Baltimore IT Professional Reveals Perfect Combination For Success
The Internet technology sector in Baltimore is still fast-paced, in-demand and on the cutting-edge of societal advancement. New, local companies are being created and existing ones are expanding as businesses take advantage of the enormous opportunities available in this exciting field.
Web professional Steve Fickus' experience demonstrates that having a technical education, combined with a creative mind, can lead to a rewarding (and enjoyable) lifetime career. Mr. Fickus is the Director of Development at VIM Interactive, a multimedia, web-design company in Baltimore city.
He received his undergraduate degree in biological sciences from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. His enthusiasm, knowledge and creativity have proven vital to his career in digital media. Steve and the rest of the team at VIM Interactive are exemplary stewards of how an innovative web business can lead Baltimore into a new age.
Please walk us through an average day of being a web professional at VIM Interactive. What types of projects do you work on?
"I'm always working on a variety of projects, including a lot of custom application development and mobile web work. Now that our company is growing faster than ever, I find myself more often working mostly on management and new business tasks. I do, however, sometimes miss the days of cranking out code. Some of our most recent projects I'm excited to be a part of, are for the U.S. Coast Guard, Marriott Hotels and the United Nations."
What is the mission of your company?
"Our mission is to deliver user-friendly, content-managed websites and web/mobile application solutions to our clients built on best practices that exceed the standards of our clients and today's web. I oversee almost all of these projects and take great pride in the work that we do."
How do you think that your education and skill set align with your company's mission?
"Biological sciences might not sound like the perfect field of study for my industry, but it has definitely set the groundwork for applying critical thinking and problem solving, which are absolute necessities in web design/development. It has allowed me to develop a skeptical mindset that I find very helpful in my day-to-day work. This mindset allows me to stay on top of web technology trends knowing when and, more importantly, when not to use different techniques."
"At VIM, we are starting to develop ways of bringing web experiences into the real world. This requires not only a web skill set, but also the ability to conceptualize real world ideas and prototype them through to a final product."
Keisha Oduor is a professional writer and entrepreneur who resides in Baltimore, Maryland. She has a degree in Communications and French from New York University with work experience in publishing, nonprofits, healthcare administration and program management. Her work can be found on Examiner.com.
