My First Job Change as a Developer

Wide wetland with water, reeds, and dead tree stumps under a clear blue sky — When my girlfriend and I went for a walk in December, this view extended to the left of the road towards Murchin.

It’s been a while since I’ve looked after my blog. Time to change that: I’d like to write more, not let “much going on” be an excuse, and especially publish this draft (which hasn’t been touched for over a month). My experiences and link list are piling up...

Time Flies – but Why?

According to one theory among many, our perception of time is based on how many new things are stored in our memory. We only consciously perceive time as such when we have stored something new. As the number of new experiences decreases with age, time is perceived as compressed and seems to have “flown by”. Experiencing something new should therefore lead to time passing more slowly.

According to this approach, my perception of time since November should have been stretched and I should have stored few new things. This was simply not the case. On the contrary, many new experiences have come about.

A Change of Work Is Exciting

Candle-lit Christmas tree with straw ornaments and wrapped gifts in a cozy living room at night — Annual Christmas spirit at my parents’ house.

In December, I quit my job at Inter Medien Networks and started working for KATAPULT magazine, a magazine for cartography and social science, also based in Greifswald. If that sounds boring, you haven’t seen their magazine or social media posts yet 😉.

It was my first job change, so I was not yet familiar with the challenges and effort of preparation and transition. At Inter Medien there were still some projects to be completed and handed over, while at KATAPULT I was already initiating new ones. Admittedly, my departure from Inter Medien Networks was a bumpy one, and I want to learn from that. I’m glad that I only worked part-time at both companies in December and that I’ve been working full-time at KATAPULT magazine since January. It is easier for me to concentrate on one job.

Arriving, Getting to Know People & Starting New Projects

I had hoped for a young, dynamic team with my next employer. That is exactly what I found at KATAPULT. The same student spirit and desire to change the world, even though one is in a post-student phase of life.

The editorial team welcomed me openly and warmly, which made me happy. Right from the start, my first project awaited me for issue 17, which was due to be published in December: a donation website. As there was no front-end developer yet, there was no design system either. While working on the website, I started working in parallel on the KATAPULT Design System, which I have been maintaining ever since. Only the documentation is still missing.

The beautiful thing about the project was the freedom to choose the technologies I considered suitable for frontend and backend. In the frontend modern JavaScript, CSS and HTML; in the backend Kirby. Mollie is used as the payment provider.

KATAPULT-Wald — KATAPULT plants a forest in 2020: katapult-wald.de

Starting Mid-January: Change of Office and More Autonomy

By mid-January, I felt familiar with the people and could remember all their names. The excitement of the new job had settled, so I was “just” looking forward to the work. Another project was katapult.link for Instagram – a Linktree alternative built in-house. Since there are currently two websites, one for mobile devices and one for desktop PCs, the Instagram bio could only share one link, which is also cryptic. Developing a new website will be one of my main tasks. The current one is outdated, not eye-catching, and difficult for editors to use.

This is what I love about my job: being able to simply implement the idea for katapult.link. Autonomous work is desired, and I gratefully accept it.

Since everything at KATAPULT is always in flux, I didn’t stay in the old office for long. Unfortunately, there is a construction site next to the office, which means we receive many visitors on one hand, but will also have to move out again soon.

Woman in a red blazer flips through a book as a man stands beside her in a bookstore — The Centre for *Life Science and Plasma Technology* is being built outside our office window. Because of this construction site, fans stormed our office on February 2 — including this woman. She brought along a whole truck full of people. Here editor-in-chief Benjamin Fredrich shows her the first KATAPULT book.

Outlook

I still have the desire to move to a new city. However, the KATAPULT magazine here in Greifswald has given me a unique opportunity, which I have gladly taken up and will now enjoy.

Bookmarks since November

How Joker’s gritty logo was created with wood type letterpress by William Joel
Laughing On Line by Russell Goldenberg et al
Introducing a New Look for The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg
Where to put buttons on forms by Adam Silver
A Guide to Recognising Font Styles by Matej Latin
Typographic Illusions by Hoefler&Co
Design Systems Book – Laying the Foundations by Andrew Couldwell

5G Will Definitely Make the Web Slower, Maybe by Scott Jehl
Don’t Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advice by Patrick McKenzie
My SaaS-Journey from 87 followers to first profit by Stefan Bauer
Design Patterns in JavaScript by Ankita Masand
GraphQL Crash Course (in 10 pics!) by Xiaoru Li
Old CSS, new CSS by Evelyn Woods
The CSS Cascade by Amelia Wattenberger
CSS Grid can be used to stack elements by Stefan Judis

That concludes the article. If you spot any typo or would like to share your thoughts on this article, please feel free to get in touch. 🙆‍♂️