Hello world, I'm Aaron
Nice that you've found your way to my site. Maybe you should grab a coffee - this text has become a bit longer than planned. I'm 27 years old and have been working as a Frontend Engineer since 2019. If we include my training, I've even been working professionally in web development since 2017. And if we go way back, it all started in 2009 when I was 12 years old and fascinated by the possibilities of the internet.
Back then, I wanted one thing above all else: to play games. But because the website builders for my own small gaming community weren't yet so sophisticated, I started learning HTML and CSS myself - and suddenly I could do a lot more than these construction kits offered me at the time. I also took a look at Visual Basic, JavaScript and PHP, albeit rather superficially, because too much time was spent on gaming (and school, hello mom!). Nevertheless, I made progress and later ventured into design tools such as Photoshop to put the finishing touches to my websites.
My first professional steps
At the age of 14, I had to do my obligatory two-week school internship in the 8th grade. It was immediately clear to me: this had to be a web development company! Fortunately, I found a company near me that was willing to take me on. I was so convincing and enjoyed it so much that I was offered a part-time job, which I did for almost two years alongside school. I really learned a lot there: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Photoshop, PHP and various CMS. I improved existing websites and also managed small customer projects - quite an adventure for a 14-year-old.
By the time I was 17, I had finished year 10 and was faced with the decision of what to do next professionally. Actually, everything pointed to a career in programming, but due to a few personal circumstances, I became - quite unexpectedly - a bank clerk trainee. However, I quickly realized that this was not my thing at all. So I quit and started looking for something in the IT world again. I worked temporarily as an order picker for a Kickstarter project at Kaufland.
My training as a media designer
When I was 20, I finally started my training as a media designer for digital and print media at Euroweb Internet GmbH, a company with around 500 employees. I was able to shorten the three-year apprenticeship to 2.5 years because I performed very well.
In the first year of my apprenticeship, I concentrated on updating and optimizing existing websites with HTML, Bootstrap, CSS, SASS/SCSS, JavaScript, jQuery and PHP.I was in close contact with customers, collected feedback and implemented change requests.
In my second and third year, I was responsible for the development of entire new websites as a project manager: design, implementation, content filling and SEO optimization.But what I enjoyed most was the coding.
I was also part of two “special teams”:
- SEO Team:We looked after customers who were unhappy with their search engine ranking.I dealt intensively with SEO, Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, attended training courses and gave workshops for my colleagues.
- Mentoring:Although I was a trainee myself, I was able to support new trainees and pass on my knowledge to them thanks to my excellent performance. As the only apprentice with this privilege, I am still proud to this day that I was able to hold my own alongside the experienced employees and teach the new apprentices something.
After my apprenticeship, I was offered a full-time position at Euroweb. However, at some point I felt that I was no longer able to develop as much technically. Two-week sprints with a limited scope simply didn't give me enough room to implement “unusual” or complex projects. It was with a heavy heart that I left the company, although I was very reluctant to leave my colleagues.
Switch to e-commerce
I then joined Dixeno GmbH, a smaller company with around 100 employees and specializing in e-commerce. As a frontend engineer, I was responsible for large projects, including for customers such as “Casio”. Here I worked with HTML, SCSS, JavaScript, PHP, Twig, Docker and Vue.js. The complexity was higher, and I really liked that. Unfortunately, the company used a CMS called Oxid, which gave me too little freedom as a front-end developer, especially when it came to integrating modern frameworks such as React or Angular.My curiosity and my drive for new technologies meant that I moved on again after around a year - again, it was anything but easy because I worked in a great team.
On to more modern tech stacks
This time I invested more time in looking for the right company and ended up at wo-capital AG (now Smartbroker AG), a financial company with around 80 employees at the time. As a front-end engineer, I was initially responsible for developing new features, such as onboarding processes for new customers. I worked together with a senior colleague from whom I learned a lot. Together, we implemented a white-label solution using React, Next.js, Material UI, TypeScript, Docker, Jest and Cypress.
Later, I was able to help build a completely separate trading platform. We needed several different web applications and developed an internal design system in React, TypeScript and Tailwind CSS. Our core components were maintained in Storybook and deployed via an internal npm registry, including unit tests with Jest.
We then used this set of components to build various applications: First a presentation website for the new trading platform, which got cool animations thanks to Framer Motion and Lottie. Then it was time to implement the main product: the trading app. I was responsible for core functionalities such as finance charts and feature flag management in the platform team, but then switched to the trading team to develop the actual centerpiece: Trading features like market orders, limit orders, stop orders, instant orders, crypto trading and tools like the stock search, the watchlist or the stock detail page.
In addition to the technical implementation, I also conducted job interviews, took onboardings and gave workshops (in German and English) to establish new technologies in the team. Communication and knowledge sharing are very important to me - that's how you keep your finger on the pulse as a team.
I am currently still working in the trading team at Smartbroker AG and am continuously optimizing the platform. Most recently, I reduced the API load by a factor of 18 through extensive refactoring and significantly improved the loading times of the platform. It never gets boring and I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead.
What else I do
In addition to my full-time job, I use every free minute to further my technical education. I love learning new things, both in the front-end and back-end areas. I have also set up a small business and occasionally take on projects for private clients. My curiosity is unchallenged and I hope to be involved in many exciting projects in the future.
Away from the screen, I take care of my physical and mental health. I work out regularly at the gym and enjoy trying out new sports such as bouldering, martial arts and golf. I've also taken up chess (sport for the mind, so to speak). And, of course, I simply enjoy meeting up with friends and family.