Becoming a Drupal [Secret] Agent: A Drupal Agency Survival Guide

Whether you’re a recent college graduate, a junior developer, a long-time freelancer, or a seasoned IT department veteran, beginning a new job at a Drupal agency can be a daunting, yet rewarding, experience. Whatever the case may be, you’re considering working for one of those fancy Drupal agencies, but you're not quite sure what to expect or where to begin. At least from the outside, it mostly seems to involve a lot of fancy logos, big-name clients, and quite a few experienced Drupal experts.

After a few years of working as a web developer myself at Harvard University and Duke University, I recently joined Mediacurrent, one of the top Drupal agencies in the U.S., as a full-time Drupal developer. As my own first job in an agency setting, it’s been a great learning experience to adjust to a more challenging, faster paced (and ultimately more rewarding) Drupal career. To help you kickstart the next phase of your own Drupal career at an agency, I’ll be sharing my personal experiences, as well as some advice and tips from my colleagues that helped give me a running start in agency life.

In this session, we'll be exploring the following topics…

• What it's really like to work at an agency, including both pros and cons;
• The benefits of working on a team of Drupal experts every day;
• The benefits of working for an agency as a whole;
• Some tips to keep in mind when forging a new career path within an agency setting.

In discussing these topics, we'll be diving into questions like:

• What is this agency thing, anyway?
• How can I get myself hired?
• How do I then not get fired?
• Are coding standards really that important? (SPOILER: Yes, they are…)

To answer these questions, I'll be sharing some advice from both newbies and seasoned pros who currently work in an agency setting. By the end of this session, you will have a better sense of the unique pros and cons of agency life, as well as an understanding of some of the top dos and don'ts for arriving, surviving, and thriving in an agency setting.

This session is designed for those who are looking to start or have just recently started a career at a Drupal agency. You won't need any prior knowledge before walking into this session, except for an interest in your own career development as a web professional. By gaining a better sense of the pros and cons of agency life, you’ll be ready to take your own Drupal career to the next level and seamlessly transition into your new role as a Drupal [secret?!] agent.