Robb Clarke

About me

I was born/grew up in: I was born in Moncton NB but grew up in Sackville NB, Whitby ON, Quispamsis NB, and New Glasgow NS. All in Canada.

I now live in: I live in Fredericton NB

I completed my training/education at: I have a Major in History from St. Thomas University in Fredericton, NB. I also have a triple minor in English, Anthropology, and Political Science. I received a Diploma in Digital Media Design from the Centre for Arts and Technology in Fredericton, NB, as well.

What I do at work

As a Senior Front-End Developer, in lay terms; I make the internet look pretty. I build and develop websites for clients all around the world. I use many development languages when I build websites. These include HTML, LESS, and jQuery. These websites use the Wordpress content management system. I work with a great team that includes creatives and other developers. I’ve had the opportunity to work on some amazing projects. Some of our clients have included Google, YouTube, Coca-Cola, and Volkswagen. I also specialize in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is the science of making websites as visible as possible to search engines. This helps them gain more traffic and fulfill the clients’ needs.

My career path is

What I do for a living didn’t exist when I was in high school so there’s no real way that I could have planned for it. Being able to learn on my own and take the initiative to stay current with technology has been important.

I went to school for graphic design because I was interested in it. My first job in the industry was as a print/web designer. In this position, I was not developing web pages. Then one of their web developers quit. My boss asked me if I knew how to code a website and asked if I wanted to fill his job. I lied about being able to code and said “yes” because it came with a $2/hour raise. I had two weeks to learn enough to do the bare minimum at the job. It worked out pretty well and I’ve been learning ever since.

I am motivated by

I love seeing sites that I’ve worked on in the wild. It’s great when I go to certain Google sites and see      my work used by millions around the world.

How I affect peoples’ lives

I help brands, companies, and people put their best foot forward on the web.

Outside of work I

I write (I have published a few novels). I coach minor sports. I hike. I fish. I cycle.

My advice to others

Never stop learning. Do what you love and love what you do.