Hi, I'm
Jon Hobbs-Smith
I'm a full stack developer whose been passionate about the web since designing my first website for my university radio station over 25 years ago.
About Me
I'm a full stack developer whose been passionate about the web since designing my first website for my university radio station over 25 years ago. Since then I've worked in a number of roles: I've run my own digital agency, consulted for FTSE 100 companies and worked as a remote freelancer.
My journey started with basic HTML websites (before CSS existed), with simple backends built with Cold Fusion and MySQL, hosting sites on my own servers. I worked for a couple of agencies on projects for the likes of Cadburys and Virgin before starting my own small agency in 2004.
Over the next decade I expanded the agency into a 12 person team, working for clients such as Tesco and Hotel Chocolat, and winning several awards including "Property website of the year" at the UK property awards. Most of our work was based on Microsoft technologies - ASP.net and SQL Server but I found myself spending more time managing than coding... Time for a change!
I found myself moving towards being a full time JavaScript developer, starting with Angular JS and moving on to React around 5 years ago. I now work exclusively as a full stack JavaScript developer and my preferred stack is now React, NextJS, Postgres and Styled Components, but I love learning new technologies so that probably won't be true for long...
My Skills
These are the technologies I use for most of my projects and the ones I am most comfortable with. The bar represents my level of experience with each one.
React
Next JS
Typescript
Node JS
Postgres
Sql Server
Styled Components
Figma
I also usually use some combination of these technologies and services in my projects.
Vercel
TRPC
Prisma
Adobe CC
MS Azure
Github
Storyblok
Case Study: DS Smith
DS Smith are a FTSE 100 company and Europe's largest supplier of cardboard packaging.
I lead a team of 5 designers and developers to build internal design tools, including a social design sharing app, used by over 2000 designers in 28 countries.
The app is a single page javascript app with SQL server on the back end and single-sign-on authentication using Microsoft Active Directory.
Case Study: Beresfords
Beresfords are a UK chain of Estate Agents.
I've worked on a number of digital projects for Beresfords over the last 10 years, from advertising screens in a network of branches to API integrations with property CRMs.
My Most recent project involved building a customer portal using React, Next JS and Postgres.
Q & A
A few of the questions that recruiters ask most often. Of course, if you have more then please contact me.
Q. What kind of work are you looking for?
A. I'm currently looking for contract work but would consider the right full-time position. I'd prefer to work with the technologies I'm currently proficient in but always eager to learn new languages and products. I'm currently only looking for remote work. I'm based in the UK so happy to work European hours but I've recently been working on contracts for a US company, working US hours and I'm happy to continue doing that.
Q. Do you prefer frontend or backend?
A. I enjoy both, but if I had to make a choice I'd say that I lean slightly towards frontend. I think I just prefer working on the part that that people see and interact with. I particularly enjoy creating intuitive and simple interfaces for complicated products. That said, I'm totally happy buried in SQL all day.
Q. On your own or in a team?
A. I think a good developer has to be good at both, but like many developers I think I'm most productive when left to focus on the job at hand. My ideal project starts with comprehensive planning and good team communication, followed by sessions of focussed solo work and I find that working remotely helps to achieve this with few interruptions.
Q. Which part of your job do you enjoy most?
A. I love the fact that the technologies we work with are constantly changing and improving. I've watched the progress from slow loading text-based websites to full-on SaaS products - single page applications with load times measured in milliseconds. As a developer we're constantly having to level up and learn new tech and I love the fact that each project I work on is (generally) faster and better than the previous one. I'm always looking forward to seeing what's next on the horizon.
Q. So what IS coming next then?
A. There is a lot of talk right now about AI taking developers' jobs, but the history of web development is littered with new technologies that make things easier for us, and yet there are more developers making more things which are more complicated than ever. AI will be a huge boon to our industry as one developer will be able to build products which would have taken a whole team to build. I'm looking forward to seeing how AI can supercharge the work we do and take the web to the next level.
Contact Me
You can email me at hello@jonhs.dev or fill in the form below. I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.