Not Just a Web Monkey

I recently read posts on a job site in order to emulate a good job description for our potential part-time employee.

I hate being in that spot where the description reads like it’s over a candidate’s head (but the job is not), or when the job is really more responsibility than articulated (but the wording makes it sound simple). How do you convey a set of responsibilities without writing paragraphs?

I asked this of my boss and he looked at me. “They’re just doing updates. What’s the big deal?” Yikes. Forget I asked. I do updates most of my day, so is he saying my job is unimportant? No. (I get ready to defend my responsibilities when I realize he’s smiling as he says it.) He’s just poking at me. I relaxed.

What I want to write is a job description along these lines:

“Must be able to open up a web site, analyze the files in it, know if it uses Lightbox, Spry Assets or another AJAX technique; must be able to open file, read the code and get a general idea of what it does; must be able to recreate what it does (by adding a new menu item to the Spry navigation, add a new image using Lightbox or link the last half of the alphabet to an AJAXified members list).

Can you read the code and draw the table in your head? Or for that matter, can you take the table I’ve drawn and type out the code? Do you see the class assigned to the image and know how to modify the CSS if something isn’t quite presented right? Do you know how to declare a variable and write a simple JavaScript function for a rotating header image? If Dreamweaver misbehaves, can you open up the text editor and force the code to behave?”

Understanding how another person thinks and codes is more difficult than given the luxury of developing a project alone. Learning how to implement someone else’s code and modify it is even more of a challenge. Do you enjoy deconstructing web sites and reading the guts of a page, trying to understand how it works? Sometimes, the other developers are nice enough to leave comments to hint at why they approached solving the problem the way they did. Comments are rare, most of the time.

If I could, I might write this job description:

Wanted: insatiably curious mind willing to continue a lifetime of learning. Must be responsible and capable of working with a small team or independently with minimal direction. Must be well-versed in the nuances of D/X/HTML (pick your flavor), CSS and JavaScript and motivated to finish projects started.

Instead, I am stuck with this:

Front End Coder

We build web sites, run e-mail campaigns, post print deliverables online, manage e-classifieds, cover Angus events live on the Web and shake up the Ag. industry in general. This position can be considered an open internship if you are a student. It is a part-time gig, with pay based on level of experience and knowledge.

Requirements:

• Exceptional coder (HTML and CSS required)
• Standards-based development (W3C validation. Section 508 a plus)
• Experience using WYSIWYG programs like Dreamweaver or GoLive
• Understand cross browser/cross platform compatibility
• Image manipulation and optimization using PhotoShop or Fireworks
• Knowledge of Mac OS X and Windows XP platforms
• Experience with JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, XML, and/or Flash a plus

Responsibilities:

• Update content on existing sites
• Build new pages for existing sites
• Build Flash banner ads
• Design ads to run in e-mail campaigns
• Post print deliverables (sale books, ads, brochures) online

More advanced projects available depending on skill level.

Hmm…the responsibilities come off as underwhelming, unless a candidate does their homework. With 240+ web sites, updating the content on them is a large undertaking of its own. (Just an FYI-most of our customers wouldn’t update their site themselves even if they had the opportunity. The general reaction we get is, “That’s what I pay you for. Why would I want to do it?”)

The upside is, when you create a new feature or service that makes the cut (past the internal politics), it’s wonderful. People treat you like you have just invented the next best thing to sliced bread. No one has been attempting to blaze new trails in technology while representing the cattle industry. No one has developed any services pertaining to them. That’s where our team comes into play.

Web Services is Growing!

We have just been approved to hire a new entry-level web designer. I am excited at the prospect of getting some help, but am not ready to believe it will happen. For one, they only want to hire a part-time person. Upper management doesn’t believe we have enough work to keep a full-time hire busy, which is not true.

Second, they will not disclose what the wages are. Which leads me to believe they are not competitive with Kansas City and therefore we will not attract any potential employees.

NJAS Online Coverage

No posts this week, since I’ll be in Des Moines, Iowa, covering the National Junior Angus Show. This is their version of Live Blogging an event, except with archaic tools and methods.