Hello and welcome to my world!

My name is Ross Tanner, I’m 21 years of age and I work as a professional website developer in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, South West UK. Currently full-time employed and have dabbled in some small time freelance but now looking to get myself back out there on the market. If you have read any of my blog posts then you will know a little about me already but just so that it is in one place, here is how I got to where am I today (I will warn you it’s quite boring but the SEO value is key you see).

I’d have to say that I am quite a surprise package to the web development community as I never really thought of an IT career until I was about 18 years old. I’d like to say that I challenge the typical stereotype of a web developer (whatever that actually is!) and this is probably due to the fact it took me so long to truely identify it as my main source of income, or probably because I am from Gloucester.

It all started for me when I was around 10 years of age and my parents bought a computer for the first time. It had no internet access and the main interest for me was playing Solitaire of an evening, as well as homework which was what it was intended for (of course). It wasn’t a ‘normal’ computer though, it was custom built by an uncle of a friend. Quite surprising now but this shocked me as a youngster as I always thought you bought them as they were, somewhat like a games console or a phone nowadays. Who knows maybe we will put those together ourselves in the future! It wasn’t until my early teens that the growth of websites really took my interest and I built my first one in around year 9. It was horrible and grey and didn’t involve any coding but was awesome!

I then took up HTML and CSS in my spare time (I wasn’t a geek I still went out :) but I had a play with coding at other times like holidays, just so you know) and very basic PHP. It was then that I only really knew how to output something on a page, I didn’t know what servers were, I didn’t have a clue how to get it onto the internet, I just did what the tutorials told me to. It was boring but at the same time quite fun and it was really interesting how the likes of MSN, Google and BBC built their sites dynamically and made them look so funky.

By the time I hit Sixth Form and had studied for a year in subjects that I hated, I decided I really wanted to learn more from somebody who actually had a clue about web development! So, I took up a Level 2 IT course. This was the most pointless IT course ever as it was only Spreadsheets but got me working with computers and more importantly a qualification. I applied for the A Level equivelent of IT at Gloucestershire College, or Gloscat as it was called back then, and went for an interview only to be told that I should go for the HND as I already have A Levels to my name. I completed this course which contained a small amount of PHP and web development and during my time there was approached by a local marketing firm. I worked for them part-time whilst finishing the course before moving full-time in the Summer of 2009. I have been there since.

I love working for this local firm (better not mention names although a little Google spying will find it out) and it has really boosted my career. I feel as though I’m in the perfect place and have no intentions to move on as it offers everything I need, well, until the likes of Google or Microsoft snap me up of course… hint ;)

In June 2011 I setup my own freelance company trading as a sole trader. I did this because I felt I could earn a lot of money in my own time from what I love doing so thought I’d just give it a shot. The amazing thing about my business is that there are no real expenses so it’s all profit. This is excellent because unless I do something major then it can only be a success. So far I’ve had around 5 clients (it’s mid-June at time of writing) and my business bank account is filling up. I’ve had no major problems, clients are flooding in and I’m loving every minute. Can’t see that changing any time soon.

I hope you enjoyed my essay about my geek career and have supplied a couple of pics just so you can put words to a face, although I may have just made that phrase up. Expect blogs mostly about web development but I do talk a lot of rubbish so spot the odd change of subject :)

Ross