Interviewee: Kevin Powell
Place of Employment: Youtube
Job Title: Front-End Web Developer
What is your career name and where do you work?
My official career title is front-end web developing and I currently work as an online resource to help grow the skills of aspiring web developers.
Why did you choose your career?
I always enjoyed the design aspect of building things and since I was kind of a tech nerd growing up, designing things online using a website seemed like the best option for me. The prospect of being able to work from anywhere also appealed to me as a young web developer.
Do you consider yourself good at your job?
Absolutely not! There are far better front-end web developers than me who can do far cooler things than I can. The only reason as to why I think others would consider me good at my job is because I am better at explaining tough concepts for begginners.
What is the worst aspect of your job?
It would definitely be the fact that I have to sit around at a desk all day.
What are some benefits of your job?
The fact that I can work from home and that I am always in charge of my schedule.
Do you need a college degree to become a front-end web developer?
The coolest thing about computer programming in general is that most of the time you can learn everything you need to know from online tutorials. You don't need a college degree of any kind in order to land a job as a front-end web developer, which is why I think more students are looking into web development as a career.
What do employers look for in a front-end web developer?
Most of the time when you are being interviewed for a job relating to coding they are more interested in how well you can solve problems, not how well you know a coding language. Coding is all about expressing solutions to a problem and if you can show an interviewer that you know how to solve problems efficiently, they will be more likely to hire you.
What are some common misconceptions about your job?
That you need to be some sort of tech wizard to learn how to become a front-end web developer.
Is there anything you have to do at your job that might steer others away?
The work that I do can sometimes be very repetitive and boring. Often times when I am making a website, I am repeating alot of the same things over and over and over and for some, that can get really boring really quickly.
Is the web-development market shrinking or growing?
It is definitely growing. As more people with companies start to move online with their businesses, they need web developers, like me, to create their online presence.