Day Job Interview: J. Mattthew Brauer
This is the third installment in the Day Job Interview Series.
If you're interested in being interviewed, please email me at teapot [at] dailygusto [dot] com.
J. Mattthew Brauer, Web Designer
1. Where do you work, and what do you do?
I work for myself out of my own bedroom. I design and build web sites.
2. How long have you worked there?
I quit my old job about four months ago. I was at my old job for four years, doing mostly web design.
3. Does your job require regular hours? If so, what are they?
Not really. I am officially available to my clients Monday through Friday, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. My contracts with clients say that I charge time-and-a-half for any hours outside of that schedule or if I bill any more than six hours per day. But in reality, I work whenever I feel like it. I might not really get started until noon, or I might work as late as 2:00 am, or I might take Friday off and work on Saturday. So I don't bill my clients overtime unless they need me to work on off-hours when I don't want to.
4. Do you like what you do? Do you respect it?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Corporate work is the low hanging fruit, but it's not all that interesting work. Clients often have specific aesthetic ideas that I strongly disagree with, or have a poor attitude. On the other hand, there are dream clients, such as an artist who wants a daring and complex web site. In the end web design is an imperfect but satisfying compromise between the desire to work in the arts, make a decent living, and work at a relaxing pace.
5. What’s the best part of your job?
Creative discovery. Often the client rejects the best designs. But sometimes they make suggestions that lead me in a direction that I never would have thought of, and a wonderful design. Then they the reject that too :-).
6. What’s the worst part of your job?
Currently I work by myself. It's not that it's lonely. I'd rather do my socializing while not at work. But in a good team environment the creative synthesis is better than what any one person could have envisioned. I also miss the organizational challenges of huge team projects.
7. Do you consider your job a career, or is it something you do to make money to subsidize other pursuits (or to bide your time until you can get your career job)? If not, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Undecided. The web is barely a decade old and is changing rapidly. The specific technical things that I do right now will be completely obsolete in another 10 years, and there's no telling if I'll be able or willing to keep pace with that evolution. My ambition is to dabble and to live a life of leisure.
8. Caffeine: preferred source/amount per day?
Single shot dry cappuccino with sugar. Daily, including weekends. Sometimes I switch it up with a regular brew or an americano, but I rarely change the dosage.
9. Describe the type of people you work with. Are they similar to you (age, interests, etc.) or very different from you?
I have no co-workers. The clients are unpredictable.
10. What do you do to goof off?
Play with my kitties, send instant messenges, go to the park, sleep. In that order.
11. What¹s your favorite work implement/office supply?
I'm almost a paperless office, so it's just me and the computer. Since I use the same computer for recreation, I'm using it at least 50 hours per week. I'm very attached to it. Mac's OS X desktop and interface is very visually appealing. It also sometimes makes little noises that I find comforting.
J. Mattthew Brauer grew up in suburban Virginia, went to art school in Manhattan, and witnessed firsthand the rise, fall, and rebirth of a Silicon Valley dot-com. He now lives happily in San Francisco, where he is currently risking his life savings to start a web design company (www.shshweb.com).
Posted by Jennifer at July 18, 2004 8:22 PM
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