Greetings readers, and thank you for taking the time to check out my first blog post on the subject of working as a Web Designer and Web Developer within the Bay Area. First, let me introduce myself. My name is John Drefahl, and I have been working within the Bay Area New Media industry for more then 20 years. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the age of 20 I decided to drop out of art school and move to San Francisco 1996. Up until my actual move, I had been conversing with friends who had moved out to the West Coast for college through various public chat servers such as Cyborganic’s “Spacebar”, Hyperreal’s “Vrave”, and ICB. Through these early channels of communication I was able to establish some key relationships with individuals that made my move, and eventual career a possibility. That was then, this is now… the emergence of Social Media has opened the doors of opportunity to anyone with a computer.
While this series of blog posts, and eventual YouTube videos will be mostly concentrating on designer and developer roles I truly believe the information revealed within the blog will be of use to all sorts of people and roles within in the new media industry. I plan to cover a number of topics. Many of which you won’t find within your average “How do I get an internet job” blog posts you will find on the internet today. I hope to create an “Insiders guide” to becoming a successful designer and developer in the most competitive job markets in existence.
I plan to cover the following topics: relocation, housing, networking and meet-ups, resumes, interviews, start-ups vs. established corps, freelancing, creative/developer agencies, commuting, company mergers and acquisitions, stock options and compensation, politics of the workplace, and anything else that comes up in the comments.
Before I close this first blog post I would like to briefly introduce myself. I am a 40 year old, white male, living in San Francisco. I’ve worked for a number of start-ups, agencies, and corporations over the years. My clients and past employees include: CNET, Nike, Red Bull, AKQA, Target, Samsung, Nokia, BMG Entertainment, Peet’s Coffee, Pandora, and many others over my 20 years. During one of my posts I plan to go over my resume and explain how I got from point A to point B.
I got my start as a “Web Designer” and worked my way into “UI/UX Design” as it became a role. After 10 years of design I moved over to development. Initially as a front-end HTML/CSS/Javascript developer, moving more to full-stack with the introduction of Node JS. I look forward to revealing the real life of being a developer in San Francisco. Look for more posts and eventual YouTube videos to come, and thank you again!