The Chimeralogists
July 26, 2024
No one can explain what you do. Let’s face it, you don’t do a great job explaining it either. People come to you for advice on issues that they introduce with “I’m not entirely sure how to describe this problem or what exactly I’m looking to do here, but…” Your colleagues and your communities genuinely value your contributions even as they remain entirely mystified by the exact contour of your position. Whatever you listed on your résumé as tangible, easy-to-summarise accomplishments from previous jobs is real, but it fails to capture a lot of what you did. People suggest the most surprising jobs to you, compared to what you’re actually interested in or capable of.
Source: The Chimeralogists
It might be hard to imagine given the ubiquity of The Web in today’s world, but the Web of the early 2000s and before attracted quite non-conforming types of people. There weren’t clear professional pathways, or even well defined roles. The continuing devaluation of the front end, despite it touching almost every aspect of everyone’s lives has its roots here, when web development was often not considered ‘real programming’ by the IT teams of the day who did serious work with serious computers.
A lot of these folks are still around, though often despite their experience and impact, their contributions aren’t particularly recognised.
Robin Berjon coins the term ‘Chimeralogist’ for such a person. And it deeply resonates with me.
