Summary
I am a London based freelance PHP developer and web consultant with several years commercial experience in top London agencies both at a developer and managerial level. I have a keen interest in web standards and accessibility guidelines as well as emerging technologies such as HTML5, microformats, and social media mashups.
I worked for several years at Spring Digital rising from Developer to Senior Developer to Development Manager incredibly quickly. It was there that I focused on my management technique picked up from service in the RAF and from various books on the subject. One of my key skills is people management and my work at Spring Digital exemplified that skill.
I then moved on to Pod1 – I went in as a Senior Developer due to a lack of experience with large clients (e.g. average project price at Spring Digital was £20k whereas at Pod1 it was around £200k). However, I soon learnt that the problems I had encountered and resolved in a small development company were actually very similar to those found in a larger company and thus could be approached in the same way. I spent most of my time in a Lead Developer role managing the largest project that the studio had ever worked on and bringing it to a successful conclusion. As well as co-ordinating meetings, scoping requirements with clients and third parties, and helping make internal recruitment decisions, I also did a large portion of both front end (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and back end (Symfony framework) development work.
In May 2009, I moved into my current role as a freelance web developer and consultant. I am available for hire to do either front end (XHTML, CSS, jQuery) or back end development work (exclusively PHP) and also as a consultant on issues such as social media, accessibility standards, and emerging web trends. At some point in the future, I hope to return into a full time role as a Development Manager.
Technical Skills
Front End Development
- XHTML to W3C Standards (I tend to use XHTML 1.0 Strict)
- CSS to W3C Standards (including graceful degradation of draft CSS 3)
- Large knowledge of cross-browser problems and how to resolve them semantically (e.g. no CSS hacks)
- Advanced knowledge and implementation of the jQuery JavaScript library
- Usage of other JavaScript libraries including Prototype, Scriptaculous, MooTools, and Dojo
- Microformats and semantic markup evangelist (for instance, this CV is marked up with hResume)
- Full understanding of legitimate SEO practices and content optimisation
- A wide knowledge of the various Accessibility guidelines (including WCAG 2.0, Section 508, and WAI)
Back End Development
- PHP 4/5 (both Object Orientated and Procedural)
- MySQL 4/5 and how to optimize it
- Usage of various MVC Frameworks including Symfony, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, and Zend
- Usage of various CMS packages such as Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress
- Various e-commerce integrations including Protx / SagePay, WorldPay, SECPay, PayPal, and Google Checkout
- Wide use of social APIs (e.g. Twitter, Facebook Connect, Flickr, YouTube, FireEagle)
- Basic knowledge of Ruby on Rails, AppleScript, C, and Objective-C
Hardware / Software
- I use an Apple MacBook (running Mac OS X Leopard) as my main day-to-day work machine. I use TextMate as my code editor of choice for web development work and Xcode for any software development. Other noteworthy applications I use on a regular basis include Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Photoshop, Things (I’m a big GTD fan), Transmit, and Parallels.
- I’ve had a large amount of experience with Microsoft Windows (versions 3.1, 95, 98, XP, Vista, 7)
- I have used Linux as a primary OS in the past (distributions: Ubuntu, SuSE, Fedora, Debian)
- I can install and configure Linux servers (this site is running on my own CentOS 5 server) and have a firm grasp of command line usage
Gallup Strengths Finder 2.0 Results
In April 2008, I took the Gallup Strengths Finder 2.0 test which is used “to identify the ways in which people most naturally think, feel, and behave as unique individuals, then build upon those talents to create strength, the ability to provide consistent, near-perfect performance in a specific task”. My top 5 strengths were:
- Competition – People strong in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.
- Futuristic – People strong in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.
- Focus – People strong in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.
- Intellection – People strong in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.
- Significance – People strong in the Significance theme want to be very important in the eyes of others. They are independent and want to be recognized.
Recent Experience
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PHP Developer / Web Consultant – Freelance
(London)
May 2009 – present
I’m a London-based freelance PHP developer and web consultant with experience in top London web agencies and social media. I decided to go freelance in order to brush up on both my technical and client-facing skills and also because I am now able to sustain a large amount of work thanks to high rankings on Google for the terms “php developer” and “web consultant”. At present, my work includes such things as converting designs to standards compliant XHTML, building complex database structures, working with existing fully Object Oriented PHP 5 code, advising clients on accessibility and usability issues, and consulting on social media. I have also consulted with a number of non-web companies in order to help them recruit in-house developers to work on their intranets or corporate websites. This has the benefit to the client of being able to have someone with a proven track record in both developing and management (including hiring and firing) to get the very best person for their company.
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Senior Developer – Pod1
(London)
October 2008 – May 2009
Working as a Senior Developer, I spent a lot of time working with the in-house CMS and performing managerial duties such as interviewing prospective employees and dealing with team management issues when the Development Manager was unavailable. I played a key role in front end javascript development using jQuery and performed a Lead Developer role on the largest project that Pod1 had ever had – this involved planning, scheduling work amongst the team of 6 developers, liaising with key members on the client side, and actually building functionality both on the front and back end.
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Development Manager – Spring Digital
(London)
November 2007 – October 2008
I managed a team of 6 XHTML / PHP developers day-to-day as well as speaking with clients, QA’ing designs, approving contracts and briefs, and reporting to Senior Management. I built highly bespoke internal systems in order to boost efficiency as well as working on clients websites. Due to efficiencies gained from new internal systems, templates, and a hands on approach to scheduling, I tripled the development departments “completed tasks” financial figures within 3 months. I also outsourced all front-end development to the US and played a major part in the formation of a new development team of 5 developers in South Africa who took over a large portion of my teams’ CMS work thus allowing us to focus as a Research and Development team.
Previous Experience
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Senior Developer – Spring Digital
(London)
July 2007 – November 2007
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Developer – Spring Digital
(London)
November 2006 – July 2007
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Web Developer / Designer – Freelance
(Devon, UK)
Apr 2006 – Nov 2006
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Web Consultant – Black Mesa Design
(Devon, UK)
Oct 2005 – Apr 2006
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Lead Web Designer – Labrador Computers
(Devon, UK)
Dec 2004 – Oct 2005
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Technician – Devon Computer Services
(Devon, UK)
Apr 2004 – Dec 2004
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Computer Sales Associate – Staples
(Exeter, UK)
Oct 2003 – Apr 2004
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Personal Assistant – Chesterfield Management
(Dougles, Isle of Man)
Apr 2002 – Jan 2004
Education and Academic Qualifications
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The University of ExeterBA PoliticsSeptember 2003 – July 2006
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King Williams College3 A levels, 1 AS level, 11 GCSEs, 3 ABRSM qualifications, and 1 LAMDA qualificationSeptember 1997 – July 2003
References
References are available upon request. If you’d like this CV in a different format, please contact me. Code Samples can be viewed at http://labs.bendodson.com/ or you can have a read through my blog.