Graduated in 2015 with a major in Electronic Production & Design. Principal instrument: guitar.
Position: Contract Web and Software Developer. Dan takes on short-to-medium-term jobs to help companies build apps, revamp their websites, etc. While independent, he does partner with a professional recruiter who sends work his way. He’d be happy to have a full-time position somewhere, but contracting pays the bills.
Overview: Dan graduated without any real idea of what he wanted to do or work experience, and moved back home to San Diego. A relative had a company in Northern California which manufactured cinema equipment, and he got a job there to do a combination of administrative work and quality assurance. During his four years there, Dan learned the basics of web development in order to maintain his own company’s website.
When the pandemic hit Dan got laid off and he moved back to San Diego, though the only work he could find was in restaurants. Wanting something better, Dan doubled down on learning teach stuff, watching many instructional videos about coding. His now-fiancee worked for his first client and got him that first gig in 2022, and he had worked steadily from there.
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You can see Dan’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “I use an app called Harvest. You turn it on and it tracks hours (It’ll even notice when you’re not working, like during lunch.), then after the day you say what you did. Then at the end of the month it creates an invoice. It’s a challenge when you’re working freelance and they want to know what you actually did, but they see this detailed invoice and they’re satisfied.”
“One of my more recent project, this company was using paper forms. The parts management person couldn’t read people’s handwriting. I build them a form management software system. All they’d hvae to do is pull it up on their phone and knnow exactly what had to be done. It was really satisfying to see that something I created made everyone’s job easier. I’d worked wtih the manager, then when it was done everyone was really happy!”
“At Berklee the professors expect a lot out of you. While at Berklee I did coding classes with Professor Richard Boulanger. I was terrified of it first, then found I didn’t suck at it. That helped me get me ready for what I’m doing now.”
“I still produce dance tracks just for fun. Even if I know I’m not going to publish it, just making music’s a good outlet. Professionally, I still use sound design with web development, software development, and game development. I can make my own sound and create exactly what I want rather than go to a library.”
Students, do an internship if at all possible! Get professional experience. It’ll put you on a pedestal above others. If you can swing it, an unpaid internship in a field you want to work in beats being paid to work at Dunkin Donuts or wherever. Also, network! network! network! Even if you feel awkward, do it. Go to parties. Talk to people. You have nothing to lose. (But stay sober while you’re doing it.)
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