For recruiters - FAQ

Hello friend 👋, thanks for taking an interest in me and my profile.

I know I’m nothing more than a keyword match right now so let’s change that!

So, first up! I really, really value my time, I have gone to the effort of putting this information here for you to answer the usual round of questions you need to ask.

Please, please, try to make it to the end. There’s a fair bit of info here, hopefully everything you need. 🙏

Are you eligible to work in the UK

Yes.

What’s your current situation?

I’ll always be open to the right position, read on for what that is.

What’s my ideal role?

Working in an agile environment using best practices for development.

Working in a team where there is an emphasis on technical development.

A good percentage of pair programming on the team.

Working with React, Gatsby, Netlify, Next.js and GitHub.

If you really want to grab my attention, tell me how you collaborate, how you keep quality high, how you contribute back to the community, and how you help your team continue to learn and grow.

Work life balance is a big deal for me, I really do not want to go over a 37.5 hour working week.

Permanent, not open to contract roles.

What sort of company do you want to work with?

A company that is leveraging the JAMstack in an e-commerce situation.

A company that wants their employees to win. This means supporting learning and encouraging growth.

As a developer it’s quite frustrating seeing marketing copy for role descriptions with the opening line for a company peppered with buzzwords like AI, Fintech or when they’re a award winning market leader I’ve never heard of (they’re always market leaders).

I have no issues with these sort of companies, just the marketing of them.

I want to know what the work is and how I’ll be doing it with my team, no BS marketing copy please 🙏.

Ethically I don’t agree with gambling, no gambling companies please.

What’s your preferred stack?

I’m really enjoying using the JAMstack right now, with Gatsby (which uses React and GraphQL) being my framework of choice.

For styling I have taken to using styled-components 💅, take a look at the used by section on their site.

For CMS’ I’d like the opportunity to work with any of the new headless CMS’ that are emerging GraphCMS, Strapi, Keystone 5 or Contentful.

For back-end I prefer node which is where the majority of my back-end experience is.

How many years experience do you have?

JavaScript almost 4 years

React about 3 years

I have about 2 years as a professional web developer.

I have 11 years previous experience as an analyst developer for financial organisations.

For more, check out my about page which details my experience and a bit more about me.

Salary?

In my next role I’m looking for £47,500.

I’m not giving a number for my current salary because, among other things, it can be used to cap any offer made to me.

In other words, my old salary becomes what’s known in behavioural economics as an anchor.

I know it’s in your interest (being the recruiter) to get the best offer for me. I’ll disclose my salary if:

(a) You agree not to disclose it to the employer without my express permission — no exceptions.

(b) You can explain how you’re going to use the information for my benefit — needs to be a good reason.

Benefits? Yes please!

25+ days holiday a year is ideal.

There’s an increasing amount of places that offer “unlimited holiday”. In this circumstance I’d like to know the minimum amount of holiday that has to be taken.

Private healthcare for me and my immediate family.

Gym membership.

Are you willing to relocate?

nop!

I’m happy in sunny, sunny Swanley

Are you willing to work remotely?

Yeah, sure! I’m comfortable working remotely.

The COVID-19 crisis has taught a lot of companies that their entire workforce can work remotely, personally I’ve never been busier.

I do appreciate the value of working closely with your colleges and I am comfortable with that too!

What are your location preferences?

I live a ~30 minute train ride from London stations like Elephant and Castle, Victoria and Blackfriars. I’d prefer to avoid travelling by tube.

I’ll consider roles that are a short walk (~10-15 minutes) from either London Victoria, Blackfriars or Elephant & Castle.

Based in Swanley, Kent I’ll consider places that are in Sevenoaks and Bromley, only those two places though. I’m not interested in roles in Ashford, Maidstone or anywhere else deemed ‘in the same region’.

Your skills look like a great match for this position we have. Can we have a quick five minute phone call to discuss?

Sure book in a 15 minute chat.

“But I have to talk to you today, my client’s deadline is this afternoon” I hear this almost daily, please book in a 15 minute chat.

Please don’t call without a previously agreed time slot, I prefer to avoid phone calls for these reasons:

I’m on a maker’s schedule, which means interruptions are disruptive to my flow.

I’ve already tried to answer the most basic questions on this page, and I’ve probably phrased them more clearly here than I will on the phone.

This question gets asked frequently enough that my default answer has to be, if not “no”, at least ”read this first”.

Contact me by email. That’s my preferred means of communication. If we are still interested after some fact checking I’d love to have a chat.

Want me to know you have spent more than the three seconds nearly all recruiters spend on this page?

In your email mention “Quick Start Guides Rock!” and you will have my attention, gratitude and a guaranteed reply. 🙏

Can I take a look at your CV?

Sure, my CV is here: mecv.xyz.

The CV uses the JSON Schema standard, raw data here.

Do you have your CV in PDF/MS Word format?

No.

The link to my CV is my product and brand, as it was built and styled by me. I consider this a way to showcase my current skill level. If your client wants to see my CV give them the link.

I understand that a lot of companies wil have ATS that you need to add a document to. I’ll leave this part of your job up to you.

Notice period?

Currently, two weeks two months.

Interview availability?

I can telephone interview with little notice.

I can video call with prior arrangement.

It will entirely depend on the location and duration for face to face interviews.

No in person interviews until COVID-19 is well and truly done.

Please be upfront about timings for interview rounds. I’m not interested in day long interview event.

Thanks for reading 🙏

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