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View Full Version : Question from a junior web developer



branau
November 9th, 2016, 11:44 PM
Hi everyone, looking for a bit of advice here, so hopefully I've come to the right place. I've been working in web development professionally for a year now, doing primarily WordPress and Magento development, but I've also done some Node.js and Angular.js stuff. In my free time, I work on mostly JS projects, with a couple of Python projects and I'm learning C++. Lately I've found myself rather discontent with Magento development, which is what I mostly dedicate myself to. I find that I spend more time fixing third-party modules written by other developers or even Magento code itself instead of writing new code to solve the problems that are presented. Working in eCommerce requires a quick turnaround, so usually clients just want you to install a third-party module, maybe customize it a little, but they aren't really interested in having you do something original because that's generally more expensive (or so they think). What I want to know, is whether or not this has to do with my experience level (do I get more jobs like this because I'm a junior?) or does it have more to do the platform I'm working on (Magento). Another possibilty that I've been considering is that it could be the fact that I've only worked with web development agencies, and haven't really worked on a team for an in-house product or service. Would I be better suited with focusing on another language and trying to get a position with a company working on in-house solutions rather than agencies who do almost exclusively out-sourced work? I've been seriously considering jumping ship and picking up Rails, spending more time developing myself as a professional JavaScript developer, or even dedicating more time to C++ and going the software route, but I'm concerned that I'll end up right where I am now: spending more time fixing other peoples' code instead of pushing my creative limits and coming up with new, original stuff, after having started over, essentially tossing out a year of experience with PHP. I mean I know it's not completely wasted but if I shift gears now, I'm going to be 5 years away from being considered a senior-level dev whereas with PHP I'm only 4. Another issue I have with agency work is that I don't have any sense of belonging. I'd like to think that by working on an in-house solution, you get to know your team a little better, and get more acquainted with the code base, and therefore more comfortable with both aspects, instead of working with a revolving door of co-workers and projects. Maybe not a huge deal but I'd certainly rather figure this out before I get too much further down this rabbit hole. I appreciate any stories/experience/advice that you may have to offer!