Work Blog Archive
Posted December 8, 2006 at 2:08 AM in Web Standards, Work | Comments (1)
It was through Steve Ganz, whom I met at SXSW, that I learned PayPal was making the move to Web standards — entirely due to the great job he’d been doing evangelizing them! It was also because of Steve that I got hired at PayPal. I was excited that we’d be working together… but disappointed when, after just 10 days on the job, Steve resigned. (As Ducky would say, “Do I o-ffend?”)
Despite Steve’s departure, progress must continue to be made, and PayPal is in need of a standards evangelist! I’m out to find the best person for the job — someone with great knowledge, passion, and commitment. Is that you? Someone you know? The job description follows, along with instructions for applying. Contact me with questions, or just submit your resume!
The Web Development Platform team at PayPal seeks a senior-level Web developer to work across multiple projects and teams to drive the adoption of Web standards. The ideal candidate will have prior experience working as a senior developer on a high-profile site with a cross-functional team under tight deadlines. The ideal candidate will also be well-versed in Web standards (HTML/XHTML, XML, XSL, CSS, JavaScript/DOM scripting, accessibility) and protocols, coding for multiple browsers/platforms, and current JavaScript frameworks.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Standards evangelism: Requires extensive knowledge of Web standards, a passion for advocating their correct usage, excellent communication skills (written and verbal), and a high comfort level speaking to large crowds.
- Code analysis: Candidate should have experience with reviewing others’ code, delivering constructive criticism, assisting developers with making changes/fixes.
- Prototype coding: Based on user interface and visual design specifications, rapidly create necessary HTML, CSS, and DOM scripts to produce working model.
- Documentation and training: Create and deliver training materials to groups of developers.
Job Requirements
- 5+ years experience in Web development, including hand-coding of semantic HTML/XHTML, CSS-driven layouts.
- 3+ years experience of DOM scripting, including DHTML, Ajax, and JavaScript frameworks.
- 3+ years experience with XML/XSL or a content management system with template scripting capabilities.
- Expertise with cross-browser, cross-platform development practices.
- Experience developing accessible Web sites that conform to WCAG 1.0.
- Solid understanding of Web protocols.
- Knowledge of software design principles, OO concepts, and/or C++ or Java programming.
- Excellent time management, problem solving, teamwork, and communication skills.
- Experience in internationalization/localization a plus.
Education: Bachelors Degree or Equivalent
Interested parties should apply online at www.ebaycareers.com under Req #13672BR. Please provide at least 3 web site URLs that showcase your work.
Posted December 3, 2006 at 12:16 AM in Web Stuff, Work | Comments (6)
Some of you suspected something was afoot when I added the disclaimer to the footer of my site; even more of you caught on when I added another location to the list of places I call home. Finally, here’s the big announcement!
Since November 6th I’ve been an employee of PayPal (an eBay company). I’m managing the Web Development Platform team — our mission is to create, document, evangelize, and assist in the implementation of standards that improve the user experience! (We also so some other very important stuff, but that all applies internally and ultimately still contributes to the larger mission.)
This job may sound familiar to some of you, because this role is very similar to the one I played on the Product Integrity team at AOL. Of course, one big difference is that I now have the benefit of experience, which should make things go a little smoother. Still, a new company will present new challenges, which is partly why I’m there. The other part is that I’m excited about what’s going on at PayPal. And that’s what matters!
Posted August 25, 2005 at 10:07 AM in Meeeeeeee, Work | Comments Off
Back when I worked at AOL, it was all about The Launch. As it got closer, people got tense. If the team worked well together, the pieces were ready, the plans were made, and you were in wait mode; on the other hand, you could be working up to the last minute, biting your nails, twitching from the caffeine that was keeping you alive. In either case, The Launch is no longer important to me, because I’m not involved in it any longer. For me, The Launch is no longer The Event.
In my new life as a contractor/consultant, The Event that I’m concerned about is The Delivery. So far The Delivery has been by far less stressful for me, because I have no one else to rely on but me. I determine my schedule, so I don’t overload myself with work. I get requirements and give delivery dates based on what I know I can meet (and so far not once have I been told that my estimated delivery dates were too far out). I ask questions up front and wait for answers before beginning work, so I don’t stress over having to rework code zillions of times due to lack of detail. And change requests haven’t even been a huge problem. So I do my work and I deliver my work, and other than questions that might pop up later, I’m done!
So yay for me, for reducing my stress levels. And hooray for the teams that actually did all of the stressing to launch two of the sites that I’ve worked on over the past few months: the Ruckus Network team and the AOL Find a Job team.
Posted February 17, 2005 at 10:10 PM in Computing, Work | Comments Off
Today I received marking materials on the IEEE’s Certified Software Development Professional Program. Unlike the various certifications I pursued fresh out of college, this one requires applicants to have 9,000 hours of experience and a bachelor’s degree (in addition to passing an exam).
As I was sitting here thinking about whether or not I should pursue something like this, seeing as how I’m soon to be back in the job market, I wondered what value there is in pursuing certifications any more. I would hope that my years of experience and continuous self-development would prove that I am better prepared for a job than what some piece of paper says. At the same time, I’m coming from a primarily design-oriented web development job and looking for a more technically-oriented job. That certification could give prospective employers a boost of confidence… then again, if I can’t engender that confidence myself, do I really want to work for such a company?
Ultimately, I think that I just enjoy the pain and suffering that goes along with studying for and taking exams that prove I know something. After all, none of my previous certifications had any application to my jobs, nor did they get me any more money when I was job hunting!
So… should I take the test or not?
Posted February 16, 2005 at 3:58 PM in Women!, Work | Comments Off
Carly’s departure from HP has really stirred up a hornet’s nest of discussion about women in computing. Now Wired News is picking up the thread, which is good. But is anybody listening?
Seeing as how I’m a female senior manager leaving a tech company, I really wonder about this. I don’t have any job offers yet (no cracks about my resume not being up on this site yet, please), and my current employer has made no effort to keep me around. So I have to wonder if the news about women in top management is really getting through to top management.
Hi, my name is Kimberly Blessing. I'm a computer scientist, Web developer, standards evangelist, feminist, and geek. This is where I write about life, the Web, technology, women's issues, and whatever else comes to mind.
