about late 1997. After late 1997, my goal - or better yet my passion(!) - became learning as much as possible about the Web to make it my career. At that time (prior to my Web role), I had a somewhat technical role, but it wasn't Web-related nor was it anywhere near adjacent to, say, networking technology. Before starting as a Web maker, my role was working in a lab (destroying products for durability tests!), and then in the QA department at a company that manufactured medical devices - both were tech-related roles but certainly not Web work nor what many might consider corporate IT. But, eventually, after spending lots of time playing on the Web nights and weekends, I learned enough of the base knowledge to land a job in May 2000 as a web developer (technically, the title was "HTML Programmer").

The Web role that I got was still in the same large multinational company that made high quality medical devices. So, it was really just me jumping from one department in the company to another department in the same company; from the QA department over to the corporate e-Business team. Sure, this new web developer job was a slight bump up in title and salary; but, still, it was in the same company. It helped that at the time, this company fostered its employees to job-hop within the company. The rest of my professional years since then have been quite the exciting journey!

A Web Role Meant Many Things

The role that I gained was supposed to be solely web development. But, like so many things back in the day, people working on the Web wore many, many different hats. In fact, that aspect of being responsible for, and getting exposed to several different facets made such a role working on Web stuff quite exciting and really intellectually stimulating. That stimulation of working on the Web - while maybe has shifted a little in some directions over time - has by no means lessened nor diminished its allure. For my first role, I would say that my time was roughly split as follows:

• 60% on core web development (mostly, front-end work)
• about 20% a combination of back-end development and system administration (mostly focused on web server and database administration)
• and 20% on other aspects - e.g. project management, stakeholder engagement and peer collaboration, UI/UX design, information architecture, graphics design, and other, shall we say, less technical but essential responsibilities

Back then there used to be the job title of webmaster, and while it might imply leaning a bit towards a system administtration role (an admin of web systems), it mostly also implied that this same person would be doing a fair bit of web development (and sometimes even also UX and design!). Lately, when I describe to folks about my time back then, I like to say that my team and I were some sort of DevOps before DevOps was even known as a role!

Variety and Meaning - the Spices of Dayjob Life

Over the years since that first web role, I've sought out more and different experiences on IT and/or digital teams, and at other companies. But, interestingly, I never really tried to climb the seniority ladder that much. Sure, like many other employees, I would try to get promotions or better roles or higher pay. However, more than getting promoted, what I sought out was to learn new stuff, to get better at whatever I already learned, cheer on my peers, and mentor junior teammates. I was just never interested in empire-building like others might have been. I also chased roles that made me feel fulfilled both intellectually but also to feel like the team or organization that I was a part of did something meaningful. There's so much time from a person's life spent at a dayjob that I have always needed my role to mean something. This was not always achieved of course, but I sure tried. Working like a zombie to earn a paycheck was never enough for me. I'm not saying that all my jobs needed to be part of the team to end all poverty or other scourges of humanity. But, certainly, a title and a paycheck are not nearly enough to motivate me. What better arena to work within (at least for a technologist) than the Web to be exposed to such a rich set of opportunities to both constantly learn and to also be part of something meaningful?

My goals - however idealistic - often meant that along the way I might have missed several career opportunities for more money or more senior positions within companies. I've made a decent enough living through these last 25 years. I'll add that I certainly have been paid far better than my blue-collar, uneducated immigrant parents ever earned. Thanks to them and their hard work, I have a better life than they have had! Sadly, life is not kind to immigrants. But, they provided the best foundation that they could build for me. Other peers who started out around the same time when I did, are certainly in much higher positions, or have far higher salaries, or own their own successful businesses, etc. Who knows if they are happy, content, satisfied with life? So, I sometimes look at my career and wonder where I would be if I had taken different decisions. Nevertheless, I have had a combination of good luck paired with lots of hard work to have had a career so far that indeed has paid me well. Plus, my roles have given me some amount of career fulfillment; maybe not all the times, but at least some of the times. For that, I'm really thankful.

My roles these days tend to be senior roles that do less hands-on and far more technical strategic advising. Think of it like: more powerpoint presentations about strategic plans and technology advice presented to a company's senior most leaders, and less coding, less pager duty tech support, etc. I suppose because I am not often at the same seniority level as others my age, I'm still hustling out there and not able to take it easy sometimes (as others my age often are able to do). Then, again, I still have lots more energy and enthusiasm than any other colleague or friend at my age. Interestingly, I find that my energy levels and in particular my curiosity for things is on par with folks about half my age! I say that not as a brag, but rather a curious observation when I step back outside of myself, and look around. In fact, I'm not appearing to slow down any time soon! While, I'd like to get back to doing to a little more hands-on technology work, I'd say that I do indeed still enjoy many aspects of my current role as a technology strategic advisor.

There's More for the Future

I'll leave other aspects of my journey for future posts. But, I wanted to at least acknowledge and reflect a little on my quarter of a century run (so far!) at working on the Web. My journey is by no means over, and I'm still learning so much - both technical and otherwise. I look foward to the next few decades (health permitting!) to see if I stay in a Web or technology role, or if life throws me a chance at an alternative path. So far, the adventure has been fraught with challenges, a couple of temporary setbacks, and at other times tons of fun, with more than tons of learning experiences. Beyond the tech of course, there's been plenty of good and interesting people that I've gotten to know. My mind is not yet ready to rest, so I relish and welcome the coming days and all the adventure that they will bring!