Behind the Scenes: Our Developers

Who are the talented people helping Shopify store owners enhance their businesses? Our developers, of course! Our team is exceptionally dedicated, collaborative, and driven to always keep improving.

Posted 3 years ago by Michele Laarman

Geography and Scheduling

At Carson, we love the chance to work with clients all over the world. This means we need developers ready to tackle tasks in many different time zones! Fortunately, this is one of the many perks of having a globally diverse staff. Right now, we have developers logging in from Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Peru, Venezuela, Egypt, Nepal, the Philippines, and India. 

Collaboration among teammates is essential, so we build it into the schedule. Shifts are designed to overlap so developers who are thousands of miles apart physically can stay connected, help each other solve particularly tough challenges, and work jointly on shared projects. 

Developers don’t just interact with other developers. They also work closely with the customer success team. By joining forces with other Carsonites, developers can ensure top-quality work for our clients — not to mention the many opportunities to enhance their own skills.

Must-Have Skills

In our job ads, we always look for candidates with strong technical skills (think CSS/HTML and Javascript/jQuery) and a perfect command of English. Besides these hard skills, though, we want to work with people who have a vision of development that goes beyond just creating code solutions.

As a remote work environment, we rely on genuine team players. Developers must be willing to learn, create, and enhance the best practices to ensure customer satisfaction, aside from simply offering their technical expertise.

Connecting to Clients

To us, “customer-oriented” doesn’t just mean being polite. It means practicing genuine empathy in a job that’s often stereotyped as emotionless. Our developers go beyond the technical aspects of a task, putting on their “psychologist” hats to tune into customers’ needs.

By reading between the lines, developers can more effectively help customers tackle issues plaguing their store, create a smoother experience for buyers, and ultimately increase sales. This is all possible because our developers sincerely care about our customers and the success of their stores.

Communication Is Key

An essential element of our customer-centered approach is communication. Since most of our customers are native English speakers, our developers need to write clearly and accurately in English. They also need to be superstars when it comes to attention to detail.

English skills are only half the battle, though – developers also need to explain complex technical concepts in a way that’s clear to people who aren’t tech-savvy. It’s like being a translator, but instead of two different languages, they convert technical jargon into plain English.

A Day in a Developer’s Life

There are four important components of our developers’ jobs. A typical day can include any mix of these categories.

1. Work directly on tasks for clients. Developers work on endless variations of custom tasks every day. In addition to these highly specific tasks, many Shopify merchants also get inspiration from our task catalog. There we provide ~130 useful ideas (and growing!), everything from adding dropdown menus to designing unique email headers. 
2. Collaborate with teammates. Carsonites don’t hesitate to ask each other for help! Developers seek one another’s advice for tough tasks. Likewise, customer success agents can consult with developers to determine what’s involved in a client’s request.
3. Build up the knowledge base. Once in a while, developers will write articles on Shopify development, as well as general development tips. Other developers can apply these ready-made solutions to their own work and avoid reinventing the wheel. Plus, this knowledge base is a crucial part of new hire training.
4. Miscellaneous extras. Between side projects, calls to evaluate new client requests, and funny chats with colleagues, developers don’t have to worry about ever being bored!

What Draws Developers to Carson?

At Carson, junior to mid-level developers don’t just master Shopify-related skills. They grow as professionals. The diversity of Shopify stores is reflected in the customers we work with and the variety of task requests we receive. There’s no “coding on autopilot” here — each day brings a fresh challenge!

Training and Team Spirit

Developers get great training when they join Carson, and they always have access to our detailed training materials. This makes it easy for new members to get the hang of the Shopify ecosystem within the first few weeks. Team leads are always happy to lend their expertise as well.

One of the most fun parts of building relationships with teammates is getting to know each other over Slack. Team members always interact with genuine respect and interest. In between Shopify tips, developers learn about one another’s cultures, share funny stories, or just crack jokes. There’s always room for lighthearted team bonding!

Logistical Perks

Many developers start out in the field as freelancers, where they find themselves spending way too much time always looking for their next gig. Our developers have an uninterrupted flow of clients and tasks, so they can be 100% focused on honing their skills.

Another big perk is the ability to work from home. Carson employees trade ties and high heels for pajamas, water cooler gossip for goofy Slack posts, and the corner office for all corners of the globe. Skipping the daily commute saves time and money too. Some team members work from a coworking center to get a change of scenery, but since there’s no company office, no one is ever left out.

Long-term contractors have even more great perks available. We’re talking paid vacation and access to funds for medical costs, equipment loads, and parental needs. Keep an eye out for a future blog post that explores these benefits in detail.

The Sky’s the Limit

Carson is a place where developers work hard to find the best possible solution for each client, share extensive knowledge among an amazing team, and develop their own skills every single day. Our developers are unstoppable!