Dean has been involved in the web industry in one way or another for the past 20 years. Throughout his time in the music industry and in digital marketing, he always felt that development was actually the path for him.
When Dean joined Pinpoint, he’d never worked in an agency before. Throw in a remote recruitment and onboarding process and this was all a very new experience to him. In this interview, we find out more about Dean and why he chose team Pinpoint.
Tell us how you ended up as a developer…
I started off as a web developer way back when it wasn’t even called web development yet! I built my first website in 1998 and got my first job in the industry when I was just 16. I was doing that for a while, but it wasn’t my passion at the time – I wanted to do music and went on to have a ten-year music career. While doing that I was also promoting myself online, so I never completely turned my back on the website side of things.
Eventually, I decided it was time for a more stable income. To get back into the industry, I joined a web company that needed someone who could also edit videos. While working there a position came up to do Google Ads so I was able to make the move from video into digital marketing which sparked an interest in SEO.
My next job was doing SEO but as soon as I got my foot through the door, I realised the company’s website was in a bad way and they actually needed development work. Even though I was hired to support SEO, I spent 90 percent of my time doing development. The same thing happened at my last role – I joined them to do SEO but we realised I could be more beneficial to them as a developer and my job title was changed from SEO to Magento developer.
Having secured an official job as a Magento developer, how did you come across Pinpoint?
There were many things that I wanted to experiment with such as using SCSS. When investigating these areas, I found a Pinpoint blog. That was the first time I’d ever been exposed to Pinpoint and the tools mentioned in that article are not standard Adobe Commerce tools. My experience had led me to believe this was the better way of working on the platform, so it really resonated with me.
The technologies, the methodologies, the approach, it all felt like someone had looked inside my head and written this article specifically for me. That’s what put Pinpoint on my radar.
How did you find the recruitment and onboarding process?
It was then by pure chance a few weeks after reading the blog I found they were hiring for a developer role – it was like the stars had aligned. I did a couple of other interviews but, in my mind, this was the position I wanted and where I wanted to work.
The whole process was done remotely, which was new for me. I’d also never worked for an agency before and I’d never interviewed for a developer job either. The whole experience was something that I’d never been through but from the start, it felt very comfortable.
I was given a technical assessment task to do as part of my interviewing process. I got really good feedback on this, so it gave me a bit of confidence. Looking back, perhaps I’d been dealing with a little bit of imposter syndrome and that’s why I hadn’t gone for the developer roles in the past…
Throughout the whole onboarding process, everyone just made me feel so welcome. It felt like a natural fit even though I’d never done the agency side of things. Plus, everything here is very process-driven and organised by tickets which I like. I can look at my calendar and I know not only what I’m doing for today, but what I’m doing throughout the entire week, which allows me to mentally prepare.
How has moving to Pinpoint benefitted you?
For me, it’s about feeling valued. That alone has changed my life. It feels like I have a voice and that’s a key thing for me. I know where I fit within this organisation, and I can see a ladder in front of me that I can climb up as well.
I was concerned about finding the right business. Pinpoint is webfirst which means I can just focus on web. I’ve been made to feel really welcomed and really valued. I’m having the time of my life and I’m loving it.
Could Pinpoint have the career for you? Read more about who we are, what we do and the vacancies we have available and let’s see if the right opportunity is waiting.
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